Clinical Intern – Temporary

City of Durham; Durham (NC); On-site; USD 28,000 - 36,000; Part time

Job summary

City of Durham is seeking Clinical Interns within the Durham Community Safety Department to support Stabilization Services and Care Navigation teams. These part-time roles involve hands-on engagement with neighbors, case planning, and collaborative work across clinicians and peer support specialists.

Interns will participate in supervision, documentation, and community outreach, with flexible meeting options including home, community, or phone-based contact.

Qualifications

• Must be enrolled in a Master’s degree program in social work, counseling, psychology, or related field.
• Two or more years of crisis response experience.
• Experience working with Peer Support Specialists or others with lived experience.
• Ability to speak two or more languages, with Spanish prioritized.
• Willingness to travel to/from Durham work sites.

Responsibilities

• Develop collaborative relationships with crisis response team members.
• Develop care plans identifying needs and barriers to treatment.
• Maintain knowledge of DSM-5 criteria for SMI, SPMI, and Intellectual Developmental Disability.
• Provide second response follow-up to assess further support needs.
• Facilitate warm handoffs to services as needed, including transportation if required.
• Maintain accurate program documentation per policy and requirements.
• Engage in supervision, meetings, and staff development activities.
• Contribute to strategic planning for crisis response and departmental culture.
• Demonstrate resilience and self-care in a high-crisis role.

Skills

Spanish language

Crisis response experience

Peer Support collaboration

Mobility/physical endurance

Education

Master's degree student in social work or related field

Job description

Work. Serve. Thrive. With the City of Durham

Advance in your career while making a real difference in the community you serve.

HIRING Salary: $22.95 hour

SCHEDULE: Part-Time, Hours per week determined per program requirements

In 2022, the Durham Community Safety Department (DCSD) launched four 911 crisis response programs - collectively known as HEART (Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Teams). Please visit our website and dashboard, watch this CNN clip, listen to this NPR segment, or read this piece from The Assembly. In 2025, DCSD has added a new division focused on Stabilization Services. This expansion represents an exciting new phase in DCSD’s development - and a thrilling opportunity to pair alternative response programs with stabilization services that can better support Neighbors.

In 2025, DCSD’s scope of work grew to include several other dimensions of community safety. Importantly, DCSD became the lead agency of Durham’s Continuum of Care, and incorporated the City’s homelessness system team into its department. That team, now known as the HOPE Team (Housing Opportunities and Pathways Engagement Team), supports the local continuum of care, homelessness providers, and Neighbors experiencing homelessness. Its purpose is to make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring in Durham. In data terms: to reach functional zero across populations experiencing homelessness.

DCSD’s Interns will collaborate with programs within our Stabilization Services. These programs include, but are not limited to the Following;

• The Care Navigation program assigns two-person teams - consisting of a Crisis Response Clinician and a Peer Support Specialist to follow-up with Neighbors within 48 hours of initial encounter with one of the crisis response teams mentioned above. Care Navigators’ primary goal is to connect Neighbors to the care they want and need within 30 days of initial encounter.
• The Office of Survivor Care was established in 2025 as an entity created in response to the recommendations of the Community Safety & Wellness Task Force. This task force, led by members of the community, was formed to address critical issues surrounding safety, well-being, and the need for comprehensive support for survivors of violence and trauma. Its work underscored the importance of a dedicated office to provide holistic, survivor-centered services and resources, ensuring individuals impacted by violence receive the care and advocacy they need to heal and thrive. The Office of Survivor Care embodies this vision, prioritizing collaboration, equity, and community-driven solutions. Community Safety & Wellness Task Force | Durham, NC

ABOUT THE ROLE

DCSD’s Clinical Interns work closely with our Stabilization teams like; Care Navigation and Office of Survivor Care. These teams consist of Program Managers, Clinicians, and Peer Support Specialists. Clinical interns should expect hands-on engagement and a collaborative environment that fosters multi-level discussions pertaining to complex cases with our neighbors and within our teams. DCSD values meeting the person-centered needs of the Neighbors and engaging in care that the Neighbor is most comfortable; including meeting in their home, in the community, or over the phone.

DCSD’s approach to work is flexible, highly collaborative, and evidence-driven. Our departmental culture prizes equity, care, and the health and safety of our staff. We are looking for candidates who share similar approaches and principles. We envision adding team members who are not only colleagues but partners in this challenging and purpose-driven work.

• Develop highly collaborative, trusting, and productive relationships with other crisis response team members.
• Develop individual care plans that identify the needs and barriers to treatment for individuals experiencing crisis and draw on the knowledge and insights of other team members.
• Maintain strong working knowledge of DSM5 diagnostic criteria, particularly for substance use, Severe Mental Illness (SMI) and Severe Persistent Mental Illness (SPMI), and Intellectual Developmental Disability.
• Provide “second response” follow-up to individuals who experienced crises, and others potentially affected by that crisis, to assess if and how further support might be extended.
• Assure that connections are made to services and supports based on individual choice and clinical assessment. Facilitate warm handoffs to other services as needed, which could involve directly transporting the individual in assigned work vehicle.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date documentation as required by program deliverables and departmental, local, state, and federal policy and requirements.
• Develop and maintain clear, open, timely, cooperative, and collaborative communication and working relations with all staff, clients, community partners, and partner agencies.
• Participate in clinical and administrative supervision, case conferences, staff meetings, in-service training, continuing education units, and other staff development activities.
• Contribute to strategic planning activities and conversations regarding the performance and direction of the department, particularly in regard to crisis response and departmental culture.
• Demonstrate a high level of resilience and self-care as part of maintaining wellness in a high crisis and first responder position.

• Currently enrolled in a Master’s degree program in social work, counseling, psychology, or another human services related field.
• A track record of demonstrating initiative and sound judgment when handling ambiguity.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality, and particularly HIPAA confidentiality, at all times.
• Must be able to travel to and from worksite and other locations within Durham.
• Must be able to walk/stand up to 75% of any assigned shift.
• A commitment to and interest in the mission of the department: to enhance public safety through community-centered approaches to prevention and intervention as alternatives to policing and the criminal legal system.

• A commitment to equity, which could include having already attended racial equity trainings.

• Two or more years of crisis response experience.
• Experience working with Peer Support Specialists or other individuals with lived experience with behavioral and mental health, substance use, and/or Intellectual Developmental Disability crises.
• Prior experience in outreach/engagement to populations experiencing frequent behavioral and mental health, substance use, and/or Intellectual Developmental Disability crises.
• Strong knowledge and experience with service delivery documentation (including counseling/treatment planning), HIPAA/Confidentiality standards, utilization review, and data management.
• Ability to speak two or more languages, with a high priority on Spanish.
• Familiarity with Durham health systems and community resources/services for physical health behavioral and mental health, substance use, Intellectual Developmental Disability, family dynamics, sexual/physical abuse, Veterans' Services, vocational rehabilitation, housing, justice involvement, and other services.
• Advanced collaboration and interpersonal skills with the ability to build consensus and promote the exchange of information among team members and partners.
• A commitment to, knowledge of, and affection for Durham and its communities, which could include living in Durham.