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Alameda County, located on the east side of San Francisco Bay, is California's seventh-largest county. The County employs 9,700 full-time employees and operates on an annual budget of $3.4 billion. Oakland, the County seat, is California's eighth-largest city. One and a half million people call Alameda County home and live in a variety of incorporated cities, unincorporated communities, and rural areas. As a major urban county, Alameda provides a full range of services to its citizens. The County is a blend of culturally and ethnically diverse communities, and its mixture of cosmopolitan and suburban areas provides the perfect environment for families and their active lifestyles. The County offers extensive cultural resources, countless recreational opportunities, and an array of fine public and private colleges and universities.
Alameda County Health’s departments and programs focus on services and support that provide care for the whole person.
- The Behavioral Health Department provides mental health and substance use services for people with Medi-Cal and without insurance and supports people along their path to wellness, recovery, and resilience.
- The Environmental Health Department works to keep our air, water, and food safe; it regulates, protects, and promotes the health of everyone in Alameda County by enforcing environmental health codes to reduce exposure to toxins and diseases.
- The Public Health Department focuses on community and population-level health, preventing and addressing root causes of health inequity across a range of communicable and chronic diseases.
- Alameda County Health also provides services through Housing and Homelessness Services, Emergency Medical Services Agency, HealthPAC, and Healthy Schools and Communities.
As part of Alameda County Health, the Behavioral Health Department supports people with Medi-Cal and without insurance living with serious mental illness and substance use conditions along their path toward wellness, recovery, and resiliency. We provide services through a network of contracted mental health and substance use providers and administer the State’s resources and training for behavioral health providers, case managers, and other healthcare professionals. We advocate for our patients and families and create space for personal engagement in their care.
We are outpatient specialists for mental health services for older adults and youth, substance use providers and treatment program specialists, advocates for quality improvement and patients’ rights, and psychiatric and integrated health care providers.
For more information about the Behavioral Health Department, please visit www.acbhcs.org.
Positions in this classification are the journey-level classification in the Employment Specialist, Behavioral Health series. Under general supervision, the Employment Specialist II, Behavioral Health will assist adults with mental illness, substance use disorder, or co-occurring disorders in obtaining and maintaining competitive employment consistent with their vocational goals; and to do related work as required.
This classification is part of a two-level flexibly staffed series located in the Alameda County Health Behavioral Health Department (ACBHD) and reports to the Senior Employment Specialist, Behavioral Health. Employees provide services to clients assigned to the Vocational Program in the ACBHD. Employment Specialists deliver specialized employment services to a targeted client population who have mental illness, substance use disorder, or co-occurring disorders. These services include follow-along support and job coaching in addition to job placement services. Employees are assigned various duties related to obtaining competitive employment for clients, including engaging, assessing, preparing, placing, and coaching clients.
The Employment Specialist II, Behavioral Health is distinguished from the Employment Specialist I, Behavioral Health in that the former is expected to do the full scope of journey-level work needing only general supervision in order to perform the complete functions of the classification. It is further distinguished from the Senior Employment Specialist, Behavioral Health in that the senior-level classification is the first-line supervisory level of the Employment Specialist I and II, Behavioral Health classification series.
In addition to meeting the minimum qualifications and knowledge and skills below, the ideal candidate will be:
- An effective communicator able to interview, counsel, develop and maintain collaborative relationships with clients, their families, employers, schools, mental health providers, community organizations, county staff, other agencies, and the general public.
- Someone who recognizes diversity as a core value and is able to work effectively with individuals of diverse cultures, interpersonal styles, abilities, motivations, or backgrounds; maintaining constructive relationships that result in diverse work teams that better serve our diverse communities.
- Someone who understands outreach concepts, principles, and practices of community employer sourcing, job development, and client placement; and is experienced at aligning human capital needs of employers.
- Someone with a recovery-oriented approach, who takes personal satisfaction and pride contributing as an Employment Specialist who intensively prepares and supports vocational service clients with finding and keeping jobs in the community based on their preferences and needs, and can adopt a �do whatever it takes†approach to the work.
