MFLC Assignment Ready Counselor

About the role

This position supports On Demand Events, Surges, Summer Camps, and Backfills for the MFLC program. The Assignment Ready Counselor (ARC) provides short-term, surge, and on-demand coverage for military needs such as post-deployment events or to cover existing assignments. Summer ARC counselors cover assignments from May 15 through September 15, aligning with the school summer break.

Responsibilities

• Provide the full breadth of Adult or Child and Youth Behavioral (CYB) counseling services to military service members and their families at military installations with minimal guidance and oversight.
• Deliver non-medical counseling, training/health and wellness presentations, and consultation with parents, child daycare centers, schools, and installation command regarding behavioral health issues.
• Assigned to DoDEA schools, community schools, youth programs, summer camps, or on-demand surge assignments as needed.
• Work closely with installation and military branch Points of Contact (POC) to ensure program scope and installation needs are met.
• Provide non-medical, short-term, solution-focused counseling directly to adults, children, and youth of service members, including assessment, brief counseling, consultation, action planning, resource referral, and follow-up.
• Support staff and personnel of CDCs, DoDEA and community schools, youth programs, and summer camps; provide parent training and guidance.
• Deliver training and health and wellness presentations; participate in health fairs and other base/installation activities.
• Enter counselor activity data daily via smartphone or web application while maintaining confidentiality and anonymity of service members and family members.
• Respond to critical incidents and special requests as directed by the POC and approved by the OSD program manager.
• Communicate with Regional Supervisors and participate in regular individual and group supervision, sharing trends and issues on assigned installations.
• Manage duty to warn and restricted reporting situations according to DoD protocol and staff cases with Regional Supervisor/Regional Director.
• Establish and maintain working relationships with community resources and provide appropriate linkages.
• Create a presence on the installation where service members and families feel comfortable approaching the counselor and recognize the program as confidential.
• For CYB counselors: create a presence in child and youth settings, be available to children, youth, and staff, and abide by line-of-sight protocol when working with children.

Other Job Requirements

• Master’s Degree from an accredited graduate program in a mental health-related field or social work.
• Willing to accept assignments of undefined periods with short notice, including weekends.
• Capable of covering full-time assignments ranging from a weekend to two weeks.
• Quickly builds rapport with service personnel, clients, family members, students, parents, and coworkers.
• Adaptable to new working conditions, varying location rules, and different work environments.
• Works effectively with minimal instruction and guidance; listens carefully to provided instructions.
• Participates in regular in-services/training, Quality Improvement committees, or other contract activities with minimal notice.
• Ability to quickly engage and communicate with military members, spouses, or children to accomplish job functions and respond to emergent situations in any physical location on a military installation or within a school setting.
• Ability to traverse short and/or long distances within the base, maneuver through rugged or uneven locations (e.g., steep inclines, stairs, grass), and work in outdoor weather and other military base conditions.
• May need to comply with site-specific requirements such as current immunizations or vaccinations for certain assignments.
• Must prove U.S. Citizenship and be fluent in English.
• Advanced knowledge of brief therapy and solution-focused counseling methods.
• Prior military service/military family member and/or strong familiarity with military culture is desired.
• For CYB positions: must meet Magellan MFLC CYB criteria for experience with children and youth and specialty in child and adolescent development/psychology.

Qualifications

• Current independent licensure as a Mental Health Counselor, Therapist, or Social Worker in any state.
• Valid in-state driver’s license.
• Independently licensed behavioral health clinician.