What are the responsibilities and job description for the MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATE / EMERGENCY APPOINTMENTS HOMELESSNESS position at County of Los Angeles?
Position/Program Information
Type Of Recruitment
OPEN COMPETITIVE- EMERGENCY
Exam Number
b8111O-EA
Filing Dates
Tuesday, July 1, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. (Pacific Time)
This examination will remain open until the needs of the service are met and is subject to closure without prior notice
The LA County Board of Supervisors recently declared a local state of emergency for homelessness , and the County is working to revise and expand our response to help all who are affected. We are looking for qualified and passionate individuals to help us in the mission of addressing issues like housing, mental health, and substance use. If you are looking for a new career that will directly benefit the population of LA County, this may be the opportunity for you.
The Department of Mental Health is seeking qualified candidates to fill emergency Mental Health Advocate vacancies related to the homelessness crisis.
Under the emergency order, applicants who meet the requirements may be hired for an initial period of up to 90 days, with an opportunity for permanent County employment.
During your initial work period, you will be assessed on your work performance. This assessment will be weighted 100%.
Those who successfully pass the assessment will be considered for permanent appointment to Mental Health Advocate.
Essential Job Functions
Within the context of the program population served, communicates, represents, and promotes the mental health services consumer's perspective within the continuum of care.
Orients consumers' family members, significant others, and caregivers of mental health consumers to the mental health system in order to assist these parties to navigate the system and receive necessary services.
Facilitates consumer, family member, and caregiver access to departmental and community resources and services provided by other community and public agencies by assisting with scheduling appointments and transportation; or by accompanying the consumer to meetings that affect their receipt of services in order to provide advocacy and support in meeting consumers' needs.
Assists clients in developing independent living skills in activities such as housekeeping, cooking, shopping, budgeting, using public transportation, and attending to personal grooming and hygiene, etc. through demonstration and coaching.
Assists clients with housing needs by facilitating access to residential care or permanent housing.
Facilitates clients' participation with multi-disciplinary teams by assisting in formulating service goals and plans for achieving such goals.
Conveys community and client cultural patterns and attitudes to mental health professional staff.
Assists clients with obtaining and completing appropriate application forms for various benefits and services.
Leads recovery dialoguesand discusses common transitional experiences.
Acts as interpreter for client population.
Recruits and trains volunteer mentors for clients transitioning into community living settings.
Participates in conferences/meetings within the Department of Mental Health.
Accompany clients to appointments and self-help activities.
Attends seminars and in-service trainings in connection with related duties as assigned.
Requirements
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:
Training And Experience
Option I: Six (6) months of full-timepaid or volunteer experience* in mental health advocacy, performing duties such as interacting with clients or patients concerning mental health or social service matters, answering questions and providing information about mental health/social services and disability benefits, and coordinating group facilitations.
Option II: Completion of a recognized peer, parent, or family advocate training program.**
Applicants must meet the above requirement(s) at the time of filing in order to be appointed to fill any vacancies related to this recruitment.
License
A valid California Class C Driver License or the ability to utilize an alternative method of transportation when needed to carry out job-related essential functions.
PHYSICAL CLASS : II – Light: This class includes administrative and clerical positions requiring light physical effort that may include occasional light lifting to a 10 pound limit and some bending, stooping, or squatting. Considerable ambulation may be involved.
Special Requirement Information
EXAMINATION CONTENT :
During your initial work period, you will be assessed on your work performance. This assessment will be weighted 100%. Those who successfully pass the assessment will be considered for permanent appointment.
Application And Filing Information
Applications must be submitted online only and will be reviewed for interview consideration on an ongoing basis. If you have not been contacted within 60 days and the recruitment remains open or reopens for filing, we encourage you to submit a new application. This will allow you to reaffirm your interest and update any relevant information.
Instructions For Filing Online
Applications must be filed online only. Apply online by clicking on the green "Apply" button located on this posting.
Plan to submit your online application well in advance before the deadline as you may be required to verify your email address. This only needs to be done once per email address, and if you already have a job seeker account on govermmentjobs.com/careers/lacounty,gov you can verify at any time by logging in and following the prompts. This is to enhance the security of your online application and to ensure you do not enter an incorrect email address.
Many important notifications will be sent electronically to the email address provided on the application, so it is important that you provide a valid email address. Please add SMStewart@dmh.lacounty.gov as well as noreply@governmentjobs.com and info@governmentjob.com to your email address and list of approved senders to prevent email notification from being filtered as span/junk/clutter mail.
