Contracted Clinical Assessor

Gracehaven; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 60,000 - 90,000; Part time

Job summary

Gracehaven is seeking a qualified behavioral health professional to serve as a Contracted Clinical Assessor for youth in residential, congregate-care, or community-based settings. This independent contractor role focuses on trauma-informed assessments, risk evaluation, and clinically sound recommendations to support treatment planning, safety, and referrals.

The assessor collaborates with families, caregivers, program staff, schools, and healthcare providers while maintaining professional

Qualifications

• Must hold an independent professional license in good standing.
• Experience assessing children and adolescents.
• Knowledge of mandated reporting, ethics, and HIPAA.
• Ability to communicate findings to diverse audiences.

Responsibilities

• Conduct comprehensive trauma-informed mental health and behavioral assessments.
• Review referral information, treatment history, records, medication information, and collateral data.
• Interview youth and obtain collateral information from parents, guardians, and others when authorized.
• Evaluate emotional, behavioral, cognitive, developmental, family, and social functioning, including trauma exposure and risk factors.
• Identify strengths, coping skills, protective factors, and resilience.
• Utilize Gracehaven’s assessment tools to complete comprehensive diagnostic assessments.
• Assess safety concerns and determine level of risk with appropriate interventions.
• Communicate findings and recommendations to the treatment team and stakeholders.
• Maintain accurate, professional, and confidential clinical records.

Skills

Trauma-informed care

Child and adolescent assessment

Independent clinical judgment

Confidentiality & ethics

Education

Master’s or doctoral degree in behavioral health

Job description

Gracehaven is seeking a qualified, independently licensed behavioral health professional to serve as a Contracted Clinical Assessor This independent contractor position provides timely, trauma-informed behavioral health assessments for children and adolescents receiving residential, congregate-care, community-based, or related support services.

The Contracted Clinical Assessor evaluates each youth’s mental health needs, behavioral functioning, trauma-related symptoms, safety concerns, strengths, protective factors, and appropriate level of care. The assessor provides clear, individualized clinical recommendations to support treatment planning, crisis response, placement stability, safety planning, and referrals to appropriate behavioral health services.

This role serves as an independent clinical resource, collaborating with youth, caregivers, guardians, program staff, caseworkers, healthcare providers, schools, and other members of the treatment team. The assessor must exercise independent clinical judgment, maintain confidentiality and professional boundaries, and complete accurate, timely, and clinically sound documentation.

This is an independent contracted position. It does not include routine program supervision or replace the youth’s ongoing treating clinician.

Key Responsibilities

Clinical Assessment

• Conduct comprehensive, trauma-informed, developmentally appropriate, and culturally responsive mental health and behavioral health assessments.
• Review referral information, treatment history, medical and behavioral health records, medication information, previous assessments, incident reports, educational records, and other relevant documentation.
• Interview youth and obtain collateral information from parents, guardians, caregivers, residential staff, caseworkers, clinicians, schools, and other appropriate sources when authorized.
• Evaluate emotional, behavioral, cognitive, developmental, family, and social functioning, including trauma exposure, substance-use concerns, and environmental stressors.
• Identify youth strengths, coping skills, protective factors, natural supports, and resilience.
• Utilize Gracehaven’s designated clinical assessment instruments and screening tools to complete comprehensive diagnostic assessments.

Risk and Safety Assessment

• Assess current and historical safety concerns, including:
  • Suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and self-harm.
  • Homicidal ideation, aggression, threats, and violent behavior.
  • Elopement and runaway behaviors.
  • Vulnerability to exploitation or trafficking.
  • Abuse, neglect, and unsafe living conditions.
  • Substance use and other high-risk behaviors.
  • Psychosis, severe mood disturbances, and significant behavioral dysregulation.
  • Environmental and situational factors that may increase risk.
• Determine the level of risk and recommend appropriate interventions, supervision strategies, safety precautions, crisis services, emergency evaluations, or higher levels of care when clinically indicated.
• Immediately communicate imminent safety concerns to designated organizational leadership and follow applicable emergency-response, mandated-reporting, and duty-to-protect requirements.

Diagnostic Formulation and Clinical Recommendations

• Develop clinically sound formulations integrating presenting concerns, behavioral patterns, developmental history, trauma exposure, family dynamics, environmental influences, and available collateral information.
• Identify behavioral health diagnoses within the scope of professional licensure and applicable standards.
• Differentiate, when clinically appropriate, between trauma-related responses, developmental behaviors, psychiatric symptoms, situational reactions, substance-related concerns, and other contributing factors.
• Identify the need for additional psychological, psychiatric, medical, neurodevelopmental, substance-use, or specialized assessments.
• Provide practical, individualized recommendations addressing:
  • Individual and family therapy.
  • Psychiatric evaluations and medication-management follow-up.
  • Trauma-focused treatment.
  • Substance-use assessment and treatment.
  • Behavioral interventions and coping-skills development.
  • Crisis stabilization and safety planning.
  • Supervision needs and environmental supports.
  • School and educational services.
  • Community-based behavioral health services.
  • Specialized assessments and level-of-care considerations.
  • Placement stability, discharge, and transition planning.

Documentation and Compliance

• Complete written assessments within established contractual and organizational timeframes.
• Document assessment findings, risk factors, protective factors, clinical formulation, and recommendations clearly and objectively.
• Distinguish reported information, direct observations, collateral information, and professional clinical conclusions.
• Maintain accurate, professional, and legally defensible clinical records.
• Comply with applicable confidentiality requirements, HIPAA, professional licensing standards, ethical obligations, contractual terms, and organizational policies.
• Promptly document and communicate significant safety concerns.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

• Communicate clinical findings and recommendations clearly to clinical and non-clinical professionals.
• Collaborate with youth, caregivers, guardians, caseworkers, program staff, healthcare providers, schools, and other authorized treatment-team members.
• Participate in treatment-team meetings, case consultations, discharge planning, safety-planning meetings, and clinical reviews when requested under the contractual agreement.
• Maintain appropriate professional boundaries and independent clinical judgment while supporting coordinated care.

Required Qualifications

• Master’s or doctoral degree in social work, counseling, psychology, marriage and family therapy, or another relevant behavioral health discipline from an accredited institution.
• Current, independent professional license in good standing appropriate to the services provided.
• Demonstrated experience assessing and working with children and adolescents.
• Knowledge of child and adolescent mental health, trauma-informed care, behavioral disorders, crisis assessment, and suicide-risk assessment.
• Knowledge of mandated-reporting requirements, professional ethics, confidentiality, and applicable clinical documentation standards.
• Ability to independently exercise sound professional clinical judgment.
• Strong written assessment, diagnostic formulation, and clinical documentation skills.
• Ability to communicate assessment findings and recommendations effectively to diverse professional audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with youth in residential care, congregate-care settings, foster care, community-based programs, or other child-serving systems.
• Experience assessing trauma-related symptoms, complex behavioral needs, placement instability, and high-risk behaviors.
• Familiarity with multidisciplinary treatment planning and coordination of behavioral health services.

Contractual Information

This position is structured as an independent contractor engagement. Assessment assignments, scheduling, documentation deadlines, compensation, service expectations, and other contractual terms will be established through the applicable agreement with Gracehaven.

The contractor is responsible for maintaining all professional credentials, licenses, and other qualifications required to perform the contracted services.

About Gracehaven

Gracehaven is committed to supporting vulnerable youth through services that prioritize safety, stability, healing, and individualized care. The Contracted Clinical Assessor plays an important role in helping ensure that youth receive clinically appropriate assessments and recommendations that support their behavioral health needs and overall well-being.