Crisis Intervention Team Specialist

Job Code: CITSPEC - 113
Revision Date: June 29, 2023

Starting Salary: $21.02 hourly; $43,721 annually
FLSA: Non-Exempt

Overview

We are an agency committed to innovative behavioral health services in trauma-informed care that promote healing and recovery to instill a sense of empowerment and foster a lifelong sense of resilience.

General Description

The position of CIT Specialist is a Crisis Intervention Team assignment where you will be partnered with a police officer assigned from the El Paso Police Department, a Deputy with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, or an officer with the Socorro Police Department that will respond to mental health crisis calls throughout the community and will offer crisis intervention, stabilization, and assessment services while in the field. This unit is operational 365 days a year with rotating four by ten shifts (10-hour shifts, 4 days a week) with morning and afternoon opportunities. Work involves developing short-term contact with clients, client families, and service providers for medical, social, educational, and related service needs.

This class works independently, under limited supervision, reporting major activities through periodic meetings.

Duties and Responsibilities

The functions listed below are those that represent the majority of the time spent working in this position. Management may assign additional functions related to the type of work of the position as necessary.

• Staffs all screenings with Administrator on Duty, the clinician, and or Practitioner on call to provide the most appropriate disposition based on the client's individual needs, using least restrictive environment to stabilize the individual.
• Respond to mental health community crisis calls.
• Provide on- and off-site face-to-face, emergency screening assessments and rapid crisis intervention and crisis management.
• Communicates disposition to the manager on shift and the Crisis Hotline for on and offsite assessments. Will assist mental health response police officer in transporting consumers to service facilities when required.
• Links consumer to immediate crisis stabilization and intervention services under the Crisis & Emergency Services division when required.
• Provides client tailored community referrals and linkage to assist the client in meeting individual needs and psychosocial requirements, to include psychiatric needs.
• If inpatient stabilization is needed, provides ongoing coordination with psychiatric facilities.
• Documents any service delivery, intervention conducted, communication with others to include outside agency personnel with rationale for intervention, date, time, name of person spoken to, and purpose.
• Reviews clinical documentation for quality, completeness, and timeliness.
• This position requires flexibility for work scheduling purposes and requires on-going cross training that involves changes in police or clinical operating procedures to effectively accomplish position duties and meet performance outcomes.
• Acquires and maintains credentialing requirements at all times.
• Complies with all additional unit trainings as designated by unit and center management.
• Exemplifies teamwork through good communication, cooperation, respect and dignity towards clients, co-workers, collaborating agency staff, outside agency personnel, and EHN staff.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Education and Experience Requirements

Requires a Bachelor's degree, Master's degree preferred, in Psychology, Social Sciences or related behavioral field*, supplemented by two (2) years of direct casework/case management experience; or possession of any equivalent combination of education, training, and experience which provides the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Experience with trauma-informed services; cognitive behavioral therapies, including Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT); and motivational therapies including the use of incentives, preferred.

Required Knowledge and Abilities

Knowledge of trauma-informed theories, principals, and practices (includes multi-faceted understanding of concepts such as community trauma, intergenerational and historical trauma, parallel processes, and universal precautions), preferred.

Physical Demands

Performs field work that involves walking or standing some of the time and involves exerting up to 25 pounds of force on a regular and recurring basis or sustained keyboard operations.

Unavoidable Hazards (Work Environment)

• Involves routine and frequent exposure to:
  • Bright/dim light; Dusts and pollen.
  • Extreme heat and/or cold; Wet or humid conditions.
  • Extreme noise levels, Animals/wildlife.
  • Vibration; Fumes and/or noxious odors.
  • Traffic; Moving machinery.
  • Electrical shock; Heights.
  • Radiation; Disease/pathogens.
  • Toxic/caustic chemicals; Explosives; Violence.
  • Other extreme hazards not listed above.

Special Certifications and Licenses

• Must be able to be credentialed as a Qualified Mental Health Practitioner Community Service (QMHP-CS) within the timeframe designated by EHN. 
• Employee must be able to pass an extensive and detailed background investigation to be hired for CIT through the El Paso Police Department or Sheriff's Department.
• Must possess and maintain a valid state Driver's License with an acceptable driving record.
• Must be able to pass a TB, criminal background and drug screen.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Compliance

Emergence Health Network is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires Emergence Health Network to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified persons with disabilities. Prospective and current employees are encouraged to discuss ADA accommodations with management.

Other Job Characteristics

• Staffing requirements, including criteria that staff have diverse disciplinary backgrounds, have necessary State required license and accreditation, and are culturally and linguistically trained to serve the needs of the clinic's patient population.
• Credentialed, certified, and licensed professionals with adequate training in person-centered, family centered, trauma informed, culturally-competent and recovery-oriented care.
• Must be able to wear a ballistic vest and flashlight when required.

Note: This Class Description does not constitute an employment agreement between the Emergence Health Network and an employee and is subject to change by the Emergence Health Network as its needs change.

*Degree Accepted: 

• Psychology
• Social Work
• Medicine
• Nursing
• Rehabilitation
• Counseling
• Sociology
• Human Growth and Development
• Physician Assistant
• Gerontology
• Special Education
• Educational Psychology
• Early Childhood Education
• Early Childhood Intervention