You have the ability to opt out of emails from LA County. If you unsubscribe, you will not receive any email notification for any examination for which you apply with Los Angeles County. Regardless of whether you choose to unsubscribe, you can always check for notifications by logging into governmentjobs.com and viewing your profile inbox, which saves a copy of all emailed notices.
SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER LANGUAGE
Please include your Social Security Number for record control purposes. Federal law requires that all employed persons have a Social Security Number.
COMPUTER AND INTERNET ACCESS AT LIBRARIES
For candidates who may not have regular access to a computer or the internet, applications can be completed on computers at public libraries throughout Los Angeles County.
FAIR CHANCE EMPLOYER
The County of Los Angeles is a Fair Chance employer. Except for a very limited number of positions, you will not be asked to provide information about a conviction history unless you receive a contingent offer of employment. The County will make an individualized assessment of whether your conviction history has a direct or adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job, and consider potential mitigating factors, including, but not limited to, evidence and extent of rehabilitation, recency of the offense(s), and age at the time of the offense(s). If asked to provide information about a conviction history, any convictions or court records which are exempted by a valid court order do not have to be disclosed.
NO SHARING USER ID AND PASSWORD
All applicants must file their applications online using their own user ID and password. Using a family member or friend's user ID and password may erase a candidate's original application record.
Epartment Contact
HR Examinations Unit: (213) 972-7034
HR Examinations Unit Email: exams@dmh.lacounty.gov
Analyst Contact Phone: Sheenia Stewart , (323) 705-4669
Analyst Contact Email: SMStewart@dmh.lacounty.gov
ADA COORDINATOR PHONE: (213) 972-7034
TELETYPE PHONE: (800) 735-2922
CALIFORNIA RELAY SERVICES PHONES: (800) 735-2922
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
Employment Information
Any language contained in the job posting supersedes any language contained below.
This document is intended to provide general information about the recruitment process of the County of Los Angeles. Applicants with questions about a specific job posting should contact the exam analyst listed on the posting.
Equal Employment Opportunity/Non-Discrimination Statement
The County of Los Angeles is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and is committed to non-discrimination in the County workforce, regardless of age (40 and over); ancestry; color; ethnicity; religious creed; protected family or medical leave status; disability; marital status; medical condition; genetic information; military and veteran status; national origin; race ; sex; gender; sexual orientation; or any other characteristic protected by State or federal law. For more information, please visit: https://employee.hr.lacounty.gov/eeo-programs/ .
Testing Accommodations For Applicants
The County of Los Angeles complies with all federal and state disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for qualified applicants and employees with disabilities. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application process, please contact the testing accommodation coordinator listed on the job posting. Hearing impaired applicants with telephone teletype equipment may leave messages by calling the teletype phone number on the job posting. For more information on accommodations, please visit: https://hr.lacounty.gov/accessibility/ .
Fair Chance
The County of Los Angeles is a Fair Chance employer. Except as otherwise permissible under applicable laws, you will not be asked to provide information about conviction history unless you receive a conditional offer of employment. The County will make an individualized assessment of whether your conviction history has a direct and adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job, and will also consider potential mitigating factors, which may include, but is not limited to, evidence and extent of rehabilitation, recency of the offense(s), and age at the time of the offense(s). If asked to provide information about conviction history, any convictions or court records which are exempted by a valid court order do not have to be disclosed. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with County Fair Chance Policies and the Fair Chance Act (Gov. Code Section 12952).
Employment Eligibility
Final appointment is contingent upon verification of U.S. citizenship or the right to work in the United States.
Career PathFinder
Resources to help current and prospective employees plan a career with Los Angeles County are available. To explore career paths to and from nearly all job titles, please visit our interactive Career PathFinder application at http://career-pathfinder.hr.lacounty.gov .
Veteran’s Credit
Pursuant to the County Charter and County policy, in all open competitive examinations (i.e., examinations open to everyone), the County of Los Angeles will add a credit of 10 percent of the total credits specified for such examination to the final passing score of an honorably discharged veteran, as well as the spouse of a deceased or disabled veteran, who served in the Armed Forces of the United States under specific conditions.
