Mental Health Program Specialist - Youth Services Center & Child Welfare Team (Open & Promotional)

Job Description:

Mental Health Program Specialist - Youth Services Center & Child Welfare Team (Open & Promotional)

Description

Description

The San Mateo County Health's Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (BHRS) Division is seeking a compassionate and experienced individual to join our Youth Services Center (YSC) BHRS Team and our Child Welfare Mental Health Team as a Mental Health Program Specialist.

In this vital split role providing clinical and administrative leadership across two interconnected programs that serve vulnerable, children, youth, and young adults involved in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Working in close partnership with Supervising Mental Health Clinicians, you will help coordinate and strengthen services for youth ages 6 - 25 and their families who are involved with Children and Family Services (CFS), Juvenile Probation, and Specialty Mental Health Services.

In this role, you will support multidisciplinary clinical teams, maintain a small caseload, and help shape the delivery of child and youth mental health services across San Mateo County.

There is currently one vacancy for this position. The role position is based in San Mateo, with travel throughout the county as needed.

About the Program

Youth Services Center (YSC) BHRS Team

The YSC BHRS Team provides behavioral health services to youth and young adults involved with the Juvenile Probation Department. Clinicians deliver coordinated, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed care that promotes safety and healing, reduces recidivism and helps prevent unnecessary out-of-home placements.

Child Welfare Mental Health Team

The Child Welfare Team focused on improving behavioral health outcomes for children, youth, young adults and families involved with the child welfare system. Services emphasize coordinated delivery of Intensive Care Coordination (ICC), Intensive Home-Based Services (IHBS), and Therapeutic Foster Care services (TFC).

Rewarding Aspects of the Job:

• Support healing and stability for children, youth, and families during pivotal moments.
• Advance equitable, trauma-informed behavioral health services across child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
• Build strong cross-system partnerships that keep youth connected to families and communities.
• Grow professionally through varied, meaningful work that blends leadership, collaboration, program development, and direct clinical support.

Key Responsibilities

The Mental Health Program Specialist for the YSC BHRS Team and Child Welfare Team will:

• Coordinate services for justice-involved youth through established partnerships with Juvenile Probation and Juvenile Institutions as well as partners with Child and Family Services (CFS).
• Coordinate and support mental health assessments for youth involved in detention or re-entry, working closely with probation, healthcare, and community partners.
• Participate in scheduled on-duty and after-hours mental health coverage as assigned for the Youth Services Center.
• Maintain a small caseload, providing direct support to youth and families as needed.
• Provide administrative supervision and guidance to staff, ensuring high-quality services, accurate documentation, and compliance with policies and regulations.
• Support Supervising Mental Health Clinicians with daily operations, including policy development, implementation and monitoring. Design and facilitate staff meetings, trainings and professional development activities.
• Collaborate with schools, clinics, community-based organizations, contractors, CFS, and justice partners to ensure coordinated referrals and continuity of care.
• Plan, coordinate and support implementation of the Pathways to Well-Being program, including the implementation of Intensive Care Coordination, Intensive Home-Based Services, and Therapeutic Foster Care Services.
• Collect data, prepare reports and contribute to program evaluation and continuous quality improvement efforts.
• Support family engagement and continuity of care after youth transition back to the community.
• Obtain and maintain certification in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT).
• Perform other related duties as needed.

The ideal candidate will bring:

• At least two years of post-licensure experience providing direct clinical care to youth and adults, including assessment, treatment planning, and ongoing therapeutic services.
• Experience working with juvenile justice-involved youth and children and families involved in Child and Family Services, with an understanding of both systems.
• Strong skills in collaboration, partnership-building and multidisciplinary teamwork.
• Experience providing crisis intervention and de-escalation to youth and families.
• Knowledge of child and adolescent development, attachment, and trauma-informed care and the Integrated Core Practice Model.
• At least one year of field-based services experience and one year of supervisory and/or clinical coordination experience, including oversight of services, consultation, or interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Strong oral and written communication skills, with the ability to multi-task, prioritize, and manage multiple priorities effectively.
• Experience using electronic health records, including EPIC and AVATARnx
• Training or certification in one or more evidence-based practices, such as:
  • Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
  • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
  • Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT)
  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
  • Motivational Interviewing (MI)
  • Multisystemic Therapy (MST)
• Bilingual proficiency in Spanish and English is highly desirable.

