Mental Health Licensed Clinical Social Workers

The USC Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences is seeking a licensed clinical social worker to perform a wide variety of professional social work services for persons suffering from severe mental health and emotional disturbances, including but not limited to effects of dementias as well as substance use disorder. The incumbent will assist patients and their families in understanding and finding solutions to complex problems that lead to and result from mental illness and severe emotional disturbances. They will function independently and with an interdisciplinary team, while consistently and effectively applying a wide variety of psychotherapeutic techniques/methods in the treatment of clients with a wide range of mental illnesses. Such interventions include clinical case management and crisis intervention, including thorough suicide assessments, safety plans, safe discharge planning and coordination, and focused, brief post-discharge mental health therapy and services coordination support. Successful applicants will be providing direct services to Keck Medicine os USC patients, staff, and providers.

This is a full-time clinical faculty position with an academic appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and clinical service assignment at Keck Hospital of USC / Norris Cancer Hospital, and USC Health Sciences Campus Ambulatory Clinics. A generous benefits package includes: Medical, dental, vision, life insurance, long-term care, disability, malpractice coverage, significant retirement benefits (USC makes a 10% contribution when you contribute 5%); tuition assistance for you and your family; paid professional days and parental leave; access to free continuing education credits through our Grand Rounds lecture series; and generous paid time off. Information about benefits can be found here. The schedule for this position is primarily in-person (this is nota remote position).

Essential Functions:

*Report to the Chief Mental Health and Wellness Officer (CMHWO) and co-managed by Senior Director of Care Coordination.
*Interview patients in Keck Hospital, Norris Hospital, and USC Health Sciences Campus outpatient settings who need psychiatric assistance on an emergency basis. Utilize crisis intervention techniques to prevent hospitalization or refer to inpatient community psychiatric facilities if needed.
*Interview individuals and/or significant others to obtain family, social, employment, medical, substance abuse and mental health treatment history.
*Assess the patient's functioning in their environmental setting.
*Serve as lead point-person for mental health emergency intervention, including coordinating, as needed, with law enforcement, DPS, risk management, employee relations and mental health emergency intervention teams by evaluating the behavior of persons to determine if they are, because of a mental disorder, dangerous to themselves, others, or gravely disabled.
*Conduct suicide and homicidal ideation risk assessments and provides recommendation to the multi-disciplinary and medical team.
*Participate in multi-disciplinary team conferences to discuss and evaluate the nature of the client's problem and to evaluate the client's progress.
*Establish a treatment plan designed to resolve or cope with the mental or emotional problem. The treatment plan may include referral to another treatment source such as a psychologist, psychiatrist for medication, or another agency.
*Provide psychosocial support to individuals, groups, families, and significant others.
*Determine priorities for problems to be resolved, interventions utilized, and the need for changes in the treatment goals.
*Develop a care coordination plan designed to resolve or cope with the mental or emotional problem.
*Determine care coordination priorities for crisis intervention, and necessity of modifying treatment goals at successive intervals during the treatment process.
*Provide case management services to secure resources for clients, families and significant others to achieve treatment goals.
*Provide short-term mental health after care to relevant patients post discharge.
*Provide care navigation support to relevant patients, helping them connect to a longer-term mental health support.
*Manage the initial de-escalation and immediate safety response for employees experiencing potentially life-threatening mental health crisis.
*Assist clients, families, and significant others in understanding the mental health problem and their reactions to the problems, accepting the need for treatment, working toward the solution of the problem and stresses interfering with treatment or social functioning, strengthening patients and families and significant others acceptance of and participation in treatment recommendations.
*Provide mental health consultation services to other health disciplines.
*Participate in social work student affiliate programs for training professional social work students through case assignments and technical instruction; assesses and evaluates students' progress and professional development.
*Provide in-service training to social work staff and participates in mental health training programs for medical students and students in the allied health fields.

The annual base salary range for this position is $95,000-$105,000. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state, and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.

The Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences is committed to attracting and nurturing a diverse community dedicated to providing culturally informed, high-quality behavioral healthcare to a multicultural population. Both in our work environment and clinical practice, we embrace diversity across multiple dimensions. We aim to provide a safe, inclusive environment for our faculty, staff, residents, fellows, trainees, volunteers, patients, colleagues, and the multitude of stakeholders with whom we work. Through our clinical services, educational programs, research studies, and policy initiatives, we are committed to addressing health care disparities for historically underserved groups; to combating racism and anti-Blackness at all levels; and to promoting and ensuring social justice.

USC strongly values diversity, equity, and inclusion and is committed to equal opportunity in employment. We prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, veteran status, marital status, or any other legally protected status. All genders, BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+, people with disabilities, veterans, bicultural/multicultural and bilingual/multilingual individuals are encouraged to apply.

Required materials: CV and cover letter expressing interest and fit for the position.

Minimum/Desired Qualifications:

*Master’s degree in social work from an accredited graduate school of social work.
*A valid and active license as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker issued by the California Department of Consumer Affairs, Board of Behavioral Sciences.
*At least 5 years of experience in a medical setting and mental health social work crisis intervention.
*Application of professional skills and possession of extensive knowledge pertaining to the principles, practices, and theory of psychiatric social work.
*Ability to de-escalate, and practice with trauma-informed, culturally responsive lens.
*Training-related duties and responsibilities require the application of basic leadership and training principles to provide program direction for both graduate students and unlicensed clinical staff.
*Working knowledge of electronic medical health records systems.
*Experience working within a hospital or medical system environment.
*Resilient, self-aware, and able to thrive in a fast paced, dynamic environment.
*Commitment to the highest ethical standards of professional practice and professional integrity.
*Effectively works in a highly diverse, multicultural, and LGBTQIA2S+ affirmative environment.
*Desire to continue to grow as a professional; committed to excellence and lifelong learning.