Human Services Care Counselor I/II (Open and Promotional)

Description

The County of San Mateo's Human Services Agency is seeking qualified Human Services Care Counselors I/II to fill vacancies in the Children and Family Services branch. Children and Family Services deals with matters of child welfare, more commonly known as Child Protective Services, and provides services to vulnerable families, children, and teens with varying degrees of need. The current vacancy will report to Residential Services however Human Services Care Counselors may be assigned any of the assignments in the job classification. Applicants must be interested in and available to work any assignment based on agency need.

In the Residential Services assignment, counselors provide direct supervision, guidance, behavioral interventions, independent living skills, assistance, and direction to youth in a residential setting (temporary children's shelter and/or short-term residential therapeutic program). These young-people may have various levels of needs, including high level mental health, developmental, and/or social/emotional challenges. The residential program operates 24/7 and staff coverage is required for Day, Swing and Graveyard shift-schedules, including weekends and holidays.

Again, assignments may be interchangeable based on Agency and/or staffing needs and program coverage requirements.

Ideal candidates will have a(n):

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  Experience working in residential program with youth who have experienced trauma and/or abuse, and demonstrated ability to care for the children with a trauma-informed lens
  
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  Ability to demonstrate an understating of the child welfare population, as well as demonstrated ability to respond to the population with a trauma-informed approach.
  
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  Knowledge of parenting skills, family engagement techniques, trauma informed practice, crisis prevention and management of assaulted behavior.
  
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  Experience dealing effectively with diverse youth, parents and private/public agencies and establishing rapport with children and their families in working towards effective goals and solutions.
  
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  Excellent organizational and written/oral communication skills.
  
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  Demonstrated ability to problem solve in situations that require high-level critical thinking and independent judgement.
  
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  Awareness of and ability to utilize proven and/or evidence-based tools, resources, techniques or skills to diffuse highly volatile situations.
  
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  Spanish Speaking is preferred.
  

Human Services Care Counselor I is the trainee level class in this series receiving training and gaining expertise and experience. Incumbents at this level may also serve as Relief staff in the Elysian STRTP and the Receiving Home TSCF.

Human Care Counselor II is the journey level class in this series. Incumbents at this level work under minimal and indirect supervision, function with a greater degree of technical expertise and knowledge in dealing with their assigned work, exercise wide latitude in using discretion, and are called upon to offer technical assistance and/or lead direction to other staff. In the Elysian STRTP and the Receiving Home TSCF assignment incumbents may serve as the primary staff for the shift to which assigned.

The eligible list created from this recruitment will be used to fill the current permanent position vacancy and could be used to fill future full-time, part-time, limited-term, extra-help and Relief positions. The extra-help, at-will positions are paid on an hourly basis. Some extra help positions are eligible for benefits under the Affordable Care Act. Extra help employees are not guaranteed permanent status at the end of the assignment.

IMPORTANT: Elysian is a Short Term Residential Therapeutic Program and by law, requires employees to obtain and maintain security clearance and be bondable. Any prior criminal conviction since the applicant's 18th birthday (excluding marijuana-related offenses that are older than two years as listed in the California Labor Code 432.8) will result in a denial of security clearance by the Community Care Licensing agency. While in some circumstances an employer may obtain a waiver of conviction from the licensing agency, the Human Services Agency has a policy against obtaining such waivers/exemptions for prospective employees. In addition, the Human Services Agency will not accept such waivers/exemptions obtained from the licensing agency by applicants in any other manner. Community Care Licensing also requires providers working in this facility to maintain a designated number of training hours related to the field, most of which are provided by the program.

Note: The eligible list from this recruitment can be used to fill extra help and relief positions.

Examples Of Duties

Duties may include, but are not limited to, the following:

Residential Services Assignment - General:

• Serve as the primary assigned counselor for the assigned shift and provide guidance to lower-level/relief staff.
• Supervise and direct individual youth and groups as assigned.
• Assist in planning and leading pro-social enrichment activities.
• Ensure the performance of all household routines.
• Participate in daily group meetings intended to change behavior through evidence-based counseling techniques.
• Provide support and guidance to youth.
• Establish behavior modification programs with youth involving individual contracts.
• Record information with regard to behavior of individuals and groups.
• Consult and collaborate with parents, social workers, clinicians, school counselors, teachers, substitute care providers and other service providers/support systems.
• Prepare daily reports of youth's behavior and prepare weekly progress report summaries to be used by the social workers and the Court.
• Admit/discharge youth to the residential facility; and provide support during the transition.
• Follow all admission/discharge protocols; assure that medical attention is received if appropriate.
• Supervise visits between parents and youth.
• Dispense prescribed medication.
• Testify in Court regarding observed behavior of a youth at the residential facility.
• Accurately complete incident reports and daily communication log, including any admissions or releases.
• Perform duties of Family Care Worker assignment.
• Perform related duties as assigned.

If assigned to Late Night (sleeping hours) Shift, additional duties include, but not limited to:

• Maintain security and safety of the facility for youth.
• Check the sleeping quarters through the night to ensure youth are safe.

