Lead Perinatal Behavioral Specialist

Children's National Medical Center; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 81,000 - 137,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Lead Perinatal Behavioral Health Specialist to enhance patient care for pregnant and postpartum individuals. This role involves coordinating clinical staff, providing behavioral health interventions, and ensuring patient needs are met through effective collaboration. The ideal candidate will have a Master's degree in a relevant field and experience in a behavioral health setting, demonstrating leadership within multidisciplinary teams. Join a dedicated organization committed to improving maternal mental health outcomes and making a significant impact in the community.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in relevant field required.
• 3+ years experience in behavioral health and leadership.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and monitor clinical staff and interventions.
• Provide clinical supervision and leadership to team members.
• Ensure optimal outpatient coordination and patient outcomes.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

Interpersonal skills

Problem-solving skills

Organizational skills

Time management skills

Ability to work independently

Bilingual-Spanish speaking

Education

Master's Degree in Social Work

Master's Degree in Counseling

Master's Degree in Psychology

Tools

Clinical documentation software

Job description

Job Description - Lead Perinatal Behavioral Specialist (250000YV)

Description

The Lead Perinatal Behavioral Health Specialist (Lead PBS) is responsible for the coordination, monitoring and development of clinical staff and provides behavioral health screening and appropriate responses, including behavioral health interventions to pregnant and post-partum patients. Collaborates with all involved teams and support services to ensure that patient and family needs are met. Identifies and prioritizes clinical and psychosocial goals and problem solves as needed to ensure follow through on needed responses by multidisciplinary team. Ensure optimal outpatient coordination, excellent collaboration between teams and partner organizations with a focus on patient experience and outcomes. The Lead PBS provides clinical supervision to clinicians with a lower level of license, as well as leadership and guidance to Perinatal Behavioral Health Specialists and Care Coordinators and support to partner organizations. The Lead PBS will work closely with the program director and team psychologist for program and staffing matters and act as a voice for the PBS team. The Lead Perinatal Behavioral Health Specialist will maintain and update all program training material and also train new incoming perinatal behavioral specialists. This position is 100% in person, no telework available.

Qualifications

Minimum Education
Master's Degree in Social Work, Counseling, Psychology or similar discipline (Required)

Minimum Work Experience
3 years experience in a behavioral health setting with care coordination and evidence of leadership within multidisciplinary teams preferably within the Perinatal or Maternal Mental Health field (Required)

Bilingual-Spanish Speaking a plus

Required Skills/Knowledge
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
Ability to work with diverse patients and groups.
Excellent problem solving skills to support diverse program and patient needs.
Excellent organizational and time management skills.
Detail oriented, able to work independently in a fast paced, collaborative environment.

Required Licenses and Certifications
Ind. Clinical Social Worker LICSW, LPC or comparable Behavioral Health license upon hire (Required)
Perinatal Mental Health Certificate (Required)

Functional Accountabilities
Professional Practice/Research

• Performs direct patient care duties of Perinatal Behavioral Specialist as needed.
• Identify patients in need of Behavioral Health support and/or interventions in a patient centered systematic manner.
• Provide appropriate screening and patient centered diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.
• Support ongoing staff education regarding behavioral health screening, appropriate behavioral health response, coordination of care, culturally sensitive care, compassion fatigue, and other relevant topics.
• Identify and implement best practices for responding to perinatal behavioral health concerns.
• Provide clinical leadership to Perinatal Behavioral Health Specialists.
• Document patient care in a complete, accurate and timely manner.
• Keeps up with best practice for therapy by attendance at seminars, continuing education courses, workshops, etc.

Exemplary Professional Practice

• Provide auditing and evaluation of clinical and administrative documentation of DC Mother Baby wellness social work staff.
• Identifies areas for improvement.
• Provide Clinical Supervision to clinical staff with a lower-level license (LGSW).
• Complete documentation of all relevant conversations, meetings and referrals.
• Actively communicate with team members and escalate any family concerns or needs to the appropriate person or service.
• Actively participate in team meetings.

Leadership

• Lead clinical aspects of the program by being primary point person.
• Communicate barriers, challenges and any issues that affect progress.
• Provide technical support and training to team members and partner organizations.
• Updates team members as frequently as needed to ensure "one voice" consistent communication to families.
• Act as a liaison among clinical services and between clinical services (primary care, psychiatry etc.) and support services (i.e., social work and case management).

New Knowledge, Innovations and Improvements

• Support research of best practices for screening and response for maternal mental health concerns.
• Provide regular feedback to the program team on screening and response practices.
• Present work to internal and external audiences through conferences, seminar opportunities and other opportunities.

Organizational Accountabilities

• Anticipate and respond to customer needs; follows up until needs are met.

Teamwork/Communication

• Demonstrate collaborative and respectful behavior.
• Partner with all team members to achieve goals.
• Receptive to others’ ideas and opinions.

Performance Improvement/Problem-solving

• Contribute to a positive work environment.
• Demonstrate flexibility and willingness to change.
• Identify opportunities to improve clinical and administrative processes.
• Make appropriate decisions, using sound judgment.
• Use resources efficiently.
• Search for less costly ways of doing things.

Safety

• Speak up when team members appear to exhibit unsafe behavior or performance.
• Continuously validate and verify information needed for decision making or documentation.
• Stop in the face of uncertainty and take time to resolve the situation.
• Demonstrate accurate, clear and timely verbal and written communication.
• Actively promote safety for patients, families, visitors and co-workers.
• Attend carefully to important details - practicing Stop, Think, Act and Review in order to self-check behavior and performance.

Primary Location

District of Columbia-Washington

Work Locations

CN Hospital (Main Campus) 111 Michigan Avenue NW Washington 20010

Job

Non-Clinical Professional

Organization

COE Hospital-Based Specialties

Position Status: R (Regular) - FT - Full-Time

Shift: Day

Work Schedule: 830-5P

Job Posting

Apr 14, 2025, 5:58:47 PM

Full-Time Salary Range

81993.6 - 136656

Childrens National Hospital is an equal opportunity employer that evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, identity, or other characteristics protected by law. The “Know Your Rights” poster is available here: and the pay transparency policy is available here: Know Your Rights Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Poster.

Please note that it is the policy of Children's National Hospital to ensure a “drug-free” work environment: a workplace free from the illegal use, possession or distribution of controlled substances (as defined in the Controlled Substances Act), or the misuse of legal substances, by all staff (management, employees and contractors). Though recreational and medical marijuana are now legal in the District of Columbia, Children's National and its affiliates maintain the right, in accordance with our policy, to enforce a drug-free workplace, including prohibiting recreational or prescribed marijuana.