Clinical Specialist

About ZERO TO THREE

Founded in 1977, ZERO TO THREE works to ensure that babies and toddlers benefit from the early connections that are critical to their well-being and development. Our mission is to ensure that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. At ZERO TO THREE, we envision a society with the knowledge and will to support all infants and toddlers in reaching their full potential. Our Core Values Statement: We believe that how we do our work is as important as what we do.

Summary

The Clinical Specialist provides expertise and support to practitioners working with Infant Toddler Court Program (ITCP) grantees, as well other team members in implementing the Safe Babies or other infant-toddler court approach. Clinical consultation includes various levels of assistance including (1) clinical case consultation for ITCP sites, (2) coordination of and facilitation of learning activities related to Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH), dyadic clinical approaches, and substance use disorder (SUD) topics within interdisciplinary learning collaboratives and communities, (3) development and implementation of strategies and experiential activities aimed at enhancing reflective capacity of the NRC team as well as those involved in Safe Babies work within state systems and sites, (4) use of program data for continuous refinement of delivery of services reflecting IECMH and SUD principles, (5) relationship building with local and state child-serving partners to create referral protocols, encourage information sharing, and build cross-agency support systems, (6) remaining current in evidence-based IECMH, SUD interventions and medication assisted therapies (MAT), with particular attention to trauma responsive care in the child welfare context, and (7) work with local, state, and federal partners to further policies benefiting infants, toddlers, and their families well-being.

Essential Responsibilities

Technical Assistance and Relationship Building

• Build and maintain an ongoing and responsive relationship with clinical providers at implementation and outreach sites.
• Assist states and sites in identifying and implementing high-quality, culturally relevant, evidence-based services, curricula and interventions aligned with IECMH and SUD principles.
• Work collaboratively with the Safe Babies team to plan, support, coordinate, and provide all levels of technical assistance to grantees including supporting community training by project consultants.
• Collaborate with the Technical Assistance team to develop IECMH, and SUD relevant professional development resources for use in learning collaboratives or communities, site launches, or directly with individual ITCP sites.
• Conduct in-person site visits as assigned.

Reflective Practice

• Maintain current knowledge of gold-standard approaches to reflective practice and implement reflective practice activities to enhance capacity for Safe Babies staff and partners.
• Provide ongoing reflective consultation for Statewide Coordinators, Community Coordinators, Parent Leaders and others engaged in Safe Babies work.

Policy and Systems Leadership

• Maintain knowledge of infant-toddler policy issues and best practices, including, but not limited to IECMH, SUD and MAT evidence-based interventions, assessments, and screenings.
• Track and monitor promising state policies, practices, financing, and system-building efforts related to IECMH, SUD, and child welfare involved infants, toddlers, and their families.
• Develop written materials such as policy briefs, articles highlighting innovative initiatives, and technical assistance tools for state- and local-level audiences.
• Plan and facilitate intra- and cross-state meetings, webinars, conference calls, communities of practice, and other mechanisms for states to advance their IECMH and SUD related policy and systems work.
• Serve as a Safe Babies representative on the ZERO TO THREE IECMH workgroup and engage in collaborative IECMH efforts throughout the broader organization.

Clinical Content and Expertise

• Serve as a Subject Matter Expert in IECMH and SUD across various activities including developing publications, webinars, policy briefs, and strategic initiatives.
• Lead the cataloging and dissemination of evidence-based and evidence-informed IECMH and SUD programs and practices for child welfare-involved families with young children.
• Provide clinical case-consultation to Safe Babies teams, as needed.

Continuous Quality Improvement

• Gather feedback, analyze data, and make adjustments to improve the effectiveness of IECMH training, technical assistance and implementation plans.
• Contribute to the evaluation of the ITCP through monitoring and updating the National Safe Babies database with training and technical assistance information, tracking trends of state and site level data and sharing observations of lessons learned in the planning and delivery of technical assistance.
• Perform other duties as assigned for the purpose of ensuring the efficient and effective functioning of the project.

Essential Skills & Experience

• 7-10 years of documented professional experience/accomplishments focusing on services for young children and families and systems level collaboration across the service delivery systems focused on vulnerable children and families.
• Proficiency in IECMH and SUD evidence-based interventions, assessments, and screenings.
• Past professional training and clinical experience supporting the relational health of children ages 0-5 and their families.
• Demonstrated knowledge of the effects of trauma in IECMH, including historical and intergenerational trauma.
• Supervisory experience, including experience providing reflective supervision/consultation.
• Experience in reflective practice provision and the development, facilitation, and application of reflective practice methods aimed at enhancing organizational culture and individual engagement in work within child welfare and dependency court systems.
• Demonstrated knowledge of child welfare systems; state and federal policies related to abuse/neglect of young children; infant/toddler social-emotional development; and impact of abuse and neglect.
• Familiarity with the statutory processes and perspectives driving dependency courts.
• Understanding how to develop and protect the therapeutic relationship in the dependency court context.
• Experience providing professional development or mentoring to mental health providers.
• Effective training and group facilitation skills that reflect principles of adult learning, leadership, trauma-responsive and reflective practice.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to relate effectively to people of varied professions, personal backgrounds, and cultures.
• Strong organizational and writing skills and the ability to manage multiple responsibilities effectively.
• Ability to be flexible and adaptable to dynamic changes in the community environments in which the work is done.
• Ability to work collaboratively with individuals representing a range of backgrounds, diversities and skill levels.
• Ability to prioritize multiple tasks and work independently.
• Proficiency in use of virtual platforms including: ZOOM and TEAMS.
• Ability to travel (overnight and occasional weekend stays required).

Education

Minimum: Master’s degree in Psychology, Social Work, Counseling or another related clinical field.

Licenses or Certifications

Preferred: Licensed as a mental health clinician and/or endorsement as an infant and early childhood mental health provider or mentor.

Essential Qualities

• Encourages and practices critical thinking
• Is self-reflective and empathic
• Recognizes the influence of workplace relationships on outcomes and results
• Maintains a respectful and accepting approach to others
• Awareness of the influence of the larger context on individual behavior
• Collaboratively and creatively supports the work efforts of colleagues at all levels and in all areas of the organization

Working Conditions

The work conditions described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing this job. Depending on work location, the incumbent will typically work indoors in a heated and air-conditioned office, with a mixture of natural, incandescent, and fluorescent light with low to moderate noise levels or be subject to working conditions conducive to a home environment. When travel is expected, the incumbent will be exposed to outside environmental conditions during those times.