Outreach and Engagement Specialist

Job Description

Job Description

WestCoast Children's Clinic, located in Oakland, California, is a non-profit community psychology clinic that provides mental health services to Bay Area children, youth and families. Working at WestCoast Children's Clinic means being part of an organization that is client-centered, trauma-informed, collaborative, and committed to justice and equity.

Position Details

Title : Outreach and Engagement Specialist

Classification : Regular Full Time (1.0 FTE), Non-exempt

Location : Oakland, CA / Hybrid (availability to provide client services in-person and complete documentation remotely)

Regular Work Schedule : Full time, M-F

Compensation :

• $31.25 per hour
• Additional compensation for qualified bilingual candidates (+10% of base salary)

WestCoast Children's Clinic, in partnership with Alameda County's Department of Children and Family Services, is seeking a skilled Outreach and Engagement Specialist for Project AWOL, an initiative supporting youth who have left foster or group homes.

In this frontline role, you'll connect with vulnerable youth, assess their needs, and link them to critical services. Working closely with clinical staff and child welfare workers, your ability to build trust with disengaged youth is key. You'll serve communities across Oakland, Alameda County, and surrounding areas within a 90-mile radius.

We're looking for someone flexible, empathetic, and independent, who uses a strengths-based approach to support abused and neglected children. Your work will directly contribute to reducing AWOL episodes and improving placement stability for youth ages 0–21.

Make a lasting impact - join us in helping young people heal and thrive!

How the Outreach and Engagement Specialist makes an impact :

Position Requirements :

The ideal candidate also has :

Youth Engagement & Trauma-Informed Care : Proven ability to build relationships with youth facing complex trauma, mental health challenges, substance use, and trust / attachment issues using a trauma-informed, relational approach.

Clinical & Crisis Skills : Skill in clinical case management, therapeutic engagement, and crisis intervention, with knowledge of Medi-Cal documentation, assessments (e.g., CANS), treatment planning, and daily progress notes.

Cultural Humility & Community-Based Work : Culturally responsive and aware of how power, privilege, race, and SOGIE impact care; open to providing services in diverse community settings (homes, schools, shelters, etc.).

System Navigation & Collaboration : Experienced in working across systems including foster care, child welfare, juvenile justice, and community mental health; familiar with Alameda County youth resources; able to work independently and within multidisciplinary teams.

Professionalism & Communication : Strong organizational, time management, communication, interpersonal, and writing skills.

Growth & Accountability : Committed to ongoing learning, self-reflection, and participation in supervision, training, and program development.

Note that this position is not remote and will require onsite work at the temporary Assessment Center in Oakland. The temporary space is in Downtown Oakland, but we plan to move to our permanent space in Castro Valley within the next 6 months-1 year.

About the Assessment Center :

STAT is a mental health screening and assessment program, located at the Alameda County Assessment Center. When a child is taken into protective custody by Alameda County Child Protective Services or the police, s / he is brought to the Assessment Center, a child friendly receiving center located at a confidential site where the child can comfortably wait until placement with a relative, foster home or group home is found.

Why work here?

Benefits :

100% employer-paid dental and vision

Join us and make a difference in the lives of vulnerable children and families in the Bay Area.

WCC is passionate about leading and encouraging open conversations around race, gender, power, and privilege and how these impact community mental health. We are an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to diminishing the influence of privilege and discrimination in our field and our workplace, whether due to differences concerning age, citizenship, color, disability, marital or parental status, race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.