NOTE: The eligible list generated from this recruitment may be used to fill future extra-help, term, unclassified, and regular classified vacancies.

Qualifications
Licensure/Certification :

• California license as one of the following: 1) Clinical Social Worker; 2) Marriage and Family Therapist; or 3) Clinical Psychologist

Education and Experience :

• Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge, skills and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to qualify is three years of experience as a Mental Health professional.

Knowledge of:

• Principles, techniques and practices of program management and delivery
• Principles and practices of employee supervision and training
• Applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations and County policies and guidelines
• Individual, group and family psychodynamics
• Psychological diagnostic methods and terminology
• Current principles and practices of psychiatric casework
• Human and health services systems in the County including private agencies and other community resources
• Various methods used in individual and group therapies such as role playing, play, art and milieu
• Methods and techniques used in mental health education

Skill/Ability to:

• Plan, assign, supervise, review and evaluate the work of interdisciplinary subordinates
• Train staff in work procedures and provide technical and programmatic assistance to staff and subcontractors
• Analyze, interpret and apply various regulations, requirements and/or clinical approaches
• Prepare grant proposals and written reports
• Set realistic treatment goals and facilitate their attainment
• Evaluate patients/clients' degree of mental disability or emotional distress
• Communicate effectively in writing and orally and make public presentations as needed
• Establish and maintain effective and cooperative relationships with those contacted in the course of the work
• Exercise sound independent judgment within general policy and regulatory guidelines

Application/Examination

Open & Promotional. Anyone may apply. Current County of San Mateo and County of San Mateo Superior Court of California employees with at least six months (1040 hours) of continuous service in a classified regular, probationary, or extra-help/limited term position prior to the final filing date will receive five points added to their final passing score on this examination.

The examination process will consist of an application screening (weight: pass/fail) based on the candidates' application and responses to the supplemental questions. Candidates who pass the application screening will be invited to a panel interview (weight: 100%). Depending on the number of applicants an application appraisal of education and experience may be used in place of other examinations or further evaluation of work experience may be conducted to group applicants by level of qualification. All applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement through any subsequent phase of the examination. All examinations will be given in the County of San Mateo, California and applicants must participate at their own expense.

IMPORTANT: Applications for this position will only be accepted online. If you are currently on the County's website, you may click the "Apply" button. If you are not on the County's website, please go to https://jobs.smcgov.org / to apply. Responses to the Supplemental Questionnaire must be submitted in addition to the standard County employment application form. A resume will not be accepted as a substitute for the required application materials. Online applications must be received by the Human Resources Department before midnight on the final filing date.

Tentative Recruitment Timeline
Final Filing Date: Friday, February 6, 2026, by 11:59 PM PST
Application Screening: Week of February 9, 2026
Panel Interviews: Week of February 23, 2026

About the County

San Mateo County is centrally located between San Francisco, San Jose, and the East Bay. With over 750,000 residents, San Mateo is one of the largest and most diverse counties in California and serves a multitude of culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse communities.

The County of San Mateo, as an employer, is committed to advancing equity to ensure that all employees are welcomed in a safe and inclusive environment. The County seeks to hire, support, and retain employees who reflect our diverse community. We encourage applicants with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply. Eighty percent of employees surveyed stated that they would recommend the County as a great place to work.

The County of San Mateo is an equal opportunity employer. We seek to hire, support, and retain employees who reflect our diverse community.

We encourage applicants with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply.

Talent Acquisition Analyst: Priscilla Bermudez (012326) (Mental Health Program Specialist - G081)

Salary:

$121,451.20 - $151,798.40 Annually