Manager of Behavioral Health & Mentoring Partnerships

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is one of the largest school districts in the United States, serving over 320,000 students in 600+ schools and employing nearly 40,000 people, most of them teachers.

CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life.

In order to fulfill this mission, we make three commitments to our students, their families, and all Chicagoans : academic progress, financial stability, and integrity.

Six core values are embedded within these commitments - student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning.

As a unit within the Office of College and Career Success, the mission of the Office of Social & Emotional Learning (OSEL) is to partner with schools and networks to establish and sustain supportive-learning communities founded on caring relationships and multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) for students' social, emotional, and behavioral needs.

OSEL supports training, coaching, and implementation of research-based strategies to foster positive school and classroom climate development, trauma-informed practices, restorative approaches to discipline, social and emotional skills instruction, and targeted social, emotional, and behavioral interventions.

Job Summary :

The Manager of Behavioral Health & Mentoring Partnerships will be charged with managing the human and financial resources necessary to effectively implement highly structured student SEL supports included in the district's Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS).

This will include leveraging data and professional development tools to customize and execute strategic plans with Department and Network teams and individual school Leadership Teams to facilitate the high-fidelity implementation of research- and evidence-based practices provided by community partners and agencies, as well as measuring the impact of those supports on desired student and school outcomes.

The Manager of Behavioral Health & Mentoring Partnerships will work closely with OSEL managers and specialists, other district offices, and community organizations to help schools develop MTSS for SEL centered around expanding community behavioral health and mentoring partnerships at schools.

This position will report to the Director of Healing-Centered Supports.

Note : The Manager of Behavioral Health & Mentoring Partnerships role is a grant-funded position from December 31, 2022 to December 30, 2026.

The Manager of Behavioral Health & Mentoring and Partnerships will be held accountable for the following responsibilities :

• Lead the full scope of implementation of the SAMHSA Project AWARE grant.
• Lead a team of Behavioral Health & Mentoring Partnership Specialists to ensure school-day behavioral health and mentoring partnerships are established and / or enhanced to effectively identify students for additional supports, progress monitoring of services, and measuring the impact of services.
• Manage the development and execution of a district-wide plan to ensure the implementation of research and evidence-based Tier II / III interventions in schools that will be provided by community partners during the school day.

Oversee the development of a system of ongoing training, implementation guidance, technical assistance, and professional learning processes to support that implementation by partners.

In partnership with the Office of Teaching and Learning, ensure behavioral health teams and assigned partners are assigning and progress monitoring community partner-provided behavioral health and / or mentoring services in the district's MTSS platform and provide ongoing consultation and collaboration for system-wide improvements to the platform.

Ensure that community partner staff are receiving ongoing training and consultation support as needed to effectively use the platform.

Develop and manage systems that provide ongoing feedback regarding community partners and agencies providing school-day behavioral health and mentoring support in collaboration with OSEL managers, Network leadership, school staff, etc.

and drive continuous improvement of service delivery provided through school-based behavioral health and mentoring services provided by community partners or agencies.

Develop the capacity of networks, schools, and / or community partners to ensure high-fidelity delivery of evidence-based or promising practices for addressing the needs of students with significant social, emotional or behavioral health needs by community partners.

This will include training, documentation, technical assistance processes, outcome evaluation, and continuous improvement planning.

• Coordinate with the Office of Safety and Security and Crisis Response Team to help networks, schools and / or community partners to provide continuity of care supports for students who have been identified as high risk, identifying and collating highly effective strategies for school implementation by community partners, developing models for effective mentoring practices, and improving referral uptake and linkages with the city, state agencies.
• Manage and develop grants in collaboration with community partners and agencies to expand the capacity of agencies to provide school-day behavioral health and mentoring partnerships to all schools;

Work with school and network leadership as directed by the Director of Healing-Centered Supports to facilitate strategy implementation and ensure the appropriate use of federal, state, or other grant funds.