- A strong program administrator with sufficient professional knowledge and skill to perform tasks and activities and prepare documents essential to the day-to-day operation of a Vocational Program providing specialized employment services to individuals living with mental health challenges and dually diagnosed clients.
- A collaborative spirit who inspires teamwork by being accessible, supportive, open-minded, proactive and contributing successfully as a member of a team.
- Someone who is well organized and able to plan activities and establish a course of action for self and others to ensure that work is completed efficiently.
- One who is knowledgeable of County, State, and Federal laws governing employment, labor conditions, American Disabilities Act guidelines, and public welfare.
For a detailed listing of the essential responsibilities and core competency requirements for this position, please click here for the job description.
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The equivalent of six (6) months of full-time experience in the classification of Employment Specialist I in the Alameda County classified service.
The equivalent of three (3) years of full-time experience performing a combination of two (2) or more of the following functions related to vocational counseling: job development, job coaching, hiring, or recruiting; or direct service experience working with disabled or disadvantaged populations (such as mentally ill, substance use disorder, or co-occurring disorders) to achieve training, education, and employment goals. (Substitution: Possession of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in the field of sociology, psychology, rehabilitation, counseling, business administration, marketing, or a closely related social science field may be substituted for one (1) year of the required experience.)
Possession of a valid California Motor Vehicle operator’s license is required for both levels.
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NOTE: The level and scope of the following knowledge and abilities are related to duties listed under the “Examples of Duties†section of this specification.
Knowledge of:
- Principles of vocational and employment counseling and training.
- Educational and experience requirements for a wide variety of jobs and employment opportunities.
- County, State, and Federal laws governing employment, labor conditions, American Disabilities Act guidelines, and public welfare.
- Social Security Administration Work Incentives.
- Principles, practices, and techniques of marketing, job development, and client placement.
- Outreach program development, implementation, and evaluation.
- Computer applications related to the work.
Ability to:
- Interview, counsel, and maintain effective working relations with clients, family members, employers, schools, county staff, and other agencies.
- Develop individualized, practical, and effective employment training plans.
- Understand terms and best practices in both mental health and drug and alcohol treatment.
- Develop and update curriculums with current career and employment resources.
- Effectively market and represent a program, its clients, and services to employers.
- Work with a diverse client population.
- Communicate clearly and effectively, both orally and in writing.
- Administer examinations and draw valid conclusions from their results.
- Work cooperatively and effectively with community agencies, service providers, school officials, and the public.
- Write clear and concise reports.
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1) A review of candidates' applications to verify possession of minimum requirements. Those candidates who possess the minimum requirements for the classification will move on to the next step in the examination process.
2) A review of candidates' Supplemental Questionnaires to select the best qualified applicants. Those candidates selected as best qualified will move on to the next step in the examination process.
3), An oral interview examination which will be weighted as 100% of the candidate's final examination score. The oral interview examination may contain situational exercises.
CANDIDATES MUST ATTAIN A QUALIFYING RATING ON EACH PORTION OF THIS EXAMINATION.
Alameda County utilizes a Civil Service Selection System founded on merit. Such a system is competitive and based on broad recruitment efforts and equal opportunity for qualified applicants to test in an examination process designed to determine the qualifications, fitness and ability of competitors to perform duties of the vacant position. Many of our recruitments are targeted and specific to the needs of a current vacant position, in which case, the eligible list may be exclusively used for that current vacant position. Other recruitments may be more broadly used for both current and future vacancies, or for other alternate jobs with comparable scopes of work.
To learn more about our recruitment and selection process, please visit the “What You Need to Know†section of our website, hrs.alamedacountyca.gov.
