Job Description

Posting number: 55355

Department: Corrections

Division: Inmate Health Care

Job classification: Mental Health Clinician 3

Posting type: Open & Promotional

Categories: Corrections, Health Services, Mental Health

Summary

Effective July 1, 2024 the wage for this position increased by 5%. The wage listed in this job posting reflects the increase.

The Department of Corrections, Division of Health & Rehabilitation Services, is recruiting for a Mental Health Clinician 3 position located in Eagle River, Alaska.

Watch Alaska DOC HARS video here:

Behavior Health

What You Will Be Doing:

• Coordinate, supervise, and provide comprehensive mental health services to incarcerated individuals at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, delivering both individual and group-based psychotherapeutic interventions.
• Through direct interviews, clinical observations, and evaluation of existing history, apply clinical expertise to conduct mental health screenings, evaluations, treatment planning, crisis intervention, and ongoing therapeutic casework.
• Assess an individual’s diagnosis and risk, respond effectively to emergent situations, and make clinical recommendations on appropriate treatment.
• Perform and facilitate therapeutic group programming focused on cognitive-behavioral skills.
• As a master’s level mental health clinician and supervisor, oversee mental health services, complete performance evaluations, conduct quality assurance measures, develop others in their abilities, and train staff on department standards and mental health disorders.

Our Mission, Values, and Culture:

The HARS Mission Statement: To provide timely access to essential care through an evidence-based multidisciplinary approach. We are committed to a culture of professionalism, quality and safety.

We seek applicants who are interested in furthering the HARS Mission and who will strive to uphold the Division's Core Values of Respect, Integrity, Compassion, Teamwork, Safety and Growth.

Benefits of Joining Our Team:

This position offers the unique opportunity to make a profound impact on a vulnerable population, supporting rehabilitation and contributing to public safety. The role provides a deeply meaningful way to serve one’s community by promoting mental wellness and reducing recidivism. Being part of our collaborative multidisciplinary team allows for shared knowledge and diverse perspectives, which support professional growth and improve patient outcomes.

The Working Environment You Can Expect:

This position oversees the mental health programming needs at the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, a secure facility for female individuals. As the state’s only all-female facility that also serves the greater Anchorage area as a booking facility, this position will work in a collaborative environment with a multidisciplinary team to secure the best possible outcome for each individual.

Who We Are Looking For:

We are interested in candidates who possess some or all of the following position specific competencies:

• Decision Making: Makes sound, well-informed, and objective decisions; perceives the impact and implications of decisions; commits to action, even in uncertain situations, to accomplish organizational goals; causes change.
• Supervision: Plans, distributes, and monitors work assignments; sets task priorities; evaluates work performance and provides feedback to others on their performance; ensures that staff are appropriately selected, utilized, and developed, and that they are treated in a fair and equitable manner. Assignments include the authority and responsibility to recommend or independently take action to employ (i.e., appoint, transfer, promote), discipline or discharge, or adjudicate grievances of direct reports.
• Oral and Written Communication: Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral and written presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately.

Examples of duties

Doctoral degree OR Master’s degree from an accredited college in counseling, psychology, social work, child guidance, vocational rehabilitation, or a closely related field.

AND

Any combination of education and/or experience that provides the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities in:

• Accountability: Accepts responsibility for own actions and decisions and demonstrates commitment to accomplish work in an ethical, efficient, and cost-effective manner.
• Developing Others: Develops the ability of others to perform and contribute to the organization by providing ongoing feedback and by providing opportunities to learn through formal and informal methods.
• Managing Human Resources: Plans, distributes, coordinates, and monitors work assignments of others; evaluates work performance and provides feedback to others on their performance; ensures that staff are appropriately selected, utilized, and developed, and that they are treated in a fair and equitable manner.
• Psychology: Knowledge of the concepts, principles, and theories of human behavior and performance in various contexts, mental processes, or the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Therapy and Counseling: Knowledge of diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental ailments, and career guidance.

Equivalent to those typically gained by:

Progressively responsible professional experience performing psychotherapeutic casework.

“Progressively responsible” means indicating growth and/or advancement in complexity, difficulty, or level of responsibility.

“Professional experience” means work that is creative, analytical, evaluative, and interpretive; requires a range and depth of specialized knowledge of the profession's principles, concepts, theories, and practices; and is performed with the power or right to decide or act according to one's own judgment.

