Healthy Steps Specialist

Position Summary

The Healthy Steps Specialist is an early child development expert who will join the pediatric primary care team to provide interventions, referrals, and follow-up for families with patient’s ages 0-3. The Healthy Steps Specialist builds strong relationships with families and providers to increase the efficiency of the medical system and support team-based comprehensive care.

Job Responsibilities

• Promotes Healthy Steps within the practice to families and providers
• Counsels on a short-term basis for needs regarding development and/or behavioral concerns such as sleep, positive parenting, picky eating, etc.
• Maintains a child development support line and responds to and tracks call requests within the designated response time
• Participates in reflective supervision meetings
• May facilitate parent/caregiver groups
• Supports programmatic build out, design, and implementation
• Supports education initiatives about program across organization and externally, as needed
• Supports data tracking and reporting for grant related requirements
• Engage in community events, as requested
• Supports BH crisis calls and managing crisis situations on site as needed
• Provides BH assessments, including depression, anxiety, and substance screenings, and timely follow up with patients after a positive screening

Requirements & Skills/Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to collaborate and communicate effectively in a team setting
• Ability to maintain effective and professional relationships with patient and other members of the care team
• Working knowledge of differential diagnosis of common mental health and/or substance abuse disorders, when appropriate
• Ability to effectively engage patients in a therapeutic relationship, when appropriate
• Ability to work with patients by telephone as well as in person
• Working knowledge of evidence-based psychosocial treatments and brief behavioral interventions for common mental health disorders, when appropriate e.g., motivational interviewing, problem-solving treatment, behavioral activation)
• Basic knowledge of psychopharmacology for common mental health disorders that is within appropriate scope of practice for type of provider filling role
• Has leadership qualities, including high level of organization, accountability, ability to take initiative and follow through on project tasks, and ability to present about Healthy Steps both internally and externally

Education/Experience

• Experience in social work, mental health counseling or other similar work
• Experience with screening for common mental health and/or substance abuse disorders
• Experience with assessment and treatment planning for common mental health and/or substance use disorders
• Experience with evidence-based counseling techniques
• Specialized training and licensure to be able to provide brief psychosocial interventions such as problem-solving treatment
• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in psychology or human services field preferred, associated degree with at least two years of direct experience in the human services field will also be considered