Director of Mental Health

A little about us… Kidango (kidango.org) is an early learning nonprofit committed to setting every child on a path to thrive in kindergarten and in life. We believe that all children can reach their full potential if they and their families have access to the right opportunities and resources. As the largest child care provider in the San Francisco Bay Area, we provide thousands of children, especially those from low-income families, with safe, healthy, nurturing environments and relationships. Through our policy work, we aim to take our expertise beyond the children and families that we serve, and drive change in early childhood education at the local, state and federal levels. Our goal is to make sure all children have the social, emotional, and academic skills they need to learn, grow and realize their potential.

About The Role

The Director of Mental Health oversees Kidango’s Mental Health program. Under the direction of the Vice President of Support Services, the Director of Mental Health is responsible for the oversight and provision of mental health consultation for classrooms and intensive services to children enrolled in Kidango centers and classrooms who present with challenging and at-risk behaviors. The Director works with Kidango's support services team to provide a seamless experience for children and families that Kidango serves.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Develops and maintains a system of care to provide direct mental health services and mental health consultation to children and classrooms at Kidango.
• Ensures the maintenance of licensing, ethical, and legal issues relevant to the provision of mental health services.
• Designs clinical and program outcome measures to identify needs, gaps, and improvements in support and intervention services.
• Maintains appropriate records documenting program outcomes and areas for program quality improvement.
•  Identifies, cultivates and maintains strategic alliances and partnership with key ECMHC industry stakeholders and organizations at the local, state and national levels.  
• Hires, onboards, trains, supervises, and evaluates department management staff and direct services; assists with performance management including performance feedback, disciplinary actions and succession planning. 
• Provides coaching, supervision, and training to Mental Health leadership team, including clinical supervisors to support ongoing growth and professional development of staff.
• Provides training to staff as requested by VP of Support Services and Chief of Early Childhood Services.
• Builds and leads a highly effective and cohesive team. 
• Leads development and delivery of early childhood mental health consultation and training programs.
• Provides consultation to teaching staff and families regarding early childhood trauma, social emotional development and behavioral health issues in children, including how to handle unsafe situations.
• Defines the clinical direction and consultation model utilized, identify correlating components for successful implementation, and support a continuous quality improvement process.
• Creates budgets with the finance team that optimize the utilization of services at Centers based on financial data.
• Write grants and proposals for funding with the assistance of the Development and Communications Department.
• Maintains relationships with internal and external providers and funders as appropriate and fundraise as needed.
• Facilitates the coordination and seamless integration of mental health consultation and intensive services with the Early Childhood leadership team. 
• Provides required reports and documentation to the leadership and executive teams, funding sources, public agencies, and the Board of Directors.
• Attends internal and external meetings as required.
• Works as a member of the Early Childhood Services leadership team, promoting the mission, vision, and values of Kidango.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

 Required Qualifications

• MA, MS, PsyD, or PhD in Psychology, Child Development, or related field.
• Minimum of 5 years in Early Childhood Mental Health.
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in direct service delivery in a mental health program.
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in managing and administering similar programs.
• Clinical licensure as an MFT, LCSW or psychologist in CA required for at least 2 years with current active licensure.
• Understanding of budgets and funding requirements in provision of behavioral health services.
• Effective oral, reading, and written communicati