"Training" and "education" in this guidance are synonyms for the process of acquiring knowledge and skills through instruction. It includes instruction through formal and informal methods (such as classroom, on-line, self-study, and on-the-job), from accredited and unaccredited sources, and long-duration (such as a post-secondary degree) and short-duration (such as a seminar) programs.

"Typically gained by" means the prevalent, usual method of gaining the competencies expected for entry into the job.

Special Note:

Some positions require the incumbent be licensed as a Clinical Social Worker or a Licensed Professional Counselor. This requirement will be addressed in the job posting.

Qualifications

If selected for an interview,

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

If selected for an interview, the applicant must provide the following:

• Official or unofficial transcripts from highest level of education completed
• Three professional references

RECRUITMENT DIFFICULTIES

Starting salary may be approved up to Step D - $3,989.60, if criteria are met.

LEGAL EMPLOYMENT

The State’s online recruitment system, Workplace Alaska, requires applicants to certify that they have a legal right to accept employment in the United States. It is the responsibility of the employee to maintain the appropriate documentation to accept or continue legal employment. The State of Alaska does not function in the role as an employer sponsor.

EDUCATION

If post-secondary education is required to meet the minimum qualifications, you must fill in the Education section of the application. If you have not obtained a degree, please indicate the number of units completed. Copies of transcripts are required to verify educational credentials if used to meet the minimum qualifications for a position. Transcripts can be attached at the time of application or provided at the time of interview.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR FOREIGN EDUCATION

Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the minimum qualifications listed above. If utilizing this education, you must show that the education credentials have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and that such education has been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs; or an accredited U.S. post-secondary institution reports the other institution as one whose transcript is given full value, or full value is given in subject areas applicable to the curricula at the post-secondary institution. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying.

WORK EXPERIENCE

If using work experience not already documented in your application, also provide the employer name, your job title, dates of employment, and whether full-or part-time. Applications will be reviewed to determine if the responses are supported and minimum qualifications are clearly met. If they are not, the applicant may not advance to the interview and selection phase of the recruitment.

PREA NOTIFICATION

The Department of Corrections follows and maintains federal and state requirements standards including, but not limited to, Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) standards which apply to all public and private institutions that house adult or juvenile offenders. PREA standards preclude the department from hiring or promoting anyone who has engaged in, or been convicted of any conduct which would violate PREA standards related to sexual assault including:

• Sexual abuse in a prison, jail, lockup, community confinement facility, juvenile facility, or other institution;
• Convicted of engaging or attempting to engage in sexual activity in the community facilitated by force, overt or implied threats of force, or coercion, or if the victim did not consent or was unable to consent or refuse; or
• Has been civilly or administratively adjudicated to have engaged in the activity described above.

CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECKS/APSIN/ACOMS

Please be aware – this position requires the use of the Alaska Public Safety Information Network (APSIN). A security clearance issued by the Department of Public Safety (DPS) is necessary to use APSIN. DPS will deny security clearance for any applicant who has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor in this state or another jurisdiction, or who may be a fugitive from justice. Additionally, security clearance will be withdrawn if DPS discovers that material information was falsified or omitted at the time of the initial application for security clearance.

FINGERPRINT NOTICE

All Department of Corrections employees are required to be fingerprinted. The successful candidate must pass a criminal history check.

EEO STATEMENT

The State of Alaska complies with Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Individuals with disabilities, who require accommodation, auxiliary aides or services, or alternative communication formats, please call 1-800-587-0430 or 465-4095 in Juneau or (907) 465-3412 (TTY) or correspond with the Division of Personnel & Labor Relations at: P.O. Box 110201, Juneau, AK 99811-0201. The State of Alaska is an equal-opportunity employer.

WORKPLACE ALASKA APPLICATION QUESTIONS & ASSISTANCE

Questions regarding application submission or system operation errors should be directed to the Workplace Alaska hotline at 1-800-587-0430 (toll-free) or (907) 465-4095 if you are in the Juneau area. Requests for information may also be emailed to recruitment.services@alaska.gov.

For applicant password assistance, please visit: https://www.governmentjobs.com/OnlineApplication/User/ResetPassword

Supplemental information

Kim Curtis

Deputy Chief Mental Health Officer

kim.curtis@alaska.gov