Mobile Counselor III (Project Respond)

Mobile Counselor III (Project Respond)

Job Overview

Location/Schedule: This position is based out of the Kerns building in NE Portland, OR, but is a community-based position. The schedule for this position is Sunday through Tuesday, overnights, 9:00 p.m. to 7:30 a.m.

Position: Mobile Counselor III

Program: Project Respond

Cascadia's Mission and Vision:

Mission: Cascadia Health delivers whole health care – integrated mental health and addiction services, primary care, and housing – to promote hope and support the well-being of the communities we serve.

Vision: We envision a community where everyone benefits from whole health care, experiences well-being, and has a self-directed, connected life.

Position Description: The Mobile Counselor III provides immediate mobile crisis response, risk assessment, and crisis stabilization for adults and children in Multnomah County. This role, grounded in a trauma-informed, strengths-based approach, involves collaborating with mental health and physical health care providers, police agencies, emergency departments, schools, and social service organizations to ensure the best possible treatment for clients. Responsibilities include triaging mental health crisis calls, assessing risk, coordinating crisis responses, initiating involuntary holds as needed, and facilitating connections to mental health services. The Mobile Counselor III also documents interactions and ensures compliance with agency and regulatory standards.

Essential Responsibilities

This position description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of responsibilities or an all inclusive job description.

• Provide immediate mobile response to individuals experiencing mental health crises in Multnomah County.  

• Triage mental health crisis calls as they come into the office from the Multnomah County Call Center and law enforcement agencies.  

• Identify and assess risk factors for harm to self or others in the context of the client’s current psycho-social state via interview with client and with consideration given to collateral information; consider and articulate potential outcomes of various interventions, discuss their risks and benefits, and formulate why a particular course of action was pursued in lieu of other options; opt for least intrusive and most supportive intervention.   

• Initiate involuntary transport holds for individuals deemed at risk of harm to self and/or others following County guidelines.  

• Coordinate responses to crisis situations with community agencies and service providers.  

• Provide assessment dispositions to treatment providers and emergency departments as appropriate.  

• Assess for personal safety in the environment and request law enforcement support as appropriate.  

• Collaborate with law enforcement agencies to determine risk of intervention and develop plans for approach of clients in crises.  

• Provide information and facilitate linkage to mental health treatment and other social services.  

• Consult with teammates, supervisors, program managers, and program medical directors as appropriate.  

• Operate in a sometimes ambiguous and frequently changing work environment.  

• Respect client rights and responsibilities and demonstrate professional boundaries and ethics. 

• Adhere to mandatory abuse reporting laws and HIPAA requirements. 

• Document and maintain electronic health