Mental Health Worker I/II/III

About Casa Pacifica

For 30 years, Casa Pacifica has been helping at-risk children, their families, and young adults thrive. As the largest non-profit provider of children’s and adolescent mental health services in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, Casa Pacifica specializes in treating children and young adults who struggle with complex mental health challenges such as emotional dysregulation, self-harm, anxiety, and depression. Our multi-disciplinary staff of highly trained clinicians, psychologists, educators, therapists, and mental health workers provide exceptional, evidence-based care to help youth overcome a wide array of mental health challenges.

Casa Pacifica’s Camarillo, Goleta, and Santa Maria offices work with more than 2,000 at-risk children, families, and young adults annually in outpatient, residential, home, and community-based settings. Our main Camarillo campus, located on 25 acres of beautiful park-like grounds, provides a nurturing and therapeutic environment for youth to overcome challenges, find hope, and heal. We are a diverse and inclusive team providing excellent services to all our surrounding communities. Our team members are empowered to share their identities, ideas, and perspectives. A culture built on diversity, equity, and inclusivity is essential to creating a safe and healing environment at Casa Pacifica.

About Our Programs

• Camino A Casa: This private insurance-based residential treatment program serves youth ages 12-17, helping them overcome a wide range of mental health concerns through individual and group therapy, family therapy, and medication management. Camino a Casa also offers both a Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP).
• Short Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP): This publicly funded residential program provides trauma-informed mental health treatment to address symptoms that interfere with youth’s functioning, as well as develop social, emotional, and self-regulatory skills to increase safe behaviors and enhance emotional stability and resilience.
• Transitional Youth Services: This program supports emancipated young adults ages 18-25 by providing housing and intensive case management services to assist them in becoming self-sufficient, independent, and well-adjusted adults in their communities.
• Community-Based Services: This program offers intensive home-based therapy and case management services with the goal of helping both privately funded and system-involved youth and their families maintain a healthy family and/or placement environment.
• Non-Public School (NPS): Our onsite WASC-accredited school serves students in grades K-12 who have needs that fall outside what a traditional classroom setting can provide. Our NPS specifically addresses students’ IEP goals and provides a comprehensive and supportive learning environment where students in both our residential and community programs can thrive.

Responsibilities

• Communicates critical information about each youth assigned to the treatment team.
• Communicates daily with members of the treatment team about the youth’s progress.
• Assists in developing daily and weekly goals for the assigned youth.
• Provides behavioral coaching to youth, individually and in group sessions, to assist in identifying and dealing with difficult feelings and thoughts that result in maladaptive behaviors, as well as teaching appropriate replacement behaviors.
• Ensures effective crisis prevention and intervention through input and promoting awareness of safety plans and de-escalation strategies.
• Communicates changes in or achievement of behavioral goals.
• Integrates the youth's treatment plan and clinician's recommendations when working with the youth.
• Assures that safety plans are in place and understood by cottage staff.
• Provides required trauma-informed care, supervision, and treatment in accordance with milieu program and individual treatment plans.
• Facilitates youth in the development of social skills, personal competence, individual responsibility, and self-esteem; provides positive reinforcement experiences.
• Participates in individual youth therapy, family meetings, and planning conferences.
• Provides transportation as needed.
• Engages and participates in group recreation activities and events.
• Develops and assists in leading group activities, experiential outings, and activities of daily living.
• Attends and participates in cottage/program and general staff training programs; attends outside training events and conferences as requested.
• Cares for clothing, shelter, and other basic needs of assigned youth in a manner that contributes to achievement of treatment goals.
• Provides crisis management and intervention and participates in Therapeutic Crises Intervention (TCI)-approved de-escalation of youth, as necessary.
• Maintains confidentiality in all matters within the organization with respect to personnel, operations, and clients.
• Plans, organizes, and facilitates MHW-run groups on a variety of topics.
• Regularly conducts 15-minute checks to ensure the safety of youth when working overnight shifts and as needed for youth on High Risk “HR” status.
• Participates in weekly group and/or individual supervision meetings with supervisor.

