Position Summary
The Director of Behavioral Health - Clinical Services provides strategic, clinical, and operational leadership for the behavioral health service line within a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). This role ensures high-quality, accessible, evidence-based, culturally responsive, and integrated behavioral health services while maintaining an active psychology practice. Approximately 60% of the position is dedicated to leadership and administration and 40% to direct clinical care and related clinical activities. Protected administrative time is an essential component of the position.
The Director serves as one of the organization's senior behavioral health subject-matter experts and partners across primary care, quality, population health, operations, care management, school-based and community programs to advance whole-person care for medically underserved populations. The director is partnered with another and this specific role includes administrative services in our Euclid location and clinical services in our Blue Springs location.
What You'll Lead | Approximately 60%
Strategy, Clinical Governance & Integration
- Lead the behavioral health strategy, annual priorities, program design, and service expansion in alignment with organizational goals, community needs, and the health center's scope of services.
- Establish clinical standards, protocols, workflows, and evidence-based practices; advance integrated behavioral health and interdisciplinary care.
- Serve as an executive and medical leadership advisor for complex behavioral health, patient safety, suicide risk, mandated reporting, crisis response, and clinical practice matters.
People Leadership & Workforce Development
- Lead, supervise, coach, recruit, onboard, retain, and develop a multidisciplinary behavioral health workforce, including designated leaders and clinicians.
- Establish expectations for clinical quality, access, documentation, productivity, professionalism, collaboration, and staff development.
- Promote a culture of accountability, clinician well-being, psychological safety, professional growth, and continuous improvement.
Quality, Compliance & Risk
- Own behavioral health quality, access, utilization, productivity, patient experience, and outcome measures; use data to identify disparities and improvement opportunities.
- Partner with Quality, Compliance, Credentialing, Human Resources, Finance, and executive leadership to support HRSA Health Center Program requirements, credentialing and privileging, risk management, audits, and Operational Site Visit readiness.
- Lead review and improvement efforts related to behavioral health patient safety events, complaints, clinical concerns, policies, and corrective action.
Operations, Finance & Community Partnerships
- Monitor access, clinical capacity, scheduling, referral patterns, no-show rates, productivity, continuity, staffing needs, and program performance.
- Partner on behavioral health budgets, staffing models, accurate documentation and billing, grant-supported programming, resource allocation, and financial sustainability.
- Build effective relationships with hospitals, schools, community mental health centers, crisis providers, substance use treatment programs, social service agencies, and other community partners.
Clinical Practice | Approximately 40%
- Provide diagnostic evaluation, psychological assessment as privileged, treatment planning, psychotherapy and brief evidence-based interventions within areas of competency.
- Provide consultation to primary care and interdisciplinary teams; participate in same-day behavioral health consultation and crisis intervention when clinically appropriate.
- Conduct suicide and other behavioral risk assessments and facilitate appropriate intervention, referral, and disposition.
- Coordinate care with internal teams and external partners; complete accurate, timely clinical documentation and maintain ethical, privacy, informed-consent, and professional standards.
- Maintain professional competence through continuing education, consultation, and review of current evidence-based practice.