Family Care Worker Assignment - Central Support and Foster Family Agency:

• Provide one-on-one training to parents and/or guardian on positive parenting and practical strategies for strengthening relationships with the child.
• Provide instruction and modeling of parenting skills, including effective discipline, nurturing, intellectual stimulation, behavior management, and physical care; provide assessment of needs as appropriate.
• Provide in-home caregiving and support services to families which include meal preparation, household organizing and cleaning, supervision of children in the home, and other related tasks necessary to keep the family functioning, which are provided on both a scheduled and crisis basis.
• Provide in-home monitoring and perform unannounced home visits, including identifying and elevating potential safety risks.
• Supervise court ordered visitation between parents and child(ren).
• Assist Children's Services Social Workers with separation of children from home, placements, translations and attendance at supportive meetings.
• Transport youth to supervised visits and various appointments.
• Record in Child Welfare Services Case Management System (CWS/CMS) a summary of each contact and closing summaries with/on behalf of clients or court.
• Complete administrative tasks such as record keeping, attendance at staff meetings, regular family consultation with social workers, and consultation with collateral agencies as required.
• Serve as liaison between family and social agencies.
• Testify in Court regarding observed behaviors during provision of services such as visits or parent education sessions.
• Provide relief coverage at the residential facility.
• Perform after hours on-call duties.
• Perform related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Note: The level and scope of the knowledge, skills and abilities listed below are related to job duties as defined under Distinguishing Characteristics.



Knowledge of:

• Child and adolescent development and behavior.
• Principles and practices of childcare and custody.
• Group dynamics.
• Infant and preschool development stages.
• Common safety practices and procedures, including first aid.
• Individual and group counseling techniques, especially behavior modification.

Skill/Ability to:

• Effectively engage children, youth and adults.
• Provide care for infants, preschoolers, youth and adults.
• Provide accurate observation and effective reporting of parental and child behaviors.
• Assess appropriateness of parenting skills and behaviors, as well as child's safety.
• Teach families how to effectively maintain a supportive home environment and how to effectively manage the behavior of children and youth under their care.
• Work effectively in a multidisciplinary team-based setting.
• Sense, evaluate, and handle tense group and individual situations as they develop.
• Make good, independent decisions and accept responsibility for those decisions.
• Exercise good independent judgment and remain calm in emergency situations.
• Deal effectively with parents, other agencies, and the general public.
• Instruct, train and provide general oversight to new or lower-level personnel.

Education and Experience:

Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge, skills and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to qualify is:

Human Services Care Counselor I: Eighteen units in any of the following areas: Psychology, Sociology, Counseling, Child Development or related fields and eighteen months experience working with children or families or related work experience with families in their own homes.

Human Services Care Counselor II: Eighteen months of experience providing advice, assistance, supervision and direction to dependent and neglected adolescent age children or providing services, monitoring, supervision and assessment of children and their families whose cases are assigned to Children's Services Social Workers.

Licensure/Certification/Other Requirements:

• Per California Dept. of Social Services Interim Licensing Standards, if assigned to Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program, direct care staff shall:
• Be at least 21 years of age; and
• Previously been employed as a full-time or served as a volunteer at a group home, short-term residential therapeutic program, or substance abuse treatment program for at least one year; OR
• A Bachelor of Arts or Sciences Degree in Psychology, Sociology, Counseling, Child Development or related field; OR
• Have completed 12 semester units of Early Childhood Education, Adolescent Development, or Foster and Kinship Care Education, or Psychology and have completed at least 100 hours of on-the-job experience with youth (hours may be completed after starting employment at the facility. Pending completion of the 100 hours, staff shall not be counted in the staff to child ratio and shall not be left unsupervised with children).

Application/Examination

Open & Promotional. Anyone may apply. Current County of San Mateo and County of San Mateo Superior Court of California employees with at least six months (1040 hours) of continuous service in a classified regular, probationary, extra-help/limited term positions prior to the final filing date will receive five points added to their final passing score on this examination.

The examination process will consist of an application screening (weight: pass/fail) based on the candidates' application and responses to the supplemental questions. Candidates who pass the application screening will be invited to a panel interview (weight: 100%) which may include a performance exam. Depending on the number of applicants, an application appraisal of education and experience may be used in place of other examinations or further evaluation of work experience may be conducted to group applicants by level of qualification. All applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement through any subsequent phase of the examination. All examinations will be given in County of San Mateo, California and applicants must participate at their own expense.

IMPORTANT: Applications for this position will only be accepted online. If you are currently on the County's website, you may click the "Apply" button. If you are not on the County's website, please go to https://jobs.smcgov.org/ to apply. Responses to the supplemental questions must be submitted in addition to our regular employment application form. A resume will not be accepted as a substitute for the required employment application and supplemental questionnaire.

TENATIVE RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE
Final Filing Date: Wednesday, June 17, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. PST
Screening: Thursday, June 18, 2026
Combined Panel Interviews: Tuesday, June 30, 2026 and/or Tuesday, July 14, 2026

About the County
San Mateo County is centrally located between San Francisco, San Jose, and the East Bay. With over 750,000 residents, San Mateo is one of the largest and most diverse counties in California and serves a multitude of culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse communities.

The County of San Mateo, as an employer, is committed to advancing equity to ensure that all employees are welcomed in a safe and inclusive environment. The County seeks to hire, support, and retain employees who reflect our diverse community. We encourage applicants with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply. Eighty percent of employees surveyed stated that they would recommend the County as a great place to work.

The County of San Mateo is an equal opportunity employer. We seek to hire, support, and retain employees who reflect our diverse community.

HR Contact: Arlene Cahill (Human Services Counselor - G061/G062)

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• County of San Mateo Human Resources Department

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