Coordinate and collaborate cross-departmentally to drive effective implementation, and identify and leverage the knowledge base within CPS, other school systems, and other settings where strategies are used and / or researched;

collate and apply that knowledge base to improve the effectiveness of implementation. This includes assessing current school-day behavioral health and mentoring partnership models and building / expanding upon models to serve students who are missing instruction due to suspension or related barriers to learning in the school community.

• Manage the district's partnership with key school-day mentoring partners (e.g. Youth Guidance) and oversee the district's goal of expanding behavioral health and mentoring partnerships in all school communities.
• Review, provide guidance, and sign no-cost service agreements for school-day behavioral health and mentoring partnerships when designated.
• Develop systems and staff to ensure appropriate data collection, analysis, and interpretation for process and outcome metrics to facilitate continuous quality improvement.
• Other duties as assigned.

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Manager of Behavioral Health and Mentoring Partnerships must possess the following qualifications :

Education Required :

• Master's degree in Education, Social Work, Counseling, Public Health Administration, Business Administration, or a related field, from an accredited college or university is required
• License to provide clinical supervision is strongly preferred

Experience Required :

• Minimum of five (5) years of professional experience leading behavioral health teams, social work services, supporting MTSS and behavioral interventions, and / or leading complex projects is required
• Minimum of two (2) years of experience leading a team of direct reports is strongly preferred
• Minimum of five (5) years of experience in school counseling or clinical experience working with adolescents and youth in an urban setting with a focus on social & emotional learning strongly preferred
• Experience overseeing research projects in urban settings and education systems strongly preferred

Other Requirements :

• Access to reliable transportation to travel between CPS worksites and other locations is required
• A valid U.S. Driver's License and vehicle access is preferred

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities :

• Knowledge of social and emotional behavioral health strategies and the ability to quickly learn and implement those used within CPS
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills
• Strong leadership and team building skills, including the ability to provide highly structured supports to team members that support large-scale and complex workstreams and projects
• Capable of developing high-performing teams united around a clear vision for serving schools and achieving student success
• Ability to define problems, collect and analyze data, outline valid conclusions and action steps, and present data in an easily digestible manner;

capable of using data to drive critical conversations and continuous improvement among peer and non-peer colleague groups

• Ability to coordinate and collaborate with diverse groups of professionals across multiple departments and organizations to achieve unified, consistent practices, including providing consultation and technical assistance to peer and non-peer audiences
• Ability to coordinate and deliver professional development for a variety of internal and external stakeholders
• Effective strategic planning capabilities, including the ability to establish long-term vision and goals, and align / manage activities toward goal fulfillment;

capable of driving innovation within and across organizations to achieve a desired outcome

• Ability to build collaborative, supportive, consultative relationships with a variety of constituent groups, including external partners, district, Network and school leaders, classroom teachers, and other stakeholders to ensure the entire system operates in the most effective manner possible to support schools and principals
• Knowledge of best practices in Multi-Tiered Systems of Support to meet students' social and emotional needs
• Cultural competency and ability to navigate and promote sensitivity with issues of race and equity
• Highly organized, multi-tasker and with excellent time management skills; ability to effectively achieve multiple goals and manage multiple projects simultaneously while meeting regular deliverables and engaging in continuous improvement
• Passion and urgency for the critical need to address SEL and behavioral health to improve the lives of students and families in Chicago
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite (e.g., Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) and Google Workspace
• Knowledge of operations, budget / finance, management, and organizational development
• Capable of engaging daily in self-reflective practices, continuous improvement of professional knowledge bases and practice, and seeking continuous feedback from peers, colleagues, and supervisor(s) to identify and execute opportunities to improve upon accountabilities.

Conditions of Employment

As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to :

Establish / Maintain Chicago Residency - Employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district.

The Chicago residency requirement does not apply to temporary / part-time positions, however, all CPS employees must be residents of Illinois.

Be Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19 - Unless approved for a medical or religious exemption, all employees are required to be up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations, including boosters, and to submit proof of vaccination to the district within 30 days of hire.

Up-to-date" on vaccination is defined as being at least two weeks past all primary vaccine doses and any applicable boosters.