Crisis Intervention Team Lead

Street Samaritans; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

Paid Time Off

Paid Holidays

401(k)

Job summary

Street Samaritans seeks a Clinical Team Lead to supervise a small field team providing crisis intervention along the CTA corridor. The role partners with WOVEN Clinics and Mile Square Health Center, delivering harm reduction and warm handoffs in a demanding transit environment.

The position anchors the outreach operation, with supervision duties and cross-partner coordination, and is funded through a one-year CTA Innovation Crisis Intervention Pilot.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in a clinical field.
• Minimum 2 years clinical experience including 1 year in community-based or field/outreach settings.
• Experience with crisis intervention, SMI, SUD, and/or co-occurring disorders.
• Experience supervising clinical or paraprofessional staff.
• Ability to work effectively in unstructured, physically demanding field environments.

Responsibilities

• Conduct field-based crisis assessments using validated tools based on clinical judgment.
• Provide direct crisis intervention—de-escalation, brief stabilization, risk stratification, and warm handoffs.
• Serve as primary escalation point to telepsychiatry team for high-acuity encounters.
• Apply harm reduction and motivational interviewing approaches with individuals not yet ready for formal services.
• Facilitate warm referrals to partner services and maintain documentation in case management systems.
• Provide weekly supervision to two Crisis Intervention Specialists and support team cohesion.

Skills

Crisis intervention

Supervision

Field/outreach work

Bilingual English/Spanish

Education

Master’s degree in Social Work, Counseling, Psychology, or related clinical field

Job description

The Clinical-Team Lead is a field-based clinician who provides direct crisis intervention and leads a small team along the CTA Blue Line between Forest Park and Austin. Working within a multidisciplinary model alongside WOVEN Clinics’ psychiatry support and Mile Square Health Center’s SUD services, this role is the clinical anchor of Street Samaritans’ CTA outreach operation.

The individuals encountered on this corridor reflect the compounding crises of failed systems: people seeking shelter in the transit system, individuals in active substance use or psychiatric decompensation, people with serious mental illness (SMI) who have fallen out of care, and people whose most pressing need is food, an ID, or a warm place to sit. Effective practice here demands clinical depth, harm reduction fluency, and the ability to build trust with people who have every reason not to trust. This is an intense, demanding, and deeply meaningful role.

This position is funded through the CTA Innovation Crisis Intervention Pilot, a one year pilot program. While Street Samaritans is committed to the pilot's success and will pursue continuation funding, employment beyond the initial one year period is not guaranteed and will depend on the availability of future funding.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Clinical Practice:

• Conduct field based crisis assessments using validated tools appropriate to the clinical presentation. Tool selection is situational, guided by clinical judgment in the field, and may draw from the following:
• Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS): general psychiatric severity, particularly useful for psychosis presentations.
• GAD-7: anxiety severity.
• Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS): suicide risk stratification.
• AUDIT: alcohol use screening.
• DAST-10: drug use screening.
• Behavioral Activity Rating Scale (BARS)

Not every tool will be practical in every encounter; the team will develop a working sense of what is realistic once in the field.

Provide direct crisis intervention — de-escalation, brief stabilization, risk stratification, and warm handoffs to higher levels of care.

Serve as the primary escalation point to WOVEN Clinics’ telepsychiatry team for high-acuity encounters.

Apply harm reduction and motivational interviewing approaches with individuals not yet ready for formal services.

Facilitate warm referrals to Mile Square Health Center (SUD treatment, methadone, pharmacy) and community partners.

Maintain timely, accurate encounter documentation in program case management and tracking systems.

Provide weekly individual supervision to two Crisis Intervention Specialists, including reflective practice and secondary trauma support.

Model trauma-informed, dignity-centered engagement in real-time field situations.

Lead daily huddles and post-encounter debriefs to maintain team cohesion and clinical quality.

PROGRAM COORDINATION:

Receive and respond to rider-submitted reports via the IHDD dispatch system; direct team to appropriate train cars.

Contribute to consent-based individual encounter profiles to support longitudinal follow-up.

Participate in cross-partner coordination with WOVEN, MSHC, IHDD, and CTA as directed by the Program Manager.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Master’s degree in Social Work, Counseling, Psychology, or related clinical field.

Minimum 2 years clinical experience, including at least 1 year in community-based or field/outreach settings.

Demonstrated experience with crisis intervention, SMI, SUD, and/or co-occurring disorders.

Experience supervising clinical or paraprofessional staff.

Ability to work effectively in unstructured, physically demanding field environments.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Active LCSW licensure in Illinois, or equivalent (LCPC, LMFT) at comparable scope of practice.

Formal motivational interviewing (MI) training.

Experience in transit, emergency, mobile crisis, or other non-traditional clinical settings.

Bilingual English/Spanish strongly preferred.

Lived experience with homelessness, substance use, mental health challenges, or the criminal legal system.

REQUIRED TRAINING:

The following are required prior to or within 90 days of hire. Training costs and travel are covered by Street Samaritans.

• CPI Nonviolent Crisis Intervention® — may require travel.
• Mental Health First Aid.
• HIPAA.
• CTA 3 day in-person training.
• Other onboarding (as applicable).

As a full-time employee of Street Samaritans, you will receive the following benefits:

• Health Insurance: Comprehensive coverage through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois to support your health and well-being.
• Paid Time Off: Three weeks (15 days) of paid leave annually, including:
  • Two weeks (10 days) of PTO
  • One week (5 days) of sick leave
• Paid Holidays: Eight paid holidays per year.
• Retirement Savings: A 401(k) plan to support your long-term financial goals.