Mental Health Specialist

SHELTERING ARMS

EARLY EDUCATION AND FAMILY CENTERS

JOB DESCRIPTION

 ____________________________________________________________________________________

OFFICIAL TITLE: Mental Health Specialist

SUPERVISOR: Director of Nutrition, Health, and Wellbeing

SALARY RANGE: In accordance with Sheltering Arms Salary Schedules

TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT: Full time, full year, exempt

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION: The Mental Health Specialist will collaborate with other program specialists to improve the quality of care and education across settings. This is a professional position to support teachers, caregivers, and other adults in preparing children ages six weeks through age five for school readiness, especially those with special needs and concerns. The position will also build the capacity of the center staff to nurture and teach social and emotional learning for children birth through age five in the Sheltering Arms network. They will provide technical assistance for Healthy Beginning meetings and referrals in partnership with the Family Support team and the Center management team. They will lead the Sheltering Arms developmental screening plan. They will demonstrate a commitment to early childhood best practices and innovation.

PERFORMANCE RESPONSIBILITIES: (Asterisk for essential job duties.)

• Establish and maintain ongoing supportive relationships with the center management team staff in the network of Sheltering Arms’ centers. *

• Develop and maintain the developmental screening process using ASQ Online. *

• Provide professional development and technical assistance on planning and facilitating a successful Health Beginning meeting. *

• Design and implement program practices responsive to the identified behavioral and mental health concerns of an individual or group of children. *

• Review child assessment data, CLASS scores, and other assessment or evaluation data to identify areas of need for technical assistance. *

• Plan and carryout regular site visits, classrooms observations, and work groups to assess program needs and planning strategies for system/process improvement and/or development of early childhood education, disabilities, and mental health. *

• Assist the center management team in designing intervention strategies to enhance children’s development including social-emotional development and to mitigate behavioral disruptions. *

• Provide mental health consultation regarding children with social-emotional challenges, including the administering of screening and assessment tools as warranted to strengthen nurturing, supportive environments and relationships in the home. *

• Develop and disseminates resources and best practices internally and through community mental health resources for the process of implementing quality improvement efforts in the areas of disabilities and mental health. *

• Facilitate in partnership with the family support team and the center management team, referrals for children and families with more intensive needs to the most appropriate available health, early intervention or mental health (or other support) provider. *

• Assist in the gathering of data and preparation of required reports; maintain all necessary records such as documentation of referrals, responses to those referrals, training evaluations, and reports required by regulatory agencies and/or necessary for program evaluation. *

• Develop, refine and maintain a timely menu of training topics and curricula aimed at improving the competency of the child care and education staff as well as parent awareness and communication in promoting child development, including social and emotional development of children. *

• Confer with the Center Directors, Bright from the Start, Special Quest, Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS), Head Start T&TA staff, the national Strengthening Families Initiative, and other critical stakeholders to determine professional development. *

• Facilitate delivery of state approved professional development to the child care and education staff, either by providing the training directly or arranging for other competent trainers to do so, assuring that training provided is accessible, taking into account the working hours and geographic barriers inherent to Sheltering Arms’ child care and education staffing team. *

• Coordinate activities with other staff to ensure a unified service delivery system. *

• Ensure confidentiality of employee, parent, and child information received and managed. Demonstrate sensitivity to the linguistic and cultural needs of the children and families served. *

• Encourage and model a collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach to working with children, families, and other caregivers and educators through Healthy Beginning meetings at each site. *

• Consult with the center team to plan for children that experience social-emotional-behavioral challenges that put them at risk for expulsion from schools or impact their success within care. *

• Work with the center team on ways to strengthen their overall program caregiving practices to promote school readiness and the social-emotional development of all of the children in their care. *

• Work proactively to improve and facilitate understanding and collaboration between the field of child care and the health, early intervention, and mental health fields, promoting understanding of school readiness for children ages six weeks through ages five. *

• Create, proofread and distribute correspondence, memos, and other materials to community partners based on verbal and emailed instruction from the Head Start and PreK Directors. *

• Regularly schedule consultation with parents and staff in response to identified abnormal physical or mental behaviors. Support parental participation in any needed mental health interventions and services.

• Build and support the capacity of teachers to solicit information, observations, and concerns about the child’s mental health from parents. *

• Performs other duties as assigned. *

Knowledge, Abilities, and Skills:

• Accountability

• Must be pro-active to the needs of the program

• Excellent interpersonal skills

• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral

• Ability to discern and respect cultural diversity, work effectively with a diverse population, and to respond appropriately within diverse audiences and constituencies. 

• Willingness and ability to travel (locally, statewide and nationally) and able to work a flexible schedule, independently and self-directed.

• Knowledge includes: thorough understanding of the Head Start/Early Head Start program model; regulations and standards in early child development; teaching strategies; and the critical contributing components of a high quality learning environment for infants and toddlers.

• Spanish language ability helpful but not required 

Education, Training, and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in counseling, social work, psychology, or closely related field. Master’s degree preferred.

• Five years of experience working with children under age five and their families.

• Knowledge of early child development, including an understanding of the concepts and dynamics underlying brain development, family dynamics and the importance of attachment and the child-caregiver interaction.

• Knowledge of the Teaching Pyramid Model with the Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (SEFEL).

• Familiar with the CLASS scoring system.

• Knowledgeable of the Quality Rated System in Georgia, Head Start Performance Standards, National Association for the Education of Young Children accreditation system, and Georgia Child Care Licensing.

• Familiar with developmental and social-emotional screening tools, such as, the ASQ-3, ASQ SE, and DECA.

• Comfortable with technology and using Microsoft Office Suite

• Knowledge of ProCare and ChildPlus

• Approved trainer at the intermediate and advanced level in the GA Training Approval for Early Care and Learning system is preferred.

CERTIFICATE AND LICENSE REQUIREMENTS:

LICENSED mental health professional with experience and expertise in serving children birth to age five and their families.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The Mental Health Specialist may be expected to:

• Lift and carry children and equipment, 30lbs unassisted and 50lbs with assistance.

• Capability to sit on the floor and stand up independently to interact with children.

• Sit or stand for extended periods of time.

• Work in a busy and occasionally noisy environment where there may be a number of activities and situations happening at once.

• Ability to use arms and legs and moving their whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling of materials.

• Ability to learn/use technology.

• Ability to pass a hearing test.

• Visually observe children from all areas of the classroom and playground from a distance of at least 20 feet.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

Travel to various centers may be required as well as rotating schedules. Background check, fingerprinting, and drug test are required prior to hire date.

EVALUATION:

Performance of this job will be evaluated consistent with Sheltering Arms evaluation policy.

Date Established: 10/26/2016

Date(s) Revised: 01/29/2026

This description may be changed at any time. This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee. The employee will be required to follow any other instructions and to perform any other related duties as assigned by leadership. Sheltering Arms reserves the right to update, revise or change this job description and related duties at any time.

((*)) Essential job duties -the basic job duties that an employee must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation.

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