Director of Outpatient Services and Programs

Default Brand; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Northern Children’s Services in Philadelphia seeks a Director of Outpatient Services and Programs to lead day-to-day clinical and administrative operations of the Outpatient Program and manage the Wellness summer program.

The Director partners with the Senior Director of Behavioral Health to ensure trauma-informed, outcome-driven care, strong supervision, data dashboards, and fiscal sustainability across services.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in a mental health discipline or related field is required.
• Active clinical licensure issued by PA is required.
• Experience supervising clinical staff and working with children/adolescents/families preferred.

Responsibilities

• Oversees clinical and administrative operations of the Outpatient Program ensuring compliance with best practices and regulatory standards.
• Monitors electronic health records for documentation quality and timely submission; approves clinical work.
• Ensures strong supervision structures aligned to staff licensure levels.
• Promotes trauma-informed practices and evidence-based care across the program.
• Maintains data dashboards and monthly reports to track outcomes and performance.

Skills

Clinical leadership

Data-driven decisions

Staff supervision

Trauma-informed care

Communication

Education

Master’s degree in mental health or related field

Tools

Credible/Qualifacts

Power BI

Janet

Office 365 (Outlook, Excel, etc.)

Job description

Director of Outpatient Services and Programs

Job Category: Executive

Requisition Number: DIREC001652

• Posted : July 31, 2026
• Full-Time

Locations

Showing 1 location

Join Our Team as a Director of Outpatient Services and Programs and help make a difference in the lives of children, youth, and families!

Northern Children’s Services (Northern) is seeking an experienced, mission-driven Director of Outpatient Services & Programs (Director) to lead the day-to-day clinical and administrative operations of Northern’s Outpatient Program and manage our Wellness summer program. Reporting to the Senior Director of Behavioral Health, the Director is a key member of Northern’s Behavioral Health leadership team and plays a central role in ensuring that outpatient services are clinically excellent, operationally sound, and producing measurable outcomes for the children, youth, and families we serve.

This role is not solely a clinical oversight position. The Director is expected to bring both clinicalexpertiseand administrative discipline — embracing data, benchmarks, and performance accountability as core tools of effective leadership.

The Directoris responsible forensuring:

• High-quality, evidence-based, and trauma-informed clinical care
• Strong census and financial sustainability
• Measurable client outcomes, consistently tracked and acted upon
• Clear performance accountability, including adherence toestablishedbenchmarks, client surveys, quality assurance standards, and city and state audit requirements
• Effective supervision of clinical staff and Master’s-level student interns
• A culture of professionalism, transparency, direct communication, and continuous improvement

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

This is not solely a clinical oversight role. It is a leadership position requiring operational discipline, data fluency, and the ability to shape and sustain a high-performingprogramculture.

Clinical Excellence & Program Oversight

Clinical quality must be paired with structured systems that sustain it.

• Oversees the clinical and administrative operations of the Outpatient Program, ensuring delivery of services consistent with best practices and regulatory standards.
• Monitors electronic health records (Credible/Qualifacts) for documentation quality, accuracy, andtimelysubmission; reviews and approves clinical work within the program.
• Ensures clinical supervision structures are strong, consistent, and appropriately matched to staff licensure levels.
• Promotes evidence-based and trauma-informed practices across the program.
• Ensures that children and youth have current, high-quality treatmentplansand that treatment reflects individualized, outcomes-driven care.
• Supportsclinicians inpursuing licensure and certification in approved evidence-based models.
• Monitors andmaintainsstrict adherence to Northern policies and procedures, as well as the policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements of Community Behavioral Health (CBH) and the state Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS).

Leadership & Supervisory Discipline

The Director must model clear, consistent, and accountable leadership at all levels.

• Provides direct administrative and clinical supervision to Outpatient therapists, program staff, and Master’s-level student interns.
• Ensures that performance expectations are clearly communicated, documented, and consistently reinforced.
• Addresses performance concerns directly and promptly, using coaching, retraining, and corrective action asappropriate.
• Responds toidentifiedissues without defensiveness, avoidance, or minimization.
• Applies performance standards equitably and consistently across all staff members.
• Recruits, trains, supervises, and evaluates program staff in alignment with Northern’s standards.
• Makesappropriate humanresources recommendations to the Senior Director of Behavioral Health.

Northern is a data-informed organization. The Director must embrace and model that value — and bring program staff along in understanding, using, and valuing data as part of professional practice.

