Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant

About The Role

The Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant provides on-site mental health consultation and capacity-building services to teaching staff caregivers and families within infant toddler and preschool early learning settings. This role supports programs across Santa Clara Alameda and/or Contra Costa counties.

The consultant partners with educators and families to strengthen social-emotional development promote positive and inclusive learning environments and support young children with mental health concerns challenging behaviors or developmental differences. The goal of the position is to enhance relationships in the care setting build staff competence and confidence foster nurturing and emotionally responsive environments and strengthen collaboration between home and school.

What Youll Be Doing

• Implement all aspects of the delivery of the Kidango model of early childhood mental health consultation services to staff children and families that includes system program center and child-level consultation.
• Conduct consistent and ongoing consultation meetings/conversations observations assessments and other consultative/therapeutic activities.
• Participate in individual and group reflective supervision that is marked by atmosphere of trust respect reflection and collaboration.
• Participate in regular administrative supervision. Adhere to protocols processes and timelines related to referrals case assignments and documentation (NO MEDI-CAL billing productivity or documentation).
• Establish and maintain strong collaborative and professional relationships with staff across departments.
• Support referral process for community-based services and resources as needed.
• Develop and/or facilitate trainings on a range of early childhood mental health topics for consultation as part of consultation support.
• Provide interventions to assist with mental health or behavioral crisis as arise including with situations related to mandated reporting and any suspected child abuse adhering to laws and regulations.
• Complete data collection procedures and provide data reporting as requested. Support the development and implementation of program evaluation and outcome measurement procedures.
• Attend supervision and other meetings as required for the program.

Preferred qualifications

• Masters degree or higher in Marriage and Family Therapy Social Work Psychology Counseling or a related behavioral science field.
• Licensure in California as LMFT LCSW LPCC or Psychologist (preferred).
  Minimum one year of experience providing mental health or therapeutic services to children ages 05 and their families.
• Knowledge of early childhood development and experience in group early learning environments.
• Experience assessing young childrens social-emotional functioning.
• Ability to work effectively with adults including supporting group dynamics and adult learning.
• Experience in multicultural and under-resourced communities; understanding of trauma poverty and related stressors.
• Infant/family early childhood mental health endorsement (or reflective practice endorsement) strongly preferred.
• Training or experience in infant/early childhood mental health models including evidence-based and trauma-informed practices (e.g. Child Parent Psychotherapy).
• Familiarity with mental health consultation in Early Head Start Head Start and state preschool programs.
• Ability to work from an ecological relational and trauma-informed lens consistent with infant mental health principles.
• Bilingual Spanish/English strongly preferred.

OTHER QUALIFICATIONS/REQUIREMENTS:

• Commitment to a consultative stance that builds the reflective capacity and mental health competencies of caregivers teachers and staff.
• Ability to engage in ongoing self-reflection examine personal biases and support others in perspective-taking.
  Ability to develop trusting collaborative and professional relationships with staff and families.
• Flexibility to work in natural settings including classrooms homes and community locations; occasional evenings/weekends.
• Understanding of typical and atypical development cultural variations in caregiving and the impact of power inequity and oppression on relationships.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; professional organized and self-directed.
• Ability to exercise sound clinical ethical and legal judgment and seek supervision as needed.
  Reliable transportation and ability to travel daily throughout assigned counties (Santa Clara Alameda and/or Contra Costa).