PSYCHIATRIC TECHNICIAN III / EMERGENCY APPOINTMENTS HOMELESSNESS

Position/Program Information

TYPE OF RECRUITMENT :
OPEN COMPETITIVE - EMERGENCY

EXAM NUMBER:

b8163B-EA

FILING START DATE :
November 10, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. (Pacific Time)
This examination will remain open until the need of the service are met and is subject to close without prior notice

The LA County Board of Supervisors recently declared a local state of emergency for homelessness, and the County is working to revise and expand our response to help all who are affected. We are looking for qualified and passionate individuals to help us in the mission of addressing issues like housing, mental health, and substance use. If you are looking for a new career that will directly benefit the population of LA County, this may be the opportunity for you.

The Department of Mental Health is seeking qualified candidates to fill emergency Psychiatric Technician III vacancies related to the homelessness crisis.

Under the emergency order, applicants who meet the requirements may be hired for an initial period of up to 90 days, with an opportunity for permanent County employment.Before the end of your initial work period, you will be assessed on your work performance. This assessment will be weighted 100%.


Those who successfully pass the assessment will be considered for permanent appointment to Psychiatric Technician III.

Essential Job Functions

• Administers, either orally or by injection, prescribed medications to clients in acute psychiatric settings.
• Interviews the clients, family members, and friends to obtain collateral information that may have bearing on the clients, treatment.
• Makes program services referrals for persons identified as mentally ill.
• Conducts the auditing of client records for compliance with documentation guidelines.
• Participates in multidisciplinary team conferences and collaborates with other mental health staff to develop the most effective treatment plan.
• Provides direct client care, completes required documentation, updates treatment team regarding client progress.
• Provides client, family members and significant others with referrals and linkage to community resources.
• Provides consultation to community agencies in the utilization of mental health and supportservices provided by directly operated clinics, in-patient facilities and contractors of the department.
• Provides in-service training to departmental staff and volunteers in the identification and treatment of mentally disordered individuals, principles of crisis intervention and management of assaultive behavior.
• Participates as a member of a Crisis Response Team in an inpatient psychiatric setting.
• Coordinate the activities of a Psychiatric Mobile Response Team or similar service teamwith law enforcement, courts, schools and other agencies, to assist and evaluate clients who are deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.
• Serve as a member of a Homeless Outreach and Engagement Team, providing initial assessments in the field and linking homeless mentally ill to mental health services.
• Coordinate the work of Psychiatric Technicians or others in the delivery of mental health services at an in-patient or out-patient facility.
• Coordinate or develop psychological rehabilitation programs for the chronically and persistently mentally ill.
• Lead and provide technical supervision to lower-level psychiatric technicians and supportstaff assigned to provide mental health services at an inpatient or outpatient facility.
• Serve as mental health service gatekeeper at the mental health ACCESS and Telecommunications Center, performing triage on caller requests for service, referring caller to an appropriate treatment source, and/or dispatching a psychiatric mobile response team.
• Assists Psychiatrists in completing and checking for accuracy on Treatment Authorization Request (TAR) and Prior Authorization (PA) forms.
• Promptly responds to phone calls / walk ins from clients regarding medication-related issues (i.e. medication side effects, pharmacy dispensing issues, refill needs) and consults with Psychiatrists and/or Register Nurses regarding those issues.
• Maintains medication inventory, organization, expiration dates, room/refrigerator temperature logs in the Medication Room.
• Orders supplies for Medication Room (i.e. sharps containers, syringes, needles, gloves, alcohol swabs, etc.)
• Maintains a caseload of clients and facilitate routine follow up and case management services as needed.
• Works in conjunction with other team members to facilitate services within Care Clinic Model.
• Prepares and signs the application for immediate 72-hour detention of disturbed psychiatric clients if Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) designated by the Office of Medical Director.

Requirements

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
Two years of *experience at the level of **Psychiatric Technician II in the County of Los Angeles.

Applicants must meet the above Minimum Requirements in order to be appointed to fill any vacancies related to this recruitment.

* Experience is evaluated based on a verifiable 40-hour workweek. Work performed part-time will be prorated on a month-for-month basis.

** Experience at the level of Los Angeles County's class of Psychiatric Technician II is defined as: Actively participates with professional staff members in the delivery of mental health services or the delivery of indirect and direct patient care to clients who are mentally ill or emotionally disturbed.

PHYSICAL CLASS:

Physical Class IV - Arduous: This class involves frequent heavy lifting over 25 pounds, often combined with bending, twisting, or working above ground on irregular surfaces. It includes those positions that occasionally demand extraordinary physical activity such as those in Safety positions.