For more information on veteran’s credit, please visit: https://file.lacounty.gov/SDSInter/dhr/205102_PPG_115.pdf
Revised September 2025
Type Of Recruitment
OPEN COMPETITIVE- EMERGENCY
Exam Number
b8111O-EA
Filing Dates
Tuesday, July 1, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. (Pacific Time)
This examination will remain open until the needs of the service are met and is subject to closure without prior notice
The LA County Board of Supervisors recently declared a local state of emergency for homelessness , and the County is working to revise and expand our response to help all who are affected. We are looking for qualified and passionate individuals to help us in the mission of addressing issues like housing, mental health, and substance use. If you are looking for a new career that will directly benefit the population of LA County, this may be the opportunity for you.
The Department of Mental Health is seeking qualified candidates to fill emergency Mental Health Advocate vacancies related to the homelessness crisis.
Under the emergency order, applicants who meet the requirements may be hired for an initial period of up to 90 days, with an opportunity for permanent County employment.
During your initial work period, you will be assessed on your work performance. This assessment will be weighted 100%.
Those who successfully pass the assessment will be considered for permanent appointment to Mental Health Advocate.
Essential Job Functions
Within the context of the program population served, communicates, represents, and promotes the mental health services consumer's perspective within the continuum of care.
Orients consumers' family members, significant others, and caregivers of mental health consumers to the mental health system in order to assist these parties to navigate the system and receive necessary services.
Facilitates consumer, family member, and caregiver access to departmental and community resources and services provided by other community and public agencies by assisting with scheduling appointments and transportation; or by accompanying the consumer to meetings that affect their receipt of services in order to provide advocacy and support in meeting consumers' needs.
Assists clients in developing independent living skills in activities such as housekeeping, cooking, shopping, budgeting, using public transportation, and attending to personal grooming and hygiene, etc. through demonstration and coaching.
Assists clients with housing needs by facilitating access to residential care or permanent housing.
Facilitates clients' participation with multi-disciplinary teams by assisting in formulating service goals and plans for achieving such goals.
Conveys community and client cultural patterns and attitudes to mental health professional staff.
Assists clients with obtaining and completing appropriate application forms for various benefits and services.
Leads recovery dialoguesand discusses common transitional experiences.
Acts as interpreter for client population.
Recruits and trains volunteer mentors for clients transitioning into community living settings.
Participates in conferences/meetings within the Department of Mental Health.
Accompany clients to appointments and self-help activities.
Attends seminars and in-service trainings in connection with related duties as assigned.
Requirements
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:
Training And Experience
Option I: Six (6) months of full-timepaid or volunteer experience* in mental health advocacy, performing duties such as interacting with clients or patients concerning mental health or social service matters, answering questions and providing information about mental health/social services and disability benefits, and coordinating group facilitations.
Option II: Completion of a recognized peer, parent, or family advocate training program.**
Applicants must meet the above requirement(s) at the time of filing in order to be appointed to fill any vacancies related to this recruitment.
License
A valid California Class C Driver License or the ability to utilize an alternative method of transportation when needed to carry out job-related essential functions.
PHYSICAL CLASS : II – Light: This class includes administrative and clerical positions requiring light physical effort that may include occasional light lifting to a 10 pound limit and some bending, stooping, or squatting. Considerable ambulation may be involved.
Special Requirement Information
- Experience is evaluated on the basis of a verifiable 40-hour workweek. Work performed part-time will be prorated on a month-for-month basis.
- To qualify for Option II, a copy of the Training Certificate must be submitted with the application at the time of filing or email to Exams@dmh.lacounty.gov within 7 calendar days from date of application submission . Mental Health advocate training programs are offered by various Peer Run Organizations, Family Run Organizations, and Nationally accredited associations for delivering Mental Health Advocacy.
EXAMINATION CONTENT :
During your initial work period, you will be assessed on your work performance. This assessment will be weighted 100%. Those who successfully pass the assessment will be considered for permanent appointment.
Application And Filing Information
Applications must be submitted online only and will be reviewed for interview consideration on an ongoing basis. If you have not been contacted within 60 days and the recruitment remains open or reopens for filing, we encourage you to submit a new application. This will allow you to reaffirm your interest and update any relevant information.
Instructions For Filing Online
Applications must be filed online only. Apply online by clicking on the green "Apply" button located on this posting.
Plan to submit your online application well in advance before the deadline as you may be required to verify your email address. This only needs to be done once per email address, and if you already have a job seeker account on govermmentjobs.com/careers/lacounty,gov you can verify at any time by logging in and following the prompts. This is to enhance the security of your online application and to ensure you do not enter an incorrect email address.
Many important notifications will be sent electronically to the email address provided on the application, so it is important that you provide a valid email address. Please add SMStewart@dmh.lacounty.gov as well as noreply@governmentjobs.com and info@governmentjob.com to your email address and list of approved senders to prevent email notification from being filtered as span/junk/clutter mail.
You have the ability to opt out of emails from LA County. If you unsubscribe, you will not receive any email notification for any examination for which you apply with Los Angeles County. Regardless of whether you choose to unsubscribe, you can always check for notifications by logging into governmentjobs.com and viewing your profile inbox, which saves a copy of all emailed notices.
SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER LANGUAGE
Please include your Social Security Number for record control purposes. Federal law requires that all employed persons have a Social Security Number.
COMPUTER AND INTERNET ACCESS AT LIBRARIES
For candidates who may not have regular access to a computer or the internet, applications can be completed on computers at public libraries throughout Los Angeles County.
FAIR CHANCE EMPLOYER
The County of Los Angeles is a Fair Chance employer. Except for a very limited number of positions, you will not be asked to provide information about a conviction history unless you receive a contingent offer of employment. The County will make an individualized assessment of whether your conviction history has a direct or adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job, and consider potential mitigating factors, including, but not limited to, evidence and extent of rehabilitation, recency of the offense(s), and age at the time of the offense(s). If asked to provide information about a conviction history, any convictions or court records which are exempted by a valid court order do not have to be disclosed.
NO SHARING USER ID AND PASSWORD
All applicants must file their applications online using their own user ID and password. Using a family member or friend's user ID and password may erase a candidate's original application record.
Epartment Contact
HR Examinations Unit: (213) 972-7034
HR Examinations Unit Email: exams@dmh.lacounty.gov
Analyst Contact Phone: Sheenia Stewart , (323) 705-4669
Analyst Contact Email: SMStewart@dmh.lacounty.gov
ADA COORDINATOR PHONE: (213) 972-7034
TELETYPE PHONE: (800) 735-2922
CALIFORNIA RELAY SERVICES PHONES: (800) 735-2922
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
Employment Information
Any language contained in the job posting supersedes any language contained below.
This document is intended to provide general information about the recruitment process of the County of Los Angeles. Applicants with questions about a specific job posting should contact the exam analyst listed on the posting.
Equal Employment Opportunity/Non-Discrimination Statement
The County of Los Angeles is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and is committed to non-discrimination in the County workforce, regardless of age (40 and over); ancestry; color; ethnicity; religious creed; protected family or medical leave status; disability; marital status; medical condition; genetic information; military and veteran status; national origin; race ; sex; gender; sexual orientation; or any other characteristic protected by State or federal law. For more information, please visit: https://employee.hr.lacounty.gov/eeo-programs/ .
Testing Accommodations For Applicants
The County of Los Angeles complies with all federal and state disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for qualified applicants and employees with disabilities. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application process, please contact the testing accommodation coordinator listed on the job posting. Hearing impaired applicants with telephone teletype equipment may leave messages by calling the teletype phone number on the job posting. For more information on accommodations, please visit: https://hr.lacounty.gov/accessibility/ .
Fair Chance
The County of Los Angeles is a Fair Chance employer. Except as otherwise permissible under applicable laws, you will not be asked to provide information about conviction history unless you receive a conditional offer of employment. The County will make an individualized assessment of whether your conviction history has a direct and adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job, and will also consider potential mitigating factors, which may include, but is not limited to, evidence and extent of rehabilitation, recency of the offense(s), and age at the time of the offense(s). If asked to provide information about conviction history, any convictions or court records which are exempted by a valid court order do not have to be disclosed. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with County Fair Chance Policies and the Fair Chance Act (Gov. Code Section 12952).
Employment Eligibility
Final appointment is contingent upon verification of U.S. citizenship or the right to work in the United States.
Career PathFinder
Resources to help current and prospective employees plan a career with Los Angeles County are available. To explore career paths to and from nearly all job titles, please visit our interactive Career PathFinder application at http://career-pathfinder.hr.lacounty.gov .
Veteran’s Credit
Pursuant to the County Charter and County policy, in all open competitive examinations (i.e., examinations open to everyone), the County of Los Angeles will add a credit of 10 percent of the total credits specified for such examination to the final passing score of an honorably discharged veteran, as well as the spouse of a deceased or disabled veteran, who served in the Armed Forces of the United States under specific conditions.
For more information on veteran’s credit, please visit: https://file.lacounty.gov/SDSInter/dhr/205102_PPG_115.pdf
Revised September 2025