• Regularly reviews program dashboards, including census, productivity, access, client outcomes, and documentation compliance.
• Ensuresstandardized outcome tools are implemented and used consistently across the program.
• Analyzes trends and implementstimely, mid-course corrections when performance declines.
• Maintains data integrity, including closed cases, documentation accuracy, and consistent outcome scoring.
• Embraces benchmarks as tools for program improvement - not threats - and actively builds that understanding within the clinical team.
• Asks consistently: “Are we making a measurable difference?”
• Maintainsmonthly reports to track key quality performance indicators.

Administrative Leadership & Operational Discipline

Effective program managementrequiresdisciplined use of available tools and systems.

• Ensures that the Outpatient Program is fully and effectively using available program management tools (Credible/Qualifacts, Janet/Mission Driven Data, Office 365 including Outlook, Excel, and Power BI, and UKG) as real-time management tools that support mid-course corrections, billing optimization, and program improvement.
• Aligns staffing models with census and program needs.
• Ensures workflows support productivity, documentation quality, andtimelybilling.
• Overseesproductivity, access, discharge planning, and authorization processes.
• Maintainsaccurate, clean documentation systems and reporting.
• Monitors program budget;maintainsoperating margin within budgeted guidelines and effectively and responsiblyallocatesresources.
• Responsible for implementing and documenting disciplinary actions resulting from internal investigations and/or job performance, ensuring that terminations, corrective actions, or performance improvement plans (PIPs) are executed with full documentation and HR alignment.

Program sustainability is a leadership responsibility. The Director must understand the financial drivers of the Outpatient Program and manage them proactively — not reactively.

• Maintains strong census across the Outpatient Program.
• Partners with the Senior Director of Behavioral Health and Finance tomonitorprogram margins and revenue performance.
• Respondsstrategically to funding, regulatory, and authorization changes.

Communication, Honesty & Accountability

Responsive, honest, and direct communication is a core professional expectation of this role — not a preference. The Director must be reachable, reliable, and transparent with supervisors, peers, and staff alike.

• Responds promptly to emails, calls, and messages from supervisors, colleagues, and staff — within one business day as a baseline expectation. Silence is not an acceptable default.
• Communicates proactively: does not wait to be asked for updates on program issues, staff concerns, census challenges, or compliance risks. Surfaces problems early, with honesty and without minimization.
• Communicates clearly, honestly, and respectfully in professional interactions.
• Demonstrates accountability by acknowledging mistakes and taking appropriate corrective action.
• Clearly communicates organizational goals, priorities, expectations, and decisions.
• Encourages open communication and supports employees in raising questions or concerns through appropriate channels.
• Addresses workplace concerns, interpersonal conflicts, and communication issues promptly and professionally.
• Promotes teamwork, transparency, collaboration, and mutual accountability.
• Demonstrates reliability through consistent follow-through on commitments.

Quality Assurance & Compliance

Compliance is not a reactive exercise. The Director is expected tomaintaina proactive culture of quality — where audits and reviews confirm what is already known to be true, not reveal surprises.

• Ensures program compliance with governing regulations, including CBH, DBHIDS, OMHSAS, and all applicable DHS-State requirements.
• Collaborates with the Program Quality department to ensure standards are consistently met and exceeded.
• Supports the preparation for and response to city and state program audits;assistsin the development and effective implementation of any Plans of Correction (POC).
• Proactivelymaintainscompliance through ongoing staff training, supervision, and documentation monitoring.

The best ideas often come from the people closest tothe work. The Director must create the conditions for those ideas to surface, be evaluated honestly, and be acted upon.

• Actively encourages constructive feedback, creative problem-solving, andnew ideasfrom staff at all levels.
• Evaluates proposed improvements based on data and potential impact — not hierarchy.
• Fosters psychological safety: an environment where staff feel comfortable raising ideas and concerns while maintaining clear standards of performance and accountability.
• Modelsintellectual curiosity and adaptability.

Collaboration is an organizational expectation. The Outpatient Program must function as an integrated part of Northern’s broader mission.

• Maintains an active and collaborative relationship with Northern’s Residential Programs, including conducting or coordinating behavioral health assessments for residents and providing ongoing clinical support for youth in residential care as needed.
• Collaborates closely with the Intensive Behavioral Health Services (IBHS) program to ensure continuity of care, warm transitions, and coordinated clinical planning for shared or transitioning clients.
• Works directly with Northern’s part-time psychiatrist on shared cases, including coordination of medication management and participation in regular clinical consultation meetings to ensure integrated, high-quality care.
• Coordinates actively with other Northern service components, departments, and outside agencies involved with shared clients.
• Participates in agency committees, working groups, and other bodies as assigned.
• Avoids siloed culture and decision-making; reinforces organization-wide goals and accountability.
• Collaborates with Development and other departments on fund development, grant opportunities, and community engagement as applicable.

