Camino Health Center·Lake Forest, California
The Behavioral Health Specialist provides comprehensive mental health services, including assessments, crisis intervention, and psychotherapy to patients of all ages. They work collaboratively with medical teams to integrate behavioral health into primary care and ensure high-quality, patient-centered support.
The Behavioral Health Specialist provides behavioral health services to patients of all ages at Camino Health Center.
The Behavioral Health Specialist work alongside the health center’s medical teams to provide comprehensive whole person care.
The Behavioral Health Specialists provides same day mental health consults, psychosocial assessments, crisis intervention, psychotherapy, alcohol and drug screening using the SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment), education/support groups and resource information.
The Behavioral Health Specialist is the link between Camino Health Center, the community, and other local agencies that provide services for this population.
Behavioral health services will be provided on site at Camino Health Center and with other community partnerships.
Ensure that the core values of Camino Health Center – dignity, excellence, service and justice are carried out within daily tasks.
Demonstrates values-based competencies in line with the four core values that are the foundation of all activities performed by employees in order to achieve the mission of the Camino Health Center.
Dignity: Demonstrates competence in communication and interpersonal relations
Excellence: Demonstrates competence in continuous improvement, continuous learning, and teamwork/collaboration
Service: Demonstrates competence in customer/patient focus, adaptability, and shaping change
Justice: Demonstrates competence in community orientation, stewardship, and strategic planning and action
Clinical Quality
Provide high-quality, patient-centered, and values-based primary behavioral health services.
Uses-strengths-based, wellness, resilience, and recovery models in conceptualizing the behavioral and care.
Effectively use huddles, and integration work to meet treatment and preventative care measures.
Provide psycho-education to patients regarding their mental health and/or substance use disorders.
Advocate for, teach, and support illness and whole health self-management and recovery approaches to health conditions
Provides timely and clinically indicated referrals to community providers for patients who are experiencing severe and persistent mental illness and/or substance use disorders.
Appropriate and complete referrals to specialty mental health care and SUD as needed.
Collaborate with medical, dental, psychiatry, optometry and other healthcare team members as appropriate for integration, consultation, and referral and follow-up.
Assist Medical Director and Behavioral Health Director in program development, implementation, and evaluation as necessary.
Active participation in the health center’s quality assurance and peer-review programs.
Cooperate in investigations, patient grievances, and requests from payers.
Participates in all aspects of the Behavioral Health Integration services at Camino Health Center; huddles, warm hand offs, provision of resources to patients and staff, and treatment planning.
Demonstrate cultural awareness and humility. Understanding of culture and its function to human behavior, recognizing the strengths that exist in all cultures.
Comply with California mandated reporting under the Welfare and Institutions Code sections 15610.15610.70.
Patient Experience
Provide patient care services in the spirit of the health center’s core values. Convey empathic behavior and communication with patients and encourage all members of the care team to do so as well.
Deliver services to the patients’ satisfaction as measured by the Follow My Health Patient Satisfaction Survey.
Lead team in efforts to increase patient satisfaction survey completion rate.
Collaborate with the behavioral health director and medical management team to investigate, respond and improve processes related to patient grievances received from payers, social media, and comment boxes/We Care emails.
Collaborate with the medical management team and BH Director to improve workflows, cycle times and the overall patient experience.
Access/Utilization
Respond immediately, if at all possible, to requests for consultation or intervention from other providers.
Provide primary behavioral health care services in accordance with health center policies, NASW or CAMFT professional standards and board approved privileging.
Provide coverage to the health center’s evening and weekend schedules.
Practice in an efficient and cost effective manner.
Provide leadership in problem solving to see late arriving patients, difficult patient calls, and patients with high risk acuity needs.
Collaborate with the BH case manager and care team to maximize patient same day BH access.
Supervision of Clinical Staff/Leadership
Assist associate clinical social workers in the assessment and treatment of patients as necessary. If appropriate, assume responsibility for the clinical situation.
Assume leadership role with care team. Promote positive interactions within the team and engages members to achieve quality, patient experience and access goals.
Collaborate with the behavioral health and management teams to develop support staff to their highest potential.
Active participation in department and clinic-wide meetings/trainings.
Attend in-services and conferences to continue professional growth and development.
Documentation
Complete clear and defensible documentation of patient visits and/or telephone encounters.
Appropriate and accurate code encounters.
Take reasonable steps to ensure that documentation in EHR is accurate and reflects the services provided.
Close encounters in accordance with health center protocols.
Bilingual in English/Spanish OR English/Farsi preferred; experience in and out-patient or community mental health setting; previous experience with motivational interviewing, crisis intervention, problem-solving therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy and solution-based counseling
This position is eligible for benefits
Candidates must hold a Master's degree in Social Work and an active LCSW license in the state of California. A minimum of 3 years of experience in direct behavioral health services is required, along with current BLS/ACLS certification.
Market context
In California, behavioral-health roles tied to substance use disorder counseling and case management are typically supported by ongoing community and treatment-program demand. These positions are competitive because employers often look for a high school diploma, at least 2 years of SUD counseling or case management experience, and current Registered or Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor status. Review the AI-summarized requirements and benefits here to quickly compare fit and note that professional development and paid continuing education are listed as benefits.