Case Management/Assessment Specialist II/III - Spanish Speaking Required (Open & Promotional)

Description

Make a Meaningful Impact in Integrated Behavioral Health Care!
San Mateo County Health is seeking dedicated and experienced Case Management/Assessment Specialist II/III candidate to join Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (BHRS) on the Primary Care Interface Team. This role plays a vital part in connecting clients to timely, culturally responsive behavioral health support within a primary care setting.
There is one full-time position available, with primary work locations that may include sites in North County and the Coastside. This Monday-Friday role may offer a hybrid schedule, with approximately four on-site days per week to support clinic operations. Work location and on-site expectations may shift over time based on program needs.

About the Program

The Primary Care Interface Team strengthens whole-person care by integrating behavioral health services into San Mateo Medical Center (SMMC) Primary Care clinics across the County. The team works collaboratively with primary care providers, therapists, psychiatrists, nurses, and multidisciplinary staff to ensure that clients receive accessible, coordinated, trauma-informed support when they need it most.

This position plays a critical role in helping clients navigate behavioral health services, reducing barriers to care, and promoting recovery, wellness, and long-term stability.

What You'll Do

Supported by clinical and program supervisors, while exercising substantial independent professional judgment, you will:

• Conduct comprehensive assessments and evaluations and determine appropriate referrals and treatment recommendations.
• Provide direct service using motivational and solution-focused counseling, supporting clients on issues including harm reduction, relapse prevention, stress management, co-occurring conditions, health, and self-care.
• Deliver psychoeducation on substance use risks to parents, adolescents, and adults.
• Facilitate treatment groups for clients across stages of readiness-from pre-contemplation to action.
• Conduct home or community follow-up for high-risk clients.
• Coordinate care with therapists, psychiatrists, primary care providers, and other partners.
• Participate in clinical consultation and case conferencing for complex cases.
• Document and bill for services using AVATAR and Epic, ensuring accurate, timely communication with primary care teams.
• Attend bi-weekly and monthly Primary Care Interface Team clinical meetings.

As a member of a multidisciplinary team embedded in San Mateo Medical Center Primary Care clinics, this position help strengthen access to behavioral health services and support seamless client care.

Classification Levels

Case Management/Assessment Specialist II
Salary: $41.75 - $52.20/hour
This journey-level role performs the full range of duties with independence and clinical judgment. Some assignments may require certification as a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor. The II level is flexibly staffed, with the opportunity to advance to Specialist III after five years of experience, certification as an Alcohol and Drug Counselor-Addiction Specialist and proven proficiency.

Case Management/Assessment Specialist III
Salary: $49.23 - $61.53/hour
As the advanced specialist level, this role manages complex cases, provides subject-matter leadership, and may offer guidance on workflows or projects. Certification as an Alcohol and Drug Counselor-Addiction Specialist is required.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a compassionate, adaptable, and skilled behavioral health professional who thrives in collaborative primary care settings, exercises strong independent judgment, holds valid certification as a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor-Certified Addiction Specialist through a Department of Health Services-approved agency, and is bilingual in Spanish.

You bring:

• Required proficiency in Spanish and English.
• Current certification as a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor-Certified Addiction Specialist.
• Strong assessment and case management skills, including determining levels of care, providing direct service and developing treatment recommendations.
• Experience providing direct care to adults and/ or youth (or Individuals) with behavioral health and/or substance use needs, including co-occurring or complex cases.
• Demonstrated ability to engage clients across all stages of readiness, including those who are pre-contemplative.
• Skill in motivational interviewing, solution-focused interventions, harm reduction, and psychoeducation.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively within a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, prescribers, and community partners.
• Excellent communication and documentation skills, with comfort using electronic health records.
• Cultural humility and a commitment to equitable, client-centered service delivery.

NOTE: The eligible list generated from this recruitment may be used to fill future extra-help, term, unclassified, and regular classified vacancies.

Examples Of Duties

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

• Perform client evaluations using a variety of assessment and screening tools, information gathered from interviewing clients and/or other professionals and established clinical guidelines to determine the appropriate referral(s), level of care, and recommended treatment plan.
• Interview clients and their families to gather social, psychiatric, and drug and alcohol history.
• Administer appropriate assessment instruments to assist in the development of the client's case history in developing treatment recommendations.
• Maintain case files on clients containing assessment information, assessment summaries, court documents and all other correspondence/information relevant to the client.
• Gather appropriate consents from clients to use in gathering information from outside agencies/sources.
• Provide program information and community resources to clients and other agencies.
• Gather, maintain and disseminate community resource information to other staff.
• Advise treatment providers of information gathered during intake process; gather additional information as appropriate.
• Meet with clients to provide service information; provide psychoeducation regarding client's potential substance use disorder or condition, and the recommended treatments available.
• Work with community agencies as required to assist clients in their service plans and in coping with daily activities and environmental needs, such as housing, medical care and employment.
• Assist in training community-based organizations or partners, Alcohol and Other Drug and Behavioral Health staff, and outside agencies on related topics and processes.
• Consult with other professionals when clinical expertise is needed in development of treatment plans.
• Attend staff conferences and related meetings to coordinate activities with other divisions of the department, other County departments and community groups and providers.
• Provide information and education and make presentations to community groups and others concerning addictive behaviors, interventions, and services available.
• Perform related duties as assigned.