LICENSE(S) REQUIRED:

• Possession of a current, active and unrestricted California State License to practice as a Psychiatric Technician. A copy of a valid California State License to practice as Psychiatric Technician MUST be attached to the application at the time of filing. Applications submitted without the required copy of licensure will be considered as incomplete until such information is provided. Original license must be presented at the time of appointment.
• Some positions in this classification, depending upon assignment, require possession of a valid California Class C Driver License to perform job-related essential functions. Candidates offered these positions will be required to show proof of a valid driver license before appointment.
• Successful applicants for this position who will be required to drive will be required to obtain a copy of his/her driving record from the California State Department of Motor Vehicles before being appointed. Applicant's license must not be suspended, restricted or revoked, or have more than four moving violations within the last two years. This information will be verified at the time of appointment.

If you are unable to attach required documents, you must e-mail the documents to Exams@dmh.lacounty.gov, within seven (7) calendar days of filing online. Please include the exam title and your full name as it appears on your application.

Additional Information

EXAMINATION CONTENT :
Under the emergency order, applicants who meet the requirements may be hired for an initial period of up to 90 days, with an opportunity for permanent County employment.

Before the end of your initial work period, you will be assessed on your work performance. This assessment will be weighted 100%. Those who successfully pass the assessment will be considered for permanent appointment.

APPLICATION AND FILING INFORMATION

Applications must be submitted online only and will be reviewed for interview consideration on an ongoing basis. If you have not been contacted within 60 days and the recruitment remains open or reopens for filing, we encourage you to submit a new application. This will allow you to reaffirm your interest and update any relevant information.

Applications must be filed online by clicking on the green "Apply" button located on the top right corner of the screen.

Applicants must complete and submit their online applications and upload required documents (e.g. Official Transcripts, Resume, etc.) as attachment(s) during application submission, or send by email to exams@dmh.lacounty.gov within 7 calendar days from date of application submission. Indicate the Exam Title on the subject line when sending required documents by email.

Fill out your application completely. The acceptance of your application will depend on whether you have clearly shown that you meet the Minimum Requirements. Provide any relevant education, training, and experience in the spaces provided so we can evaluate your qualifications for the job. For each job held, provide the name and address of your employer, your job title, beginning and ending dates, and description of work performed. If your application is incomplete, it will be rejected.

Many important notifications will be sent electronically to the email address provided on the application, so it is important that you provide a valid email address. Please add isan@dmh.lacounty.gov as well as noreply@governmentjobs.com and info@governmentjob.com to your email address and list of approved senders to prevent email notification from being filtered as span/junk/clutter mail.

You have the ability to opt out of emails from LA County. If you unsubscribe, you will not receive any email notification for any examination for which you apply with Los Angeles County. Regardless of whether you choose to unsubscribe, you can always check for notifications by logging into governmentjobs.com and viewing your profile inbox, which saves a copy of all emailed notices.

Plan to submit your online application well in advance before the deadline as you may be required to verify your email address. This only needs to be done once per email address, and if you already have a job seeker account on govermentjobs.com/careers/lacounty .gov
you can verify at any time by logging in and following the prompts. This is to enhance the security of your online application and to ensure you do not enter an incorrect email address.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• Applications may be rejected at any stage of the examination and selection process.
• FALSIFICATION of any information may result in DISQUALIFICATION or RESCISSION OF APPOINTMENT.
• Utilizing VERBIAGE from the Class Specification, Minimum Requirements, and/or Special Requirement Information serving as your description of duties WILL NOT be sufficient to demonstrate that you meet the requirements. In doing so, your application will be REJECTED as INCOMPLETE.

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER LANGUAGE
Please include your Social Security Number for record control purposes. Federal law requires that all employed persons have a Social Security Number.

COMPUTER AND INTERNET ACCESS AT LIBRARIES
For candidates who may not have regular access to a computer or the internet, applications can be completed on computers at public libraries throughout Los Angeles County.

FAIR CHANCE EMPLOYER
The County of Los Angeles is a Fair Chance employer. Except for a very limited number of positions, you will not be asked to provide information about a conviction history unless you receive a contingent offer of employment . The County will make an individualized assessment of whether your conviction history has a direct or adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job, and consider potential mitigating factors, including, but not limited to, evidence and extent of rehabilitation, recency of the offense(s), and age at the time of the offense(s). If asked to provide information about a conviction history, any convictions or court records which are exempted by a valid court order do not have to be disclosed.

NO SHARING USER ID AND PASSWORD
All applicants must file their applications online using their own user ID and password. Using a family member or friend's user ID and password may erase a candidate's original application record.

DEPARTMENT CONTACT:
HR Examinations Unit: (213) 972-7034
HR Examinations Unit Email: exams@dmh.lacounty.gov
Analyst Contact Phone: Irene San, (323) 705-4074
Analyst Contact Email: isan@dmh.lacounty.gov

ADA COORDINATOR PHONE: (323) 705 - 4074
TELETYPE PHONE: (800) 735-2922
CALIFORNIA RELAY SERVICES PHONES: (800) 735-2922

For detailed information, please click here

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• Los Angeles County

• (800) 970-5478

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