Behavioral Health Team Lead

The Safer Foundation is a social service provider to individuals with arrest and conviction records. Through a full range of services, including case management, educational instruction and advocacy, we focus on preparing individuals for the world of work by helping them find and keep productive and meaningful employment
General Summary:

This position is a grant-funded role under the Chicago Department of Public Health and is subject to background check.

Reporting to the Clinical Services Supervisor, the Behavioral Health Team Lead provides operational, programmatic, and frontline supervision to the team of Behavioral Health Navigators who deliver community-based, therapeutic behavioral health navigation to individuals returning from incarceration.

The Behavioral Health Team Lead is the day-to-day anchor for the behavioral health navigation team coaching practice, managing caseload distribution, monitoring quality, and removing barriers between the Navigators and the work.

This position exists to enhance the integrative reentry model of the Supportive Reentry Network Collaborative ("SRNC") by strengthening the behavioral health and HRSN navigation function within the collaborative. The Behavioral Health Team Lead is responsible not only for executing within the SRNC model but also for actively shaping its evolution, identifying workflow gaps, surfacing patterns across the caseload, and contributing to the iterative refinement of behavioral health navigation integration with reentry services across SRNC partners. The Behavioral Health Team Lead carries a reduced caseload of the highest-acuity participants in order to remain grounded in the work and lead from within it.
Performance Results Description

The Position is properly performed when all essential duties and responsibilities are executed by following the Safer Values.

Exceeding Expectations, Communication and Collaboration, Integrity and Evidence Based Innovation.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Stakeholder Interface
Clinical Workflow and Service Delivery Management

• Oversee day-to-day execution of behavioral health and HRSN screening, assessment, and service planning workflows across the team.
• Ensure psychoeducational group programming is scheduled, staffed, and delivered consistently.
• Coordinate Navigator deployment across SCWC sites, partner agencies, and community settings based on participant need and program priorities.
• Troubleshoot service delivery barriers, referral bottlenecks, partner agency friction, and participant access issues as they arise.
• Partner with the Clinical Services Supervisor to revise workflows when patterns indicate process drift or system gaps.

Direct Service Reduced Caseload

• Maintain a reduced active caseload of approximately 10-12 highest-acuity participants to remain proficient in the work and credible to the team.
• Conduct screening, assessment, service planning, group facilitation, and warm handoffs in accordance with the Behavioral Health Navigator scope of practice.
• Serve as the Navigator of record for participants requiring senior-level engagement, complex coordination, or escalated advocacy.

SRNC Collaboration and Model Enhancement

• Represent the Behavioral Health Navigator team in SRNC integrated staffings, partner workgroups, and care coordination forums.
• Build and maintain working relationships with SRNC partner agencies, MCO care coordinators, and external clinical providers.
• Identify gaps, frictions, and improvement opportunities in how behavioral health navigation integrates with the broader SRNC reentry model.
• Contribute to the design and refinement of SRNC workflows, referral pathways, and shared protocols in partnership with the Clinical Services Supervisor and SRNC leadership.
• Surface field-level intelligence from the Navigator team to inform SRNC strategy and program design decisions.

Stakeholder Outreach and Recruitment

• Coordinate communication and collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, including community providers, referral sources, correctional facilities, hospitals, social service agencies, and behavioral health partners
• Develop and maintain community partnerships to support participant engagement, continuity of care, and resource accessibility
• Conduct outreach efforts to increase program awareness, referrals, and community engagement
• Represent the program at community meetings, wellness events, case conferences, and collaborative initiatives
• Facilitate cross-system coordination between behavioral health providers, case managers/navigators, medical providers, and community organizations
• Assist with organizing psychoeducational groups, community-based programming, and engagement initiatives
• Support linkage to mental health, substance use, housing, employment, and reentry resources through collaborative outreach efforts

Tracking, Document and Reporting

• Ensure all Navigator documentation meets the standards of HIPAA, Illinois Rule 132, Medicaid, and CDPH grant requirements.
• Lead the team in monthly self-review processes and aggregate findings to inform coaching and corrective action.
• Maintain personal documentation on the reduced caseload to the same standard expected of the team.
• Partner with QA staff and the Clinical Services Supervisor on audit preparation, corrective action plans, and continuous quality improvement initiatives.

Fiscal Reporting and Accountability

• Prepare and submit team-level performance reports, dashboards, and narrative updates as required by the Clinical Services Supervisor and CDPH grant deliverables.
• Support funder site visits, audits, and reporting cycles with accurate, timely data and documentation.
• Maintain awareness of CDPH grant requirements, deliverables, and reporting timelines.

Supervision of People

• Manage caseload distribution across the Navigator team, balancing acuity, geography, and Navigator capacity.
• Monitor caseload health across the team - flagging participants at risk of disengagement, overdue contact, or unmet escalation needs.
• Conduct monthly chart reviews on a representative sample of Navigator documentation to assess clinical reasoning, regulatory compliance, and service quality.
• Identify patterns across the caseload, clinical, social, and structural, and surface them to the Clinical Services Supervisor for programmatic response.
• Track team-level performance against program targets, including screening timeliness, caseload size, group dosage, and warm handoff completion.
• Onboard new Behavioral Health Navigators in partnership with the Clinical Services Supervisor, ensuring fluency in screening tools, EHR systems, regulatory standards, and the SRNC model.
• Identify team-wide training needs and coordinate or deliver internal trainings on relevant clinical, regulatory, and operational topics.
• Cultivate a learning culture within the team that supports reflective practice, peer consultation, and skill development.

• Support Navigator career development through stretch assignments, mentorship, and pathway conversations.

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Strong working knowledge of community-based behavioral health navigation, including screening, assessment, service planning, psychoeducation, and warm handoff coordination.
• Familiarity with the justice-involved reentry continuum and the structural barriers participants face post-release.
• Fluency in evidence-based engagement approaches, including but not limited to: motivational interviewing, trauma-informed care, harm reduction, and skill-based applications drawn from CBT and DBT frameworks.
• Demonstrated ability to coach, mentor, and develop direct service staff.
• Skill in giving structured, constructive feedback that improves practice without eroding morale.
• Ability to balance accountability and support, especially in high-pressure, trauma-exposed work.
• Capacity to manage team dynamics, conflict, and performance issues with maturity and discretion.
• Proficiency administering and interpreting validated behavioral health screening instruments (PHQ-9, GAD-7, Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, Brief Jail Mental Health Screen).
• Proficiency administering and interpreting validated HRSN screening instruments (PRAPARE, AHC-HRSN).
• Ability to recognize patterns of acuity, risk, and unmet need across a caseload and translate them into operational response.
• Ability to see across the caseload and the team - recognizing patterns, drift, and improvement opportunities at the system level.
• Skill in translating field-level intelligence into actionable program design recommendations.
• Comfort with workflow design, SOP development, and process documentation.
• Working knowledge of Illinois Medicaid, Rule 132, HIPAA, and participant confidentiality requirements.
• Familiarity with CDPH grant reporting, deliverables, and compliance expectations.

• Understanding of behavioral health documentation standards and quality assurance practices.
• Competency in CareLogic, Salesforce, and other electronic health record and data systems.
• Hands-on experience and self-sufficiency with Microsoft productivity tools, including Outlook (for email), Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), and online collaboration tools (video conferencing, Zoom/Teams, messaging).
• Ability to read, interpret, and act on program performance data.
• Cultural humility and racial equity literacy.
• Ability to build trust across hierarchical, professional, and cultural lines, with participants, staff, partners, and funders.
• Skill in working within multidisciplinary teams while holding clear professional boundaries and supervisory authority.

Education and Experience:

• Master's degree in social work, Counseling, Psychology, Public Health, or a related human services field required.
• Minimum of 2 years of post-master's experience in mental health, behavioral health, public health, or reentry service settings satisfying QMHP requirements under Illinois Rule 132 required.
• Minimum of 1 year of supervisory, lead, or formal mentorship experience required.
• Direct experience as a Behavioral Health Navigator, Care Coordinator, or equivalent community-based behavioral health role highly preferred.
• Experience working with high-risk or acute behavioral health populations in community-based or reentry settings highly preferred.
• Experience contributing to program design, workflow development, or quality improvement initiatives high preferred.
• Lived experience with the justice system, recovery, or both strongly valued.

Licenses and or Certifications:

Valid Illinois driver's license and reliable transportation required.

CPR/First Aid certification or ability to obtain within designated timeframe required.


Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC) preferred.
Certified Recovery Support Specialist (CRSS) preferred.
Licensed Social Worker (LSW) or Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) preferred.
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) or Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) preferred.
Trauma-Informed Care Certification/Training preferred.
Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) Certification preferred.
Motivational Interviewing (MI) Training preferred.
Experience with IM+CANS, ASAM, DSM-5, or behavioral health screening tools preferred.
Training in suicide prevention/risk assessment (C-SSRS preferred).

Safer Pathways Center is committed to fair chance employment. A criminal conviction does not automatically disqualify an applicant from employment. However, certain positions are subject to mandatory background screening and eligibility requirements established by state or federal law, which may limit eligibility for specific roles.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without current or future employer sponsorship. Safer Foundation is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas, including H-1B, TN, E-3, or other employment-based visas.

Work Location & Residency Requirement : This is a hybrid position based out of our Chicago office, with a required in-office schedule. Employees in this role must live in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, or Michigan at the time of hire and keep their residency in one of these states throughout employment. Employees must also be able to report to the [office] location on all required in-office days. Safer Foundation is not set up to employ staff in other states, so we cannot consider candidates who live outside these four states.

Safer Foundation is a drug-free workplace

Equal Opportunity Employer/Affirmative Action/Minorities/Females/Veterans

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Equal Opportunity Employer
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