Behavioral Health Specialist Senior

Department: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department

Salary: $89,552.00 - $128,730.99 Commensurate with Experience

Welcome to the City of Charlotte

Charlotte is America’s Queen City, opening her arms to a diverse and inclusive community of residents, businesses and visitors alike. Here you will find a safe, family-oriented city where people work together to help everyone thrive. The mission of the City of Charlotte is to deliver quality public services and promote the safety, health, and quality of life for all residents.

Our guiding principles include:

• Attracting and retaining a skilled and diverse workforce

• Valuing teamwork, openness, accountability, productivity, and employee development

• Providing all customers with courteous, responsive, accessible, and seamless quality services

• Taking initiative to identify, analyze, and solve problems

• Collaborating with stakeholders to make informed decisions

SUMMARY

The Senior Behavioral Health Specialist with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) provides a variety of professional services. The position will provide therapy to traumatized/distressed employees of CMPD; training incident debriefing counselors; coordinating critical incident stress debriefs; group counseling sessions; teaching police academy courses; and maintaining confidential records.

This position may be subject to after-hours callback to support during emergency response and other critical situations.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Establishes and maintains a wellness program for employees considered high risk for secondary trauma due to the nature of their assignment in the department.
• Supervises employees, as first line supervisors, to include handling all related personnel issues and concerns.
• Provides referral care for all employees; provides therapy to traumatized or distressed officers; performs diagnostic assessments and applies appropriate therapeutic techniques and intervention; continuously monitors therapy progress; provides referrals to other health care facilities/professionals, as needed.
• Maintains security and confidentiality of information created or encountered in the performance of assigned duties in strict adherence with all applicable laws and regulations.
• Provides crisis counseling in the field, and the office for individuals experiencing acute episodes; evaluates patients and arranges for voluntary or involuntary admission to facilities for observation and treatment.
• Conducts critical incident group debriefings with all involved personnel (sworn and civilian), as appropriate.
• Organizes, develops, and serves as clinical advisors to, the Department Peer Support Program including participation in the selection and training of new members.
• Provides training and instruction to police employees; develops and presents Police Psychology curriculum providing training related to resilience and positive coping mechanisms.
• Conducts research and maintains knowledge on applicable therapy techniques and relevant reference materials related to police psychology.
• Performs other duties of a similar nature and level as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in psychology or related human service field with coursework in behavior analysis
• Licensed Professional Counselor
• Three (3) years of experience
  • Requires one of the following licensures with the ability to practice in North Carolina:
    • Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
    • Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC)
    • Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Supervisor (LCMHCS)
    • or similar certifications and/or licenses issued by the State of North Carolina. 

Licensing/Certifications:

A valid License from the North Carolina license social work, or clinician with no history of complaints or disciplinary action.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Principles and practices of clinical and/or police psychology.
• Methods of diagnostic assessment of psychological health needs.
• Psychological treatment methods of acute stress disorders, trauma and related illnesses.
• Principles and practices of program administration and management.
• Best practices, trends and emerging technologies.
• Principles and methods of qualitative and quantitative research.
• Principles and applications of critical thinking and analysis.
• Principles and practices of group facilitation and building consensus.
• Applicable federal, state and local laws, codes, regulations (based on assignment).
• Customer service principles.
• Specialized equipment relevant to area of assignment.
• Modern office technology.
• Performing clinical psychological assessments;
• Providing psychological care and treatment related to traumatic stress and incidents;
• Providing appropriate therapeutic techniques and intervention, or making resource referrals as required;
• Providing consultation and serving as a department liaison and subject matter expert.
• Preparing and delivering training curriculum and related presentations.
• Researching industry trends, solutions and best practices.
• Reading, analyzing, evaluating, interpreting and summarizing written materials and statistical data.
• Exercising political acumen, tact and diplomacy.
• Maintaining confidential assessment and treatment files and records.
• Interpreting and applying applicable laws, codes, regulations and standards (based on assignment).
• Providing customer service.
• Utilizing a computer and relevant software applications.
• Utilizing communication and interpersonal skills as applied to interaction with coworkers, supervisors, the general public and others to sufficiently exchange or convey information and to receive work direction.

ADA and Other Requirements:

Positions in this class typically require grasping, talking, hearing, seeing, and repetitive motions.

Physical Requirements:

• Essential and marginal functions may require maintaining physical condition necessary for sitting, standing, climbing, or walking for extended periods of time
• Light to moderate lifting and carrying; some crouching, stooping, squatting, crawling, reaching, pushing, and pulling when performing tasks
• Ability to see, hear, and communicate information effectively
• Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects including the human body.

Sensory Requirements:

• Concentrated and attentive use of one or more senses (visual, audio, and other sensory modalities) for proofreading, data entry, tabulating data.
• Ability to operate in an environment with frequent interruptions from people and or noises, which in return could result in some level of stress, fatigue, or strain.
• Comprehend written information in work-related documents.
• Ability to hear, understand, and distinguish speech.

Working Conditions:

Work is routinely performed in an indoor office environment. May be required to be on call and/or work outside of normal business hours.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

The City’s Background Check Policy requires background checks to be conducted on final internal or external candidate(s) applying for any position with the City of Charlotte. The type of information that will be collected as part of a background check includes, but is not limited to: reference checks, social security verification, education verification, criminal conviction record check, and, if applicable, a credit history check, sex offender registry and motor vehicle records check.

Background checks must be in compliance with all federal and state statutes, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The checks must be consistent with the guidelines set forth by these laws requiring organizations to obtain a candidate’s written authorization before obtaining a criminal background report, motor vehicle records check or credit report; and to properly store and dispose of information derived from such reports.

Final candidates must pass a pre-employment drug-screening test and physical examination. During the selection process, candidates may be asked to take a skills test, and/or participate in other assessments.

The City of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation, political affiliation or on the basis of actual or perceived gender as expressed through dress, appearance, or behavior.

Our culture is to serve the community honorably.

HOW TO APPLY

Apply online.

Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job.

You are welcome to visit the City of Charlotte Human Resources Department lobby, where self-service application kiosks are available. They are located in our office at 700 East 4th Street, Suite 200, Charlotte, NC 28202. We are open Monday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (EST), excluding official City holidays.

For questions about your application or the hiring process, please email [email protected]

The City of Charlotte is committed to making our services and programs accessible to all. Upon request, auxiliary aids, written materials in alternate formats, language access, and other reasonable accommodations or modifications will be provided. To make a request, please fill out the Innovation & Technology ADA request form or call 704.336.4120.

BENEFITS

The City of Charlotte provides a comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees.

Click here to learn more about the City of Charlotte’s benefits.

The City of Charlotte is a drug and alcohol-free workplace.