POSITION TITLE: Mental Health Specialist

STATUS: Exempt, FT GRADE: 5

DEPT: Youth & Family Potential

PROGRAM: Early Head Start & Head Start & PFAE

REPORTS TO: Mental Health Manager of Center Based Programs

SALARY RANGE: $60,000-$65,000 (depending on experience)

SUMMARY: Provides infant/early childhood mental health consultation to early childhood education Early Head Start, Head Start. Preschool for All Expansion partner sites; provides observation, consultation, training & technical assistance to build capacity of caregivers to respond to the social emotional and mental health needs of young children and families.

COLLABORATES WITH: Head Start and PFAE Education and Family Services Team, Children’s Mental Health Team, Child Care Partner Staff.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

· Builds and fosters relationships with childcare providers/teachers to provide consistent, ongoing, reflective consultation during monthly (at minimum) site visits.

· Promotes reflection, critical thinking, & trauma informed and developmentally appropriate practices

· Provides supports for effective classroom management and positive learning environments; social emotional learning; and strategies for supporting children with challenging behaviors and other mental health concerns.

· Provides general classroom observations with follow-up written recommendations and guidance for effective classroom management and positive learning environments

· Works with teachers, teacher coaches, and center directors to identify children who may have social emotional concerns.

· As recommended or requested, provides individual child observations and partners with providers/staff and parents/caregivers to develop individualized child support plans with recommendations for strategies to address challenging behaviors and social emotional needs of young children;

· Develop a system to track referrals and services provided and monitor the implementation of a follow-up plan to meet any needs associated with social emotional concerns; helps staff reflect on the implementation of plans.

· In collaboration with Developmental Specialists, supports teachers with understanding and implementation of classroom accommodations and strategies related to Individual Family Service Plans (IFSP) and Individual Education Plans (IEP)

· Works with partner child care providers and staff to implement policies, plans, and procedures to ensure compliance with program performance standards related to mental health.

· Consult with site directors in developing plans to address teacher/staff wellbeing.

· Ensure proper documentation and tracking of key deliverables, referrals, and services provided

· Build community relationships/partnerships to facilitate access to additional community and mental health resources and services as needed

· Participate in local early childhood community collaboration meetings

· Participate in a Reflective Learning Group for Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultants in Illinois

· Collaborate with Head Start Education Team to assess and respond to classroom/teacher needs through consultation, technical assistance, and/or training.

· Collaborate with Head Start Family Services team to assess and respond to family/parent needs of children in the Head Start Program through parent consultation, technical assistance, and/or parent trainings.

· Work collaboratively across YWCA teams to support mental health related workshops, staff training, etc.

· Function as member of the children's mental health team to ensure quality and alignment across YWCA's early childhood programming and collaborate to further develop team support and programming.

Core Competencies

• Mission Driven- demonstrates passion for supporting systems/programs/families with advancing equitable and inclusive policies/practices that serve and empower children, families, and early childhood educators.
• Self-aware- including awareness of one’s own strengths and areas for growth; awareness of and commitment to address biases; ability to identify and appropriately manage emotional responses to the work.
• Reflective- values a reflective approach to work and can create reflective opportunities for others.
• Develops and motivates others – has a passion for supporting the development of others through modeling and consultation.
• Relational and Team Oriented- builds strong relationships of mutual trust and respect with colleagues and with external partners/stakeholders.
• Cultural responsiveness- demonstrates humility & curiosity about cultural backgrounds, and a commitment to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion; ability to work collaboratively with individuals from various education, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds.
• Flexible- demonstrates resiliency and is open to change, new perspectives, manages ambiguity, and strives for continuous improvements.

QUALIFICATIONS and EXPERIENCE:

• Bilingual in Spanish/English strongly preferred
• 2+ years of experience providing to children ages birth -5; previous experience providing infant and early childhood mental health consultation strongly preferred
• Strong knowledge of child development and infant/early child mental health
• Knowledge of early childhood care and education systems, including early intervention and special education
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including presentation skills
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite

EDUCATION:

• Master’s degree required in psychology, social work, counseling or a related field. Must include graduate education or experience in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health and Child Development (0-5 years).

CERTIFICATION(s) REQUIRED:

• Certified mental health professional: licensed or license eligible strongly preferred.
• Must complete Orientation to Illinois Model of Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation through INCRRA within first year of employment.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

• Must complete and pass a background check from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), fingerprinting and proof of a physical exam.
• Ability to travel between offices and sites in Chicagoland Area. This position can be based out of YWCA office in Aurora or Addison but has need for regular travel to Childcare Partner sites located in Kane, DuPage, and Grundy counties.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment includes offices and early childhood programs and classrooms with children. The noise level is usually moderate. Movement requirements include walking, stooping or kneeling. There may be a need to reach, lift or move objects, such as packages, supplies and computers. Normal (or corrected) vision range; ability to see color and to distinguish letters, numbers and symbols are necessary to the work, which may require close viewing. Occasionally may need to lift and/or move up to 30 pounds. Communication needs include seeing, hearing and speaking. While in the office, there will be periods of sitting, holding a telephone and using computers. Reasonable accommodations will be made for an incumbent to meet the essential responsibilities of the position.