Mental Health & Wellness Director

Overview

Position Overview

College Track San Francisco is seeking a full-time, clinically licensed, Mental Health and Wellness Director to support students with their social-emotional wellbeing and mental health. We do this by employing strengths-based interventions in 1:1s, small groups and psychoeducational workshops with CT scholars. We are searching for a committed and creative leader who steadfastly believes that all students have the potential to graduate from college. The Mental Health and Wellness Director plays an integral role in developing key resources and helping students to develop healthier mindsets that will enable them to thrive. 

A successful Mental Health and Wellness Director exercises sound judgment and is detail-oriented and systems-minded. They build strong and enduring relationships with students, families, and staff and successfully recruit, coach, train, manage and supervise a team of graduate mental health interns. They are confident in managing student crisis situations, making community-based mental health referrals for high acuity students, and in training staff and students on mental health and wellness related topics. 

Primary Responsibilities Include:

The Mental Health and Wellness Director is responsible for the design and implementation of the College Track Mental Health and Wellness Program, focused on student growth and development in the areas of identity formation, social-emotional learning and student wellbeing. They, along with their team of graduate mental health interns, provide professional expertise and guidance, through evidence-based practices to help College Track scholars to identify, explore, and work with unhelpful thinking patterns, persistent emotional distress, relationship and socialization difficulties and self-worth issues so that they can stay on track with their college completion journey. Student wellbeing interventions are delivered through workshops, small groups and 1:1 meetings. The Mental Health and Wellness Director will report to the Site Director and work closely with the rest of their site team to help students develop their social emotional strengths and assets. Mental Health and Wellness Directors are expected to:

• Implement the Mental Health and Wellness Program Core Practices: Promote student social/emotional wellbeing and non-cognitive skill acquisition through the creation, management, and evaluation of the student Mental Health and Wellness Program. This includes:
• Assist students individually and in small groups and workshops, in recognizing and managing self-defeating behaviors, dealing with stress, managing relationships and making healthier choices. 
• Ensure quality one-on-one wellbeing support and counseling is delivered to students. 
• Ensure that site staff complete College Track’s Trauma and Crisis Protocol Training. Ensure alignment and serve as a resource to site staff on this topic. Encourage trauma-informed, whole-student program delivery at the site.
• Facilitate regular cross-department meetings with the site staff to identify and align on individualized next steps/interventions for College Track scholars.
• Administer the CoVitality Social Emotional Health Assessment to all students, every year, effectively triage intervention and manage results. 
• Consult with College Success Advisors regarding college students and coach them on appropriate interventions. Work to ensure that college students in need are receiving mental health intervention when indicated. 
• Oversee the Graduate Intern Training Program, Development, and Management: Develop university partnerships with graduate mental health programs to support implementing high quality wellbeing-oriented programming and counseling for students. Recruit, train, supervise and manage a team of graduate counseling and social work interns and their work with students to ensure the overall health, wellbeing, and success of students. Build a collaborative team of individuals committed to supporting students’ social/emotional health and ensure they are trained and prepared to be excellent clinicians. Meet university field and supervision requirements. 
• Directly supervise (or ensure proper supervision and monitoring) graduate mental health student interns and ensure that they work appropriately with College Track students and utilize evidence-based techniques in workshops, small groups and 1:1s with a focus of developing skills and resources in social/emotional wellbeing areas. 
• Work with acute students 1:1 as indicated, refer as needed to community-based mental health providers or agencies. May serve as a short-term bridge to community providers for students who are high acuity as appropriate
• Establish trusting and supportive relationships with families and conduct family meetings as necessary when student mental health concerns arise.
• Help families with community-based mental health referrals for students when College Track’s mental health and wellness program is not sufficient to keep scholars stable and safe. 
• Establish and maintain relationships with community mental health agencies to ensure seamless referral pathways. 
• Maintain Continuing Education Requirements and Keep License Current: Learn about new developments in the mental health and wellness field by reading professional literature, attending continuing education classes/seminars, and maintaining contact with community resources. Keep clinical mental health license active and current. Maintain personal malpractice insurance to $3,000,000:$1,000,000 per incident. College Track reimburses up to $1000/year for these activities.
• Assessment and Measurement: Actively work to measure and demonstrate the efficacy of Mental Health and Wellness programming to assist with student performance and college completion. Keep and maintain current and accurate records.
• New Projects: Projects as assigned by the Site Director.

Skills & Experience Required

First and foremost, the Mental Health and Wellness Director must embrace College Track’s vision and mission for transforming low-income communities into places where college readiness and college graduation are the norms. Candidates must also possess the following qualifications:

• A minimum of a Master of Arts degree in a mental health profession with an independent clinical license (LCSW, LICSW, LPC, or an LMFT) in the state where applying to work. Independent clinical license is preferred. Or ASW, APCC, AMFT, on-track to being fully licensed within one year of hire.
• Demonstrated experience providing mentorship, clinical services, crisis and case management with underserved youth (ages 14-22).
• Demonstrated experience and success in recruiting, training, managing and supervising graduate mental health interns.
• Demonstrated experience managing people, projects, and oneself to achieve excellent results and expand organizational impact.
• Experience leveraging and developing community partnerships.
• Experience developing, writing and delivering curriculum for psychoeducational training and workshops.
• Excellent relationship-building skills that foster trust, demonstrate cultural competence, validate values differences, and further College Track’s mission. Ability to manage interpersonal conflict situations requiring tact, relationship-centered practices and discretion.
• A growth mindset, focused on meeting outcomes despite obstacles, seeking out challenges as opportunities to grow, taking setbacks in stride, and ability to galvanize oneself towards goals and impact.
• Detail-oriented and possess excellent communication skills. Proficient in speaking, reading and writing in English. 
• Commitment to utilizing data and evidence-based practices to meet student needs. 
• Knowledge of applicable legislation, standards, policies and procedures in mental and behavioral health fields and in your state.
• Experience delivering mental health support through motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioral techniques. Experience with DBT and ACT is also helpful.

The following qualifications are not required of candidates, but are preferred:

• Experience with using Google Suite & Salesforce data management platforms.
• Familiarity with the CoVitality Assessment.

Additional Requirements 

College Track requires that the holder of this position be fully vaccinated, and boosted (if eligible), against COVID-19, as defined by the CDC. College Track will require proof of vaccination and a booster shot from all future employees. New hires who are booster eligible but have not yet received the booster shot will have 60 days from their date of hire to do so.

Compensation & Benefits 

College Track offers a competitive, region specific, salary based on the organization’s compensation philosophy, which is grounded in market data. We also offer comprehensive health & welfare benefits and top of the market paid time off. 

To Apply:

Please upload a PDF resume and thoughtful cover letter with your application. We will only contact candidates chosen for further consideration. No phone inquiries please. 

College Track works to remove barriers for first generation college students on their journey to college completion. Our commitment to removing barriers for first generation college students doesn’t stop when college ends. While we hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds, we especially encourage applicants who identify as first-generation college graduates to apply for open opportunities on staff.

College Track is an equal opportunity employer fully committed to achieving a diverse workforce. College Track does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex, gender, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression.