Job Summary

Under general supervision, the Head Start Consultant provides early childhood mental health consultation to Head Start classrooms and families. Head Start Consultants provide trauma-informed, social and emotional strategies and recommendations in collaboration with Head Start staff, including teachers, education supervisors, disabilities providers, and administration to improve the mental health climate of a classroom and or program and to increase social emotional development. Primary areas of consultation include child focused, classroom focused, and program focused consultation. Will provide parent education in group settings and individually. Consultants will provide teacher education through presentations and meetings, may also coach teachers, staff, and parents regarding improving relationships and classroom environments using reflective supervision as appropriate. Will focus on building relationships with agency staff to develop a plan for services and will facilitate referral process. Support Head Start agency staff in development and implementation of positive behavior support plans when needed. Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant will carry a consultation case load of referred children and classrooms throughout Denver Metro area.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

1. Builds professional relationships focused on mutuality and collaboration with school administrators, service coordinators, family service workers, teachers and caregivers.

2. Provides consultation services in a variety of settings, requiring frequent transportation and flexible time management.

3. Provides services that are appropriate to the age and development level of child.

4. Attends collaboration meetings to coordinate services with multidisciplinary team for identified children or classrooms requesting consultation.

5. Facilitates referrals for consultation in collaboration with agency staff.

6. With a referral, schedules and facilitates meetings with parents and caregivers.

7. With a referral, schedules and facilitates meetings with teachers, Directors, Supervisors, and other school personnel.

8. Completes classroom observations and assessment using evidence-based assessments and screening tools.

9. Routinely screens social-emotional development of identified children using evidence-based screening tools.

10. Establishes classroom consultation goals in collaboration with teachers and administrators.

11. Provides recommendations for behavioral and social/emotional strategies to classrooms and caregivers.

12. Assesses need for and facilitates referrals to community mental health and health resources.

13. Complies with applicable laws and educates other staff as to legal issues related to social work practice.

14. Attends regular reflective supervision meetings with supervisor.

15. Attends regular group consultation and team meetings.

16. Advocates as appropriate in a professional manner.

17. Case management supports provided as needed for patients with complex needs.

18. Responds to patient and referral needs in a timely professional manner.

19. Documents consultation activities with referral.

20. Works diligently to protect the confidentiality of patient information sharing patient information only when necessary in the performance of the job responsibilities or to improve a patient's care.

21. Care coordination with medical staff, early intervention disabilities providers, mental health providers, and agency staff.

22. Completes monthly and quarterly outcome tracking forms.

23. Participates or provides leadership of department, agency, or community meetings as well as internal Denver Health workgroups.

24. Provides education regarding relevant topics to caregivers and Head Start staff.

25. Other duties as assigned.

Responsibilities

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

1. Must have excellent interpersonal skills and ability to tolerate ambiguity. 2. Excellent written and oral communication skills. 3. Advanced knowledge of early childhood mental health, including typical child development and parallel process. 4. Ability to provide individual, child and family psychotherapy. 5. Knowledge of social emotional theories in education such as Pyramid and Conscious Discipline. 6. Experience with trauma-informed care and ability to apply to a large system/community. 7. Familiarity with systems interventions and assessment. 8. Knowledge of crisis intervention and ability to respond to trauma in both children and adults. 9. Knowledge of patient populations' cultural, religious, ethnic, and social systems in interactions, care planning, and education. Familiarity with community resources available to children and families. 10. Ability to maintain firm boundaries and confidentiality - to manage professional relationship including termination. 11. Ability to respond to feedback and incorporate into practice. 12. Comfort in providing group training and working collaboratively with others.

Education

* Master's Degree (Required) Education and Experience 1. Master's Degree in Social Work from a CSWE accredited college or university, required. 2. Two years of full-time post Master's Degree social work practice under the supervision of a licensed or equivalently qualified social worker or other DORA approved professional practitioner, required.

Experience

Credentials

* Basic Life Support (BLS/CPR) from American Heart Association (Required) Certificates, Licenses and Registration 1. Licensed Clinical Social Worker/State of Colorado, required. 2. BLS certification, required.Certificates, Licenses and Registration 1. Licensed Clinical Social Worker/State of Colorado, required. 2. BLS certification, required.
* Licensed Clinical Social Worker (Required)

Work Type
Full time

All job applicants for safety-sensitive positions must pass a pre-employment drug test, once a conditional offer of employment has been made.

Denver Health is an integrated, efficient, high-quality academic health care system that is considered a model for the nation. The Denver Health system includes the Rocky Mountain Regional Level I Trauma Center, a 525-bed acute care medical center, Denver's 911 emergency medical response system, 8 family health centers, 15 school-based health centers, the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, the Denver Public Health Department, an HMO, and The Denver Health Foundation.

As Colorado's primary safety net institution, Denver Health is a mission-driven organization that has provided more than $3.3 billion in care for the uninsured in the last ten years. Denver Health is a leader in performance and quality improvements and remains financially secure, in part, due to its nationally recognized implementation of lean principles in healthcare. Denver Health is a major resource to the community, serving approximately 185,000 individuals and 67,000 children a year.

Located just south of downtown Denver, Denver Health is just minutes away from many of the cultural and recreational activities Denver has to offer.

We strongly support diversity in the workforce and Denver Health is an equal opportunity employer (EOE).