Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant

Job Title:                                     Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant (ECMHC)

Reports to:                                 Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Manager

FLSA Status:                               Exempt

FTE:                                              Full-time (1.0 FTE)

Position starts:                          March 3, 2025              

Salary Range:                            $55,000-60,000 depending on experience, skills, and other strengths

Benefits: Employee Life, Health, Dental, and Disability Insurance as established annually and Sick Leave, Vacation Leave, Wellness Leave, and Holidays as established annually through Personnel Policies. Contribution to SIMPLE IRA. Contributions to family health and dental are available.

Overall Statement of Responsibility:

Provide prevention-based mental health consultation to young children ages birth to eight in early learning settings (includes childcare centers, family childcare homes, and other environments). It is expected that the ECMHC will spend at least 60% of their time providing direct consultation services (after 8-10 weeks of orientation/shadowing) in Adams County, as well as a portion of this time responding to early childhood mental health training and consultation needs across the state. Remaining time will be spent on administrative duties, participating in reflection supervision, professional development, program development and strategic planning, and other related duties as needed.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

●     Complete 8 week on-boarding process through the Colorado Department of Early Childhood.

●     Observe children in their early learning setting to assess functioning and relationships with caregivers and other children.

●     Provide consultation to early learning educators regarding individual children, including providing guidance about challenging behaviors. Consultant will meet regularly with staff and parents/caregivers to assess and understand the individual needs of the child and work with the team to develop developmentally and culturally appropriate interventions.

●     Provide social emotional support in classrooms/programs to build capacity of teachers and staff to support children.

●     Meet on-site at early learning programs with families to complete assessments, provide developmental guidance and referrals, including linkage to clinical services. Actively assist families in the referral process.

●     Meet regularly with early learning staff and directors to address programmatic concerns that affect the quality of care provided to the children, as requested, i.e., inter-staff relations, program-wide concerns/changes, staff turnover, curriculum. This includes meeting regularly with staff to develop and support reflective functioning.

●     In collaboration with teachers/directors, facilitate social/emotional groups for young children.

●     Provide psycho-education and support to families/caregivers.

●     Plan and provide training offerings to center staff and parents on social/emotional topics.

●     Partner with ECPAC’s early learning coaching team to ensure a collaborative approach to supporting children, families, and early learning educators.

●     Maintain accurate and timely documentation in adherence with program expectations and accountability requirements.

●     Participate in team meetings, in-services, and supervision as required. (Reflective supervision will be provided. Other types of supervision considered if necessary for license requirements.)

●     Contribute to reporting required by funder(s).

●     Perform other duties as assigned.

●     Weekend and evenings work required as needed.

Qualifications / Skills:

●     Master’s degree in Social Work, Counseling, Psychology, or related mental health field. Current License in Colorado as an LCSW, LPC or LMFT preferred.

●     At least one year of experience providing mental health services required, providing early childhood mental health consultation preferred. Familiarity with the local community mental health center and other Adams County community resources for children, families, and early educators.

●     Hold an active or in process Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Endorsement® (Family Specialist, Mental Health Specialist, or Mental Health Mentor - Clinical) strongly preferred.

●     Experience working with children ages 0-8 years old and their caregivers and families on supporting healthy development and addressing atypical development.

●     The self-awareness and ability to create strong relationships with adults and children with an understanding of, and respect for, culture, diversity, equity, anti-racism and inclusion principles and practices.

●     Knowledge of early development, infant/preschool mental health theory and infant/ preschool mental health interventions and trauma informed care.

●     Work experience in group-settings for children.

●     Trained on how to employ a relationship-based dyadic prevention approach to consultation while maintaining a child-centered focus.

●     Experience with assessment of young children's social and emotional functioning.

●     Experience with and/or knowledge of group dynamics and intervention with adults.

●     Consultation skills and approaches to working as a team with other similar and cross-sector professionals/providers.

●     A commitment to regular and ongoing professional development.

●     Knowledge and understanding of trauma-informed care/anti-racism and bias principles/practices to decrease/eliminate the prevention/expulsion rates of children in early education settings.  

●     Bilingual English/Spanish proficiency preferred.

Additional Requirements:

Must have a valid driver’s license and vehicle insurance, as local travel of less than 150 miles per month is expected.

Physical Requirements and Working Conditions:

·      Ability to work in multiple settings with multiple organizations

·      Use computer for periods of time up to two hours

·      Ability to stand and walk on hard surfaces for periods of time up to three hours

·      Ability to lift/push/pull/carry various objects of 30 -40 pounds

·      Ability to reach to shoulder level and above

·      Ability to bend at the hips and knees

·      Drive various distances in all types of weather conditions - travel is expected at about 150 miles per month

·      Ability to work evenings and weekends on occasion

TO APPLY: Please submit a cover letter and current resume to careers@ecpac.org.

Additional Information: ECPAC participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm you are authorized to work in the U.S. ECPAC will only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the Form I-9. ECPAC will not discriminate based upon race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin and abides by affirmative action to ensure equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment. Applicants are protected from discrimination based on inquiring about, disclosing, or discussing their compensation or the compensation of other applicants or employees. Qualified individuals with disabilities are protected from discrimination in hiring, promotion, discharge, pay, fringe benefits, job training, classification referral, and other aspects of employment. ECPAC will take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with disabilities at all levels of employment. ECPAC abides by affirmative action to recruit, employ, and advance in employment, disabled veterans, recently separated veterans, active-duty wartime or campaign badge veterans, or Armed Forces service medal veterans. ECPAC strives to have a diverse staff that represents the community we work with. We strongly encourage people from Adams County who identify as a person representative of the diverse races and cultures to apply.

The Early Childhood Partnership of Adams County (ECPAC), a 501(c)(3) founded in 2004, is the official Early Childhood Council serving Adams County. Our mission is to build a community where every young child and their family can reach their full potential. Through legislation, ECPAC is charged to enhance the system serving young children by improving equitable access to affordable, high-quality services in early learning, health/mental health, and family support and education. ECPAC serves Adams County children and families through two main strategies: 1) leading and engaging in partnership-driven policy and systems change, and 2) providing direct services to support early learning programs (through quality improvement coaching, early childhood mental health consultation, and now career navigation) and families (through care navigation/classes).