Trauma-Informed Practice & Culture

• Championsa trauma-informed culture across the Outpatient Program, ensuring that all practices, supervision, and team interactions reflect trauma-informed principles.
• Ensures staffdemonstrateemotional intelligence, person-first andstrengths-based language, and an understanding of the impact of trauma on child and adolescent development.
• Commits to the maintenance of a therapeutic environment that promotes safety, nonviolence, and resilience for both clients and staff.

Performs other duties as assigned.

REQUIRED EDUCATION & LICENSURE

• Master’s degree ina mentalhealth discipline or related fieldrequired.
• Active clinical licensure issued by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvaniarequired.
• Qualifying licenses include:
• Licensed Associate Professional Counselor (LAPC)
• Licensed Behavior Specialist (LBS)
• Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
• Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
• Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT)
• Licensed Social Worker (LSW)
• Licensed Psychologist (Psy.D. or Ph.D.)

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE

• At least six (6) years of experience in a health or social service organization, with at least three (3) years in a supervisory or administrative leadership role.
• Demonstrated experience providing clinical supervisionutilizingevidence-based practices and outcomes-driven treatment, withexpertisein working with children, adolescents, and families.
• Strong knowledge of CBH, the Department of Behavioral Health and Disability Services (DBHIDS), OMHSAS, and applicable Department of Human Services (DHS)-State regulations and procedures.
• Knowledgeof andexperience working with commercial insurance and authorization processes.
• Proficiencyin electronic health records systems (Credible/Qualifactspreferred) and healthcare information technology.
• Demonstrated ability to use data and program dashboards to drive operational and clinical decision-making.
• Strongtrack recordof building and sustaining high-performing clinical teams.
• Passionate about Northern’s mission and able to articulate and promote its philosophy, values, and goals to internal and external stakeholders.

Preferred:

• Experience in outpatient behavioral health programs serving children and youth in an urban setting.
• Familiarity with Mission Driven Data (Janet), Power BI, or similar program management/reporting tools.
• Knowledge of the child welfare system.

CORE COMPETENCIES

• Clinicalexpertisepaired with strong operational and administrative discipline
• Data-literate and outcomes-oriented; embraces benchmarks as tools for improvement
• Clear, direct, and transparent communicator
• Strong supervisory skills with courageous accountability
• High emotional intelligence
• Collaborative and cross-functional; avoids siloed thinking
• Trauma-informed practice and culture-building
• Problem-solving and continuous improvement mindset
• Mission-driven and deeply committed to the children, youth, and families Northern serves

PHYSICAL CAPABILITIES & OTHER REQUIREMENTS

• Ability to walk up and down steps.
• Ability tooperatea computer, printer, and calculator.
• Ability to support after-hours operations, including occasional nights and weekends.
• This position requires travel throughout the City of Philadelphia.

Northern Children’s Services is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilitiesin accordance withthe Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991. All accommodations will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis relative to the essential functions of the position. Discrimination is prohibited in employment, promotion, assignment, or dismissalon the basis ofrace, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, disability, or any other protected class.

Trauma-Informed Principles

• Northern Children’s Services is committed to fostering a therapeutic environment rooted in safety, nonviolence, and resilience. Our policies are guided by trauma-informed principles, ensuring that we create a supportive and healingatmosphere for clients and staff.
• A trauma-informed approach recognizes that past experiences, including trauma, can significantlyimpacta person’s behavior, emotions, and interactions. Therefore, we strive to:
• Use emotional intelligence: Respond with empathy and awareness, even indifficult situations.
• Communicate effectively: Listen active:ask clarifying questions, and avoid judgmental language.
• Understand trauma’s impact: Be aware that clients or colleagues may react based on past experiences, not just present moment.
• Apply person-first, strengths-based language: Focus on people’s strengths and abilities rather than defining them by their challenges (e.g., saying "a person experiencing homelessness" instead of "a homeless person").

By adhering to these principles, we ensure that our workplace is not only effective but also compassionate and inclusive for everyone.

All accommodation will be evaluated on a case- by casebasis, evaluating the essential functions of the positions.DISCRIMINATION IS PROHIBITED IN EMPLOYMENT, PROMOTION, ASSIGNMENT OR DISMISSAL, ON THE BASIS OF RACE, RELIGION, COLOR, AGE, SEX, NATIONAL ORIGIN, and HANDICAP, OR RECEIPT OF SERVICES FOR MENTAL DISABILITY.

Equal Opportunity Employer
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws.For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.