Requirements

All Mental Health Workers must meet at least one of the following requirements before employment:

• Mental Health Worker I:
  • Bachelor of Arts or Sciences Degree in a related field.
  • Have a valid Child Development Training Permit, or Vocational Training Certificate; or completed 12 semester units of Early Childhood Education and have at least 100 hours of experience working with youth.
  • Previously been employed as a staff or volunteer at a group home or short-term residential therapeutic center for 1 year, and/or prior experience working with severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents.
  • Relevant life experience in the child welfare, mental health, or juvenile justice system as a consumer, mentor, or caregiver, or other relevant experience as determined by the department.
  • Internal and external candidates require 1 year of experience in facilitating groups, planning therapeutic activities for groups, milieu management, therapeutic interventions, and collaboration with the clinical team and families.
  • In addition, must meet one of the following billing requirements:
    • A minimum of two (2) years of full-time experience providing direct care in a mental health setting and/or support services to mental health clients and their families.
    • Possesses a bachelor's degree in a mental health-related field (Social-Behavioral Sciences including psychology, social work, or sociology) AND a minimum of 6 months full-time experience providing direct care in a mental health setting and/or support services to mental health clients and their families.
• Mental Health Worker II:
  • Meets all MHW I job duties.
  • Responsible for conducting On-the-Job Training (OJT) for new hires during their shift.
  • Serves as a field training mentor, guiding new hires through in-vivo training.
  • Completes follow-ups on incident reports and ensures they are sent to all required parties.
  • Provides training to staff on documentation, incident reports, general cottage rules, etc.
  • Co-signs progress notes for assigned staff.
  • Supports Cottage Supervisors with 90-day introductions and annual performance reviews.
  • Leads the shift and manages pre- and post-shift activities.
  • Schedules and ensures that all staff on shift take their breaks.
• Mental Health Worker III:
  • Meets all MHW II and I job duties.
  • Delivers agency-wide training sessions on TCI, Person-Centered Planning, CPR, LSCI, and others.
  • Works to ensure that Casa Pacifica complies with regulations and requirements.
  • Offers support to all cottage staff, including supervision as needed.
  • Organizes, plans, and manages organizational events, including specialty group events for youth, and cultural and team-building activities for staff.
  • Aids in developing programming, structure, behavioral coaching, and support for the program.
  • Assists with timecard approval.
  • Supports cottage supervisors with 90-day introductions and annual performance reviews.

Qualifications

Credentials: Certified in Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI), Life Skills Crisis Intervention (LSCI), and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). Additionally trained in Water Safety, Mandated Abuse Reporting, and Bloodborne Pathogen training, along with other helpful certifications and training. Otherwise, training will be provided on the job site. BICM certification is also beneficial.

Other Skills and Abilities:

• Strong organizational, communication, and leadership skills; ability to motivate.
• Good working understanding of child and adolescent development, behavior management, and group process.
• Aptitude to deal with severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents in a shelter care setting.
• Bilingual in Spanish, preferred.
• Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals.
• Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.
• Mathematical skills to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.
• Ability to define problems, solve practical problems, and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.

Pay

• Mental Health Worker I: $19 to $28 per hour.
• Mental Health Worker II: $22 to $32 per hour.
• Mental Health Worker III: $23.50 to $36 per hour.
• Full-time night shift roles are eligible for a night shift pay differential.
• Salary range: $45,000-$60,000 annually.

Benefits

• Comprehensive Benefits package.
• 401k auto-enrollment at 3% with up to 5% fully vested employer matching contributions made after the first year of service.
• 9 paid holidays.
• Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance options.
• Flexible Spending and Dependent care programs.
• Excellent Training opportunities – including opportunities for CEUs.
• Education/Tuition Assistance programs.
• Group Discount Pet Insurance.
• Aflac Hospital, Critical Illness, Accidental & Dental supplemental plan options.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP).