Director of Mental Health

Description

The Director of Mental Health will be responsible for providing strategic leadership, oversight, and direction for the operation and growth of the Mental Health department including the Healthy Minds, Healthy Schools program which provides mental health services in Chicago Public Schools on Chicago’s South and West sides, and all mental health services offered through Gads Hill Center’s early childhood and youth education and development programs for children and adolescents. In this role, the Director of Mental Health will supervise a team of clinical therapists and oversee high-quality clinical and educational services for program participants. The Director of Mental Health will lead our multidisciplinary programs to achieve highly effective, bilingual, and culturally affirming service delivery to children and families in our programs. This senior-level role requires significant experience in child and youth development/education, proven success leading impactful teams, and a strong background in program planning, evaluation, and financial management. The successful candidate must be fluent in Spanish and English.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Program Management

• Leads the strategic planning for the growth and sustainability of Gads Hills Center’s mental health programs.
• Provides leadership in clinical services, program evaluation, and program development to maintain high-quality therapeutic services provided to clients.
• Maintains advanced working knowledge of child and adolescent mental health models and practices.
• Develops and maintains relationships with higher education institutions to create a pipeline of interns and qualified mental health professionals.
• Represents GHC at community events and coalitions focused on wrap-around services that include health and mental health services. 
• Participates in the overall management of Gads Hill Center, integrating work into the mission, philosophy, and vision of the agency and communicating our work to multiple audiences.
• Develops and maintains strong partnerships with schools’ leadership, funders, community organizations and key stakeholders.

Supervision and Training of Clinical Staff

• Oversees the training of clinicians in treatment protocols, methods, diagnostic and biopsychosocial assessment, interpretation, and formulation. Trains staff on clinical intervention strategies, treatment planning, and screenings as necessary to ensure quality mental health service delivery.
• Reviews and provides input to treatment or service plans for the youth and children being treated by assigned clinical staff. Provides regular individual case consultation to clinical staff.
• Supervises mental health team and coaches parents to complete the of Board of Education and DFSS annual program self-evaluations, and follow-up validations, and holds staff accountable for the use of data and HIPAA compliance.

Clinical Service Delivery

• Supervises crisis intervention with clients and their families, including the development and implementation of safety plans.
• Is available “on-call" for crisis intervention consultation for all programs at Gads Hill Center.
• Provides or oversees clinical classroom observations for children. Meets regularly with clinical supervisors, teaching staff, and interns to discuss children observed.

Program Innovations and Quality Control

• Brings innovative ideas to grow the programs and ensures they maintain language and cultural competencies to serve English language learners and Spanish-speaking families.
• Builds data evaluation systems to measure program success and quality improvement.
• Monitors team’s data entry and compliance with internal documentation policies as well as funder requirements.
• Builds the capacity across all programs to assess and refer families for mental health services as a trauma-informed organization.

Management and Fundraising

• Oversees the sound operations of the mental health department including grant deliverables, budget compliance, and adherence to regulations.
• Collaborates in achieving GHC’s mission as a member of the agency’s Leadership Team.
• Manages program budgets, MOUs, contracts, and reports assuring compliance with government and private entities. 
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in social work, Psychology, Counseling, Education, or a related field required
• Minimum of 5 years administrative experience; LCSW, LCPC, or LMFT is required.
• 2-3 Years of experience working in school-based programs preferred.
• Experience and ability to work with high-risk children and adolescents required.
• Ability to translate executive-level organizational goals into specific departmental initiatives.
• Demonstrated success navigating complex organizational structures, using influence and soft skills to move ideas to implementation; comfortable with ambiguity and adapting to change and leads nuanced communications for effective implementation of the work of the department
• Outstanding project management skills, with the ability to drive complex, multifaceted projects forward to deliver results on time, advanced problem-solving and decision-making skills
• Must be fluent in English and Spanish
• Must have valid Illinois driver’s license, vehicle, and auto insurance

Salary : $100,000 - $107,500