Early Care and Education Mental Health Consultant

Responsibilities

• Promote physical and cultural environments that encourage mental health and positive social and emotional functioning through relationship-oriented, reflective dialogues that enhance caregiver awareness of their own internal world and that of children.
• Visit each assigned classroom and Family Child Care provider at least once a month.
• Provide child development information related to social-emotional development and mental health.
• Provide guidance to staff on selecting, implementing, and interpreting social-emotional screening and assessment tools and findings.
• Increase the confidence, competence, and well-being of those consulted.
• Provide guidance and strategies that support our suspensions and expulsion policy and procedure.
• Provide guidance and model developmentally appropriate activities for children and effective ways to work with and support young children.
• Meet with assigned classroom (includes FCC homes) teams (at a minimum of 1 time a month) to review classroom observations and develop and implement plans using Conscious Discipline strategies.
• Provide resources to teachers, families, and early education staff following significant incidents affecting the safety or wellbeing of staff and/or children within our early education service settings.
• Provide psychoeducation about child development, trauma, and strategies that support children’s emotional wellbeing to caregivers, including caregivers and educators, in order to support individualized learning and improve teaching & parenting practices.
• Conduct home visits to support the mental health needs of families and children as needed.
• Document in the database, paper systems, and child’s file (if needed)

Programmatic Consultation

• Participate in monthly team meetings with the Director of Early Care and Education; (Head of Educational Excellence (HEE) will join periodically).
• Provide input into the development and implementation of the ECE mental health services and procedures.

Screenings, Assessments and Referrals

• In collaboration with ECE Leads, support, monitoring outcomes, follow-up and referrals of standardized behavioral screening (ASQ:SE).
• Provide child and family services and follow up as needed (document all in the database systems and the child’s file).
• If Allies cannot provide the required services, collaborate with key partner agencies for referrals and parental support to ensure a successful partnership and document the partnership in database systems and the child’s file.

Training

• Staff Support, coordinate, and provide staff trainings related to social-emotional and mental health issues at least two times a year, once during pre-service.
• Caregivers - In collaboration with the Family and Community Specialists, provide research-based parent trainings monthly (Caring Conversation Café and/or Nurturing Parent Program).
• In collaboration with ECE Mental Health Director, provide at least one parent training annually.

Other

• Participate in regular supervision (2 times a month) and monthly clinical supervision when required.
• Meet one time a month with center management and Child Development Specialists (CDS) to discuss consultation work.
• General Travel and provide services in different locations, including home, center, office, community, and virtual settings.
• Maintain a minimum of 18 hours of professional development annually, topics may include, but are not limited to, infant-family and early childhood mental health, implicit bias and equity, trauma-informed practice, early childhood development, and consultation.
• Participate in (as needed) and suggest community members for Allies’ Health and Mental Health Services Advisory Committee.
• Maintain confidentiality of clients and obtain and maintain on file legal releases of information when needed.
• Aid with quarterly file reviews of children’s education files and ChildPlus to ensure that mental health screenings, referrals and service delivery are documented in accordance with agency procedures and provide results to supervisor.
• Participate in peer reviews of consultation documentation in Exym and implement timely corrections as needed.
• Staff must believe in and act in accordance with both the agency’s and the program’s mission statements.
• Requires a high level of creativity, resourcefulness, and flexibility.
• Ability to work and communicate with a diverse group of families.
• Experience in community outreach, event planning, and working with families and children in community settings is preferred.
• Knowledge of Conscious Discipline, Creative Curriculum, or a similar model is a plus.
• Knowledge of child abuse/neglect prevention.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Home visitation experience desired.
• Knowledge of community resources and experience with interagency collaboration preferred.
• Ability to work independently, flexible, strong organizational skills, and commitment to teamwork.
• Basic computer skills required – Outlook, Word, Excel, and software applications.
• Passionate about learning and possesses curiosity about issues affecting children and families.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in a field related to mental health or human services, including, but not limited to, marriage and family therapy, clinical social work, professional clinical counseling, infant mental health, human development, human services, psychology, school psychology, child and adolescent psychiatry or occupational therapy, education, social work, and other related fields, as determined by the department.
• Certification in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation or equivalent, preferred.
• 1-year experience providing direct mental health services to adults, school-age children, and/or children 0-5 in community-based settings, preferred.
• At least 2 years’ experience and specialized training working with 0-5.
• A minimum of 1 year of experience providing mental health consultation services in a 0-5 setting is strongly preferred.
• Understanding of differences in mental health services and concepts across cultures.
• Experience with evidence-based practices and curricula to promote early childhood mental health, caring conversation café and nurturing parenting program, a plus.
• Knowledge of Head Start and California Department of Social Services.
• Bilingual – English/Spanish strongly preferred.