About The Position

The salary range above represents this position’s earning potential. The anticipated hiring range for this position will be $67,672 (minimum) - $96,782 (maximum) based on the candidate’s qualifications and experience.

Who We Are

Montgomery County is located adjacent to Washington, D.C., and with over one million residents, is the most populous County in the State of Maryland. The County is also the most diverse County in the State and ranks among the top ten most diverse Counties in the nation. Montgomery County contains many major U.S. government offices, scientific research and learning centers, and business campuses.

The Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for delivery of the County’s public health and human services that meets the needs of our community’s most vulnerable children, adults and seniors. The Department provides services through more than 120 programs at more than 20 locations. With over 2,000 employees, the Department of Health and Human Services is the largest County Department.

As a department , we believe the health and wellness of the county can only be achieved by ensuring that every resident has fair opportunities to reach their fullest potential. This means access to quality housing, transportation, education, employment, health care, human services, safe neighborhoods, and healthy food. HHS provides critical services for residents who face a variety of obstacles in achieving their full potential. HHS plays an essential role in building a healthy and strong community.

Who We Are Looking For

Behavioral Health and Crisis Services is seeking a highly motivated and experienced Client Assistance Specialist to join our Trauma Services team. In this role, you will provide comprehensive victim advocacy services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault/rape, human trafficking, and general crimes including homicide, physical assault, etc.

What You'll Be Doing

This position plays a crucial role in helping survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault/rape, human trafficking, and general crimes including homicide, physical assault, etc. to overcome challenges and help them heal and better integrate into life after victimization. The client assistance specialist is responsible for but not limited to the following:

• Provides victim advocacy services including court/medical accompaniment, assistance with filing protective/peace orders, filing charges, writing victim impact statements, etc.
• Provides crisis intervention and safety planning
• Completes intakes, assessments including danger assessments, CSSR
• Develops service plans
• Provides case management services including linking and referring to available community resources
• Provide support during the sexual assault medical-forensic exam and during law enforcement and/or SAO interviews
• Collaborate SAO’s Office, FJC, DVS, HOR, MCPD, Shady Grove Hospital, Trauma Services Staff and other internal and external resources and professionals
• Process crime victim compensation for eligible crime survivors seeking compensation for losses according to the County code
• Serve as a liaison with Maryland’s State Criminal Injuries Compensation Board for those survivors whose losses exceed the limit of the local Crime Victim Compensation Fund
• Complete timely department and grant statistical reporting that is essential for quarterly state and federal grant report submissions .
  
  

The selected candidate will be required to successfully complete a pre-employment medical exam, drug screening, and a background check.

Minimum Qualifications

Education: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor’s Degree.

Experience: One (1) year of experience in human services that involved substantive client contact and service delivery through direct assistance or referral. This experience must have included ability to communicate effectively across a wide range of cultures and overcome potential barriers to service.

Substitutions: An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted.

Preferred Criteria, Interview Preferences

Preference for interviews will be given to candidates who meet the minimum qualifications and who have experience in the following areas.

• Experience working with survivors of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and General Crimes
• Experience and/or knowledge of the Criminal Justice System and community resources
• Experience in providing crisis intervention, safety planning, assessments, service planning and case management services
• Experience in working in a collaborative setting with other HHS colleagues, hospitals, and the Criminal Justice agencies.
• Experience with providing statistical and written reports
• Multilingual Basic Preferred in American Sign Language, Amharic, Chinese, French, Korean, Spanish, or Vietnamese.
• Victim Assistance Certification (VAS I, II, or III) through the Roper Victim Assistance Academy.
  
  

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The Office of Human Resources (OHR) reviews the minimum qualifications of all applicants, irrespective of whether the candidate has previously been found to have met the minimum requirements for the job or been temporarily promoted to the same position. This evaluation is based solely on the information contained in the application/resume submitted for this specific position.

Montgomery County Government(MCG) is an equal opportunity employer, committed to workforce diversity. Accordingly, as it relates to employment opportunities, the County will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, in accordance with the law. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should email OHR at Hiring@montgomerycountymd.gov . Individual determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made in accordance with all applicable laws.

MCG also provides hiring preference to certain categories of veterans and veterans/persons with a disability. For more information and to claim employment preference, refer to the Careers webpage on Hiring Preference .

All applicants will respond to a series of questions related to their education, relevant experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities required to minimally perform the job. The applicant's responses in conjunction with their resume and all other information provided in the employment application process will be evaluated to determine the minimum qualifications and preferred criteria or interview preference status. Based on the results, the highest qualified applicants will be placed on an Eligible List and may be considered for an interview. Employees meeting minimum qualifications who are the same grade will be placed on the Eligible List as a "Lateral Transfer" candidate and may be considered for an interview.

This will establish an Eligible List that may be used to fill both current and future vacancies.

If selected for consideration for this position, you may be required to provide evidence that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities indicated on your resume.

Montgomery County Ethics Law : Except as provided by law or regulation, the County's "Public Employees" (which does not include employees of the Sheriff's office) are subject to the County's ethics law including the requirements to obtain advanced approval of any outside employment and the prohibitions on certain outside employment. The outside employment requirements of the ethics law can be found at 19A-12 of the County Code . Additional information about outside employment can be obtained from the Ethics Commission website.