Specific duties for positions at the III level include but are not limited to the following:

• Determine and approve client's level of care.
• Work with the highly complex cases, including those with co-occurring mental health issues and complex trauma, co-morbid medical conditions, individuals with developmental learning disabilities and cognitive impairments, and those involved in multiple systems such as criminal justice, child welfare, conservatorship, homeless / shelter services, and high utilizers of emergency or urgent services.
• Provide high quality direct care and clinical case documentation with attention to documentation for billable services.
• Manage client crisis situations including those in active withdrawal and who are pre-contemplative.
• Effectively collaborate, coordinate, strategize and/or partner with outside systems, and advocate as appropriate to meet client needs and/or help make system improvements.
• Provide input and assist in creating and implementing workflows and processes to streamline or support client services.
• Manage and maintain strong relations with community-based organizations.
• Depending on assignment, may provide shift coverage and lead direction to assigned staff on a project.
• Work on related committees.
• Facilitate relapse prevention or psycho-educational groups and provide one-on-one or facilitate alcohol and other drug group support.

Qualifications

Knowledge of:

• Principles, philosophy, practices, materials, trends and literature related to substance use and mental health disorders, and impact of trauma.
• Various models of treating addiction including medication assisted treatments, and the use of medications to treat substance use disorders, CBT approaches, relapse prevention and harm reduction.
• How to work effectively with individuals with developmental disabilities and cognitive impairments, including those related to substance use.
• Prevention methods and treatments procedures related to alcohol and drug disorders, mental and emotional illness, and personality disorders.
• Social aspects of drug, alcohol, mental and emotional problems.
• Techniques and dynamics of group and individual counseling.
• Techniques and dynamics of assessment and engagement.
• Standardized clinical assessment instruments, practices and procedures.
• BHRS policies including informing clients of consent to services, notice of privacy practices, and OCFA right to file a grievance procedure.
• Social and psychological needs, problems, behavior patterns and treatment of persons impacted by substance use.
• Availability of and procedures for obtaining a wide variety of community and governmental services and resources.
• Methods and techniques of interviewing, problem solving and motivational interviewing.
• Principles of counseling, including group leader functions.
• Resources/strategies for the client for purpose of referral.
• Appropriate methods and use of assessment to evaluate and assess alcohol and drug disorders.
• Basic case management processes.
• Reporting requirements of criminal justice referrals and treatment providers.
• Federal and State confidentiality and privacy regulations including 42 CFR part 2, HIPPA, etc.

Skill/Ability to:

• Assess client's immediate needs and ensure client's receipt of needed services.
• Interview clients and other professionals for gathering information.
• Perform effectively in stressful, emotional, and confrontational situations.
• Recognize factors causing reaction or changes in clients' condition or behavior.
• Obtain, maintain, and present accurate client data.
• Communicate clearly and effectively both orally and in writing.
• Secure pertinent social and personal data and meet documentation requirements.
• Develop relationships with the treatment provider community, courts, probation and other professional agencies/staff.
• Evaluate information received and make appropriate treatment recommendations and/or referrals.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients and their families, professionals and paraprofessionals and support staff in the department, outside agencies and the public.
• Provide high quality clinical case documentation

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:

• Case Management/Assessment Specialist II: Two years of experience assessing and evaluating clients using assessments instruments and/or guidelines, identifying and making referrals based on those assessments, and interviewing clients for in a social service program.
• Case Management/Assessment Specialist III: Three to four years of experience assessing and evaluating clients. For positions in the AOD Program: five years of experience assessing and evaluating clients, including experience in determining and approving level of care.

Licensure/Certification: At the III level, incumbent must have and maintain valid certification as a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor-Certified Addiction Specialist by a Department of Health Services approved agency.

Application/Examination

Departmental Promotional Only. Only current County of San Mateo employees in San Mateo County Health with at least six months (1040 hours) of continuous service in a classified regular, probationary, or extra-help/limited term position prior to the final filing date may apply.

The examination process will consist of an application screening based on the candidates' application and responses to the supplemental questions (weight: pass/fail). Candidates who pass the application screening may be invited to a panel interview (weight:100%). 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 . Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement through any subsequent phase of the examination. All examinations will be given in San Mateo County, 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. Online applications must be received by the Human Resources Department by noon on the final filing date.
TENTATIVE RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE
Final Filing Date: Thursday, January 29, 2026, at 11:59 PM PST
Application Screening: Week of February 2, 2026
Panel Interviews: Week of February 23, 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 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.

We encourage applicants with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply.



Talent Acquisition Analyst: Priscilla Bermudez (011526) (Case Management/Assessment Specialist II/III - G240/G241)

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• County of San Mateo Human Resources Department

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