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Applicants will be informed via email with reasonable notice in advance of any examination process which will require their attendance. The following dates are tentative and subject to change based on the needs of the Agency:
Review of Minimum Qualifications
Review of Supplemental Questionnaire for Best Qualified
August 25, 2025
September 2-5, 2025
Virtual Pre-recorded Civil Service Oral Examination:
Virtual Oral Examination Ratings:
Results Notification:
Promulgation of Eligible List:
September 12-22, 2025
September 29-October 3, 2025
Week of October 13, 2025
October 29, 2025
Departmental Hiring Interviews:
TBD
Alameda County and the Human Resource Services Department will make reasonable efforts in the examination and/or selection process to accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities and/or medical conditions in accordance/compliance with the State Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Alameda County’s Reasonable Accommodation Policy and applicable statues. To request an accommodation due to a disability/medical condition during this or other phases of the examination/selection process, please contact the assigned Human Resources Representative listed on the job announcement
before the last date of filing. Alameda County requires applicants to provide supporting documentation to substantiate a request for reasonable accommodation. In order to qualify for a reasonable accommodation, applicants must have a disability/medical condition pursuant to the ADA, FEHA and applicable statutes.------------
The County offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package that affords wide-ranging health care options to meet the different needs of a diverse workforce and their families. We also sponsor many employee discount, fitness and health screening programs focused on overall wellbeing. These benefits include but are not limited to*:
- Medical - HMO & PPO Plans
- Dental - HMO & PPO Plans
- Vision or Vision Reimbursement
- Share the Savings
- Basic Life Insurance
- Supplemental Life Insurance (with optional dependent coverage for eligible employees)
- Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance
- County Allowance Credit
- Flexible Spending Accounts - Health FSA, Dependent Care and Adoption Assistance
- Short-Term Disability Insurance
- Long-Term Disability Insurance
- Voluntary Benefits - Accident Insurance, Critical Illness, Long-Term Care, Hospital Indemnity and Legal Services
- Employee Assistance Program
- Retirement Plan - (Defined Benefit Pension Plan)
- Deferred Compensation Plan (457 Plan or Roth Plan)
- 12 paid holidays
- Floating Holidays
- Vacation and sick leave accrual
- Vacation purchase program
- Catastrophic Sick Leave
- Pet Insurance
- Commuter Benefits Program
- Guaranteed Ride Home
- Employee Wellness Program (e.g. At Work Fitness, Incentive Based Programs, Gym Membership Discounts)
- Employee Discount Program (e.g. theme parks, cell phone, etc.)
- Child Care Resources
- Eligibility is determined by Alameda County and offerings may vary by collective bargaining agreement. This provides a summary of the benefits offered and can be subject to change.
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All notices related to County recruitments for which you have applied will be sent/delivered via email. Please add @jobaps.com, @acgov.org, nonreplyalamedacountyhr@acgov.org, and Noreply@jobaps.com as accepted addresses to any email blocking or spam filtering program you may use. If you do not do this, your email blocking or spam filtering program may block receipt of the notices regarding your application for recruitments. You are also strongly advised to regularly log into your County of Alameda online application account to check for notices that may have been sent to you. All email notices that will be sent to you will also be kept in your personal online application account. You will be able to view all of your notices in your online application account by clicking on the "My applications" button on the Current Job Openings page.
NOTE: All notices are generated through an automated email notification system. Replies to the email boxes Noreply@jobaps.com and nonreplyalamedacountyhr@acgov.org,are routed to unmonitored mailboxes. If you have questions, please go to our website at hrs.alamedacountyca.gov. You may also contact the Human Resources Analyst listed on the job announcement for the recruitment for which you have applied.
Human Resource Services, County of Alameda
(510) 272-6468 . nicole.lewis-bolton@acgov.org
hrs.alamedacountyca.gov
All Alameda County employees are designated Disaster Service Workers through state and local law. Employment with the County requires the affirmation of a loyalty oath to this effect. Employees are required to report to work as ordered in the event of an emergency.
Alameda County has a diverse workforce, that is representative of the communities we serve, and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All aspects of employment are based on merit, competence, performance and business need. Alameda County does not discriminate in employment on the basis of: race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors protected under federal, state and local law. Alameda County celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive, and welcoming workplace environment.
Salary
USD 39 - 46 /hourly
Hourly based
Location
CA , United States Oakland, CA, United States
CA , United States Oakland, CA, United States
