Job description

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION: The Mental Health Specialist will collaborate with other program specialist
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 week 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 of Early Education and Family Centers. He/she will provide technical assistance
for Healthy Beginning meetings and referrals in partnership with the Family Support team and the Center
management team. He/she will lead the Sheltering Arms developmental and social emotional screening
plan. He/she will demonstrate a commitment to early childhood best practices and innovation.
PERFORMANCE RESPONSIBILITIES: (Asterisk for essential job duties.)
1. Provide mental health services to children with social-emotional challenges, including the administering of
screening and assessment tools, individual or group mental health interventions, as warranted to
strengthen nurturing, supportive environments and relationships in the home. *
2. Establish and maintain ongoing supportive relationships with the center management team staff in the
network of Sheltering arms’ centers. *
3. Develop and maintain the developmental screening process using ASQ Online. *
4. Provide professional development and technical assistance on planning and facilitating a successful
Health Beginning meeting. *
5. Design and implement program practices responsive to the identified behavioral and mental health
concerns of an individual or group of children. *
6. Review child assessment data, CLASS scores, and other assessment or evaluation data to identify areas
of need for technical assistance. *
7. 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. *
8. Assist the center management team in designing intervention strategies to enhance children’s
development including social-emotional development and to mitigate behavioral disruptions. *
9. 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. *
10. 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. *

11. 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. *
12. 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. *
13. 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. *
14. 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. *
15. Coordinate activities with other staff to ensure a unified service delivery system. *
16. 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. *
17. 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. *
18. 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. *
19. 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. *
20. 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. *
21. 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. *
22. Regularly schedule consultation with parents and staff in response to children screened as being at risk
of developmental and/or behavioral health delays. Support parental participation in any needed mental
health interventions and services.
23. Build and support the capacity of teachers to solicit information, observations, and concerns about the
child’s mental health from parents. *
24. 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 work effectively with a diverse population
• Spanish language ability helpful but not required

Computer Equipment and Software Requirements:

• Comfort with technology and using Microsoft Office Suite
• Knowledge of ProCare and ChildPlus

Experience and Training:

• Master’s degree required in Social Work, Psychology, Counseling, School Counseling, or closely

related field.

• Five years of experience in working with children under age five and their families
• Willingness and ability to travel (locally, statewide and nationally) and able to work a flexible

schedule, independently and self-directed.

• 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

• Ability to discern and respect cultural diversity, and to respond appropriately within diverse

audiences and constituencies.

• 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

• Training, education or experience may be substituted for certain minimum qualifications

CERTIFICATE AND LICENSE REQUIREMENTS:
1. Licensed mental health professional with experience and expertise in serving children birth to age
five and their families, preferred
2. Approved trainer at the intermediate and advanced level in the GA Training Approval for Early Care
and Learning system

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
Must be able to lift 30 lbs. without assistance; 50 lbs. with assistance. Position requires the ability to reach
with hands and arms as well as to use hands to finger, handle or feel. Ability to talk and hear as well as
stand, walk, and sit required. Occasional need to stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
Willingness and ability to travel to all center locations and able to work a flexible schedule. Must pass a
criminal background check and also a drug screen.

EVALUATION:
Performance of this job will be evaluated consistent with Sheltering Arms evaluation policy.
Date Established: 11/30/2019

Date(s) Revised:
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.

Full vaccination is a condition of employment for a full-time and part-time Sheltering Arms employees, long-term substitutes, and interns, regardless of date of hire at time of hire or no later than 60 days from date of hire. As with current employees, Sheltering Arms will consider job applicants' requests for reasonable accommodation for disability or sincerely held religious belief.
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