Respond to mental health and substance use crises in the community to provide immediate stabilization and therapeutic options. Coordinate with multi-disciplinary teams to link individuals to essential services and prevent future crisis events.
Recognized nationally as an innovator and leader in developing solutions to homelessness, DESC is a social services organization, supportive housing operator, and licensed behavioral health treatment provider focused on meeting the needs of people experiencing long-term homelessness and living with complex behavioral health and other medical conditions. Approximately 3,000 people are actively receiving services from DESC at any given point in time. Our vision is a community where all people are shown compassion, treated with dignity, and everyone has a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home.
DESC operates five shelter/emergency housing programs, 19 permanent supportive housing facilities with over 1,750 units, several hundred additional scattered site apartments, and a range of behavioral health services including outpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment, residential crisis stabilization, street outreach, mobile crisis response, and treatment for opioid use disorder.
The Mobile Rapid Response Crisis Team (MRRCT or “Meerkat”) at DESC, is a county funded program responsible for addressing the imminent and emergent needs of community members in crisis, in the central region of King County primarily covering the entirety of Seattle. The DESC team has been providing mobile crisis response services to the community for well over a decade.
As a nonprofit with over 45 years of experience focused on serving our community’s adults living with long histories of homelessness, behavioral health, and other disabling conditions, DESC is uniquely positioned to connect people in crisis to the important support and survival services they may need to overcome and prevent future occurrences of crisis, behavioral health distress, or other instabilities in our community.
As a member of DESC's Mobile Rapid Response Crisis Team, you will be on the front lines responding to adults in the community experiencing mental health or substance use crises, as dispatched to us by Crisis Connections (988). You will work in a team alongside other skilled colleagues, including Mental Health Professionals and Certified Peer Counselors. Once called into action, teams of two will assist individuals responding to wherever they are in the community in identifying appropriate therapeutic options and next steps to resolve their crisis, while avoiding unnecessary usage of emergency rooms or other non-therapeutic settings like jail. We are working to stop the trend of criminalizing mental health disabilities and homelessness, and we want to make sure individuals in crisis get the help they need. Following our initial interaction, our teams will also follow up to ensure recommended service connections have been made to prevent future crisis events. The team works all throughout the central region of King County, primarily Seattle, in a wide variety of community settings every day throughout the year, and in all types of weather.
In response to and cooperation with Crisis Connections and other referents (such as police, fire, medics), perform timely outreach services to individuals needing crisis intervention services, assessment, referral, and linkage to needed services. As a member of a multi-disciplinary team, conductive meaningful engagement to provide observation for multi-axial assessments, and substance use disorder assessments. Engage in crisis intervention, stabilization, and related activities. Establish and implement a plan to successfully engage clients in relevant services and other resources. As needed, provide follow-up services aimed at establishing linkage to services for program participants. Complete all data collection and documentation required. Develop and maintain cooperative relationships with programs providing services for the population served. Comply with all agency policies and procedures, and relevant titles of the Washington Administrative Code and Revised Code of Washington. Advocate for clients' access to community resources and services, ensuring that clients' needs are met and rights maintained; consult and collaborate with community providers to ensure continuity of care. Participate in psychiatric consultation, supervision, program meetings and in service trainings; participate in clinical reviews and case conferences for clients on caseload. Provide support to other DESC staff and programs around client crisis situations, including consultation and in-person responses to help assess and prevent emerging crisis events. Participate in verbal de-escalation and be able and willing to assist other staff as needed to maintain a safe, secure environment. Other duties as assigned.
Ability to meet Washington Department of Health requirements for registration as a Registered Agency Affiliated Counselor (AAC) or any other superseding credential. Relevant Bachelor’s degree in social work, psychology, or related behavioral science, OR Associate's degree and two years' experience in mental health or related fields. Interest in working with clients who are difficult to engage and maintain in traditional mental health/substance use disorder programs. Ability to drive an agency or personal vehicle to conduct agency related business. A current Washington State driver's license and insurable driving record are required. Be able to pass a Washington State Criminal background check. Experience and skills in working with mentally ill individuals who are difficult to engage and may resist services. Familiar with Recovery Principles, Crisis Intervention and Stabilization, Integrated Treatment of Co-occurring Disorders, Intensive Case Management, Illness Management, Trauma-Informed Treatment, and relevant Evidenced based/Emerging best practices. Knowledge of Harm Reduction strategies. Strong working knowledge of DSM IV (and its successor). Be able to assess situations quickly and respond appropriately to any type of mental health and/or chemical dependency crisis to ensure the physical and psychological safety of clients. Be willing to seek to understand each client's unique circumstances and personal preferences and goals and incorporate them into the crisis response to help the client regain a sense of control. Assist clients in accessing internal resources to reinforce the client's ability to resolve crisis on their own. Assist clients in identifying unmet needs that may be causing them to have recurrent crisis. Have a strong understanding of recovery and resilience, the value of client partnerships and client choice, and the balance between protection from harm and personal dignity. Possess strong communication and writing skills. Able and willing to provide community outreach anywhere in King County from which a referral may originate. Familiar with King County crisis response system, other relevant community resources, and methods of access. Ability to communicate and work effectively with staff from various backgrounds. Ability to work effectively with clients displaying a wide range of unpleasant and/or bizarre behavior. Subscribe to the philosophy of cooperation and continuity across programs and of consideration and respect for program participants.
Bilingual in Spanish/English (fluent). Bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as social work or psychology. Meet criteria as a Substance Use Disorder Professional (SUDP). Strong applicants are able to demonstrate the ability to be positive in their empathetic responses to all persons; understand the value of meaningful and deep client engagement; have the potential to acquire the necessary knowledge, attitudes and skills of an effective crisis worker; and value a nonjudgmental response to sensitive issues. Candidates should be able to accept feedback and work in a highly collaborative and potentially stressful environment. PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee will be required to sit, drive, walk, stand, communicate with other employees and vendors, is required to lift and carry items weighing up to 10 pounds and to operate computer hardware systems. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. Considerable stress may occur. Employee will be working both indoors and outdoors in all types of weather.
DESC is committed to diversity in the workplace and promotes equal employment opportunities for all staff members and applicants. The Agency will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, caste, marital status, or the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability in any employment practice, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification. Minorities and veterans are encouraged to apply.
Market context
Behavioral health positions in Washington are typically supported by steady demand from outpatient, community, and telehealth settings. These roles are competitive because employers often look for a current unrestricted clinical license, experience with evidence-based therapy, and the ability to work from a HIPAA-compliant home office. Review the AI-summarized requirements and benefits here to quickly confirm fit, then verify your license status and prepare examples of your therapy approach before applying.