Job Information
Ingham County Human Resources Chief Psychologist in Lansing, Michigan
Operating under the guidance of the Deputy Court Administrator, the Chief Psychologist plays a crucial role in shaping treatment programs and resources to achieve the Court's objectives in supporting juveniles and families involved in the juvenile justice system and/or petitioned to the court for neglect and/or abuse. Provides professional psychological expertise to the judicial system on core psychological processes related to criminal offending in order to inform legal decisions. Evaluates children and/or parents referred by Court staff and Judges and provides written psychological reports to the Court. Testifies in Court relative to findings when requested. Evaluates prospective employees, foster and group home parents when requested and provides recommendations as to the personality and stability of these persons. Responsible for program development, staff training program and consultation. Serves as a mental health expert for the court. Provides managerial oversight to the Juvenile Division's Mental Health Team and serves as supervisor for the Clinical Mental Health Professionals.
Essential Functions
Provides expert clinical opinion of children, adolescents, and/or parents or families under the supervision of the Juvenile Division, which may include (but is not limited to): evaluation, consultation, explaining psychological function, diagnosing problems, predicting risk for recidivism and public safety risk, risk for neglect/abuse, making recommendations for treatment/treatment programming, recommendation for sexual offender registry, and program and treatment evaluation.
Provides forensic evaluation of mental competency for adolescent criminal proceedings, pre-adjudicative evaluation of safety risk of criminal sexual misconduct offenders, violence risk assessment, sentencing transfer/waiver transfer, and comprehensive evaluation/diagnosis (not limited to this description of evaluation type).
Prepares written evaluation reports as a result of testing/consultation and testifies at hearings when necessary.
Provides direction and managerial oversight to the Juvenile Division's Mental Health Team and serves as supervisor for the Clinical Mental Health Professionals which includes (but is not limited to): a. Conducts clinical supervision for the purpose of training, treatment planning, case consultation, and professional support; b. Providing review and approval of curriculum/treatment programs developed/implemented by the Juvenile Division Clinical Mental Health Professionals; c. Ensuring clinicians maintain proper licensure for the duration of employment with the Juvenile Division; and
Serves as Clinical Director for the Ingham County Youth Center which includes: a .Remaining on-call non-traditional hours and on weekends to assist w/ managing crisis b. Providing clinical directives, in terms of emergency direction (triage, safety precautions, and behavioral directive), staff behavioral directives in response to youth psychological function, and programming direction; c. Provides managerial oversight for program development/implementation in order to ensure fidelity and adherence to evidence-based practices; d. Serves as a member of the Youth Center's management team providing insight to inform facility procedures/policies, assistance with managing staff dynamics, and training necessary to meet facility Department of Child Welfare Licensing requirements.
Serves on the Administrative Staffing Committee to make recommendations to the judiciary for placement and/or services of adjudicated youth. This task requires using critical thought to consider the complex intersection between safety of the community and the best interest of the youth. The committee consists of five members that absorb synthesized information from the assigned caseworker to formulate the re
