Lincoln Families is a workplace that is committed to strengths-based, culturally responsive, attachment-centered, and trauma-informed care.

POSITION: Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant / Clinician

PROGRAM: Nurture. Educate. Support. Thrive. (NEST)

SALARY: $83k unlicensed; $88k licensed

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT: Spanish/English Bilingual

TEXT ‘NEST992' to (510) 901-5627

The early years - especially from birth to age eight - are a sensitive and foundational period for lifelong learning and well-being. During this time, how a child experiences relationships, regulates emotions, and navigates stress shapes their readiness to thrive in school environments. The Lincoln Families NEST Program (Nurture Educate Support Thrive) supports children, caregivers, and educators by promoting emotional safety, co-regulation, and connection across home and school settings.

Mental Health Consultation: We partner with families and educators in early learning environments to co-create emotionally responsive spaces that support children’s capacity to learn, connect, and regulate. Through reflective dialogue and on-site support, we strengthen the adults’ ability to respond to behavior through a lens of stress, safety, and development.

Early Intervention: We offer individualized, relationship-centered therapeutic services for young children and their caregivers, with a focus on nurturing connection and strengthening both self- and co-regulation. Our work supports children’s emotional development while empowering caregivers with the confidence, tools, and relational capacity to meet their child’s evolving needs.

Addressing Disparities in Discipline: A Call for Safety and Equity
Exclusionary discipline starts early—and it is not experienced equally. Even in preschool, children of color, particularly Black children, are suspended and expelled at disproportionately high rates. Although they make up only 18% of preschool enrollment, Black children account for over 40% of all preschool suspensions. These patterns reflect systemic stress and bias, not individual deficits. Research shows that early, relationship-based mental health support can reduce behavioral challenges and support positive developmental outcomes across a child’s lifespan.

The Lincoln Approach: Prevention, Partnership, and Possibility
By embedding mental health professionals into early learning environments, we foster collaborative care between educators, caregivers, and children. We focus on prevention, not punishment—partnering with adults to better understand children’s behavior, reduce systemic stress, and restore safety across the caregiving system. This foundation allows children to enter school with the emotional tools and relationships they need to thrive.

POSITION SUMMARY: Provide programmatic and child specific mental health consultation and intervention to young children and families in Child Development Centers. Assist with the early identification of at risk children and families, and collaborate with outside agencies as needed.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Provide programmatic and child-specific mental health consultation to teaching staff, center directors, and parents.

• Observe children in their childcare setting to assess functioning, relationships with caregivers and other children, and appropriateness of classroom placement.

• Together with teaching staff and families, plan, implement, and monitor specific interventions for individual children or classrooms.

• Regularly consult and communicate with administrators, teachers and family regarding program and children.

• Provide child specific case consultation to ECE staff to monitor and track the development of young children.

• Administer developmental screenings (ASQ3/ASQ-SE) as needed.

• Assist staff to build and maintain productive and collegial relationships with one another as requested.

• Work collaboratively with clients and other pertinent community partners (i.e., DSS and psychiatrists) to provide assessment, develop treatment plans and coordinate appropriate care.

• Assess and intervene in crisis situations to provide appropriate interventions or referrals as needed.

• Provide training and workshops for staff and parents multiple times throughout the year.

• Provides a variety of case management services, including facilitating multiple-agency staffing, participating in collaborations, and developing resources for staff/families.

• Document provision of services, assessments, evaluations and treatment goals consistent with clinical and administrative policies and procedures.

• Provide individual and family psychotherapy.

• Provide referrals to outside agencies as appropriate and actively assist families with the referral process.

• Participate in team meetings, required outside trainings, and communicate administrative information as needed.

• Engage in reflective supervision opportunities with supervisor and peers.

• Attend site meetings as appropriate including parent/teacher conferences, IEP and IFSP.

• Maintain up-to-date clinical records and program logs on all services provided.

• Requires driving to various locations across Alameda and/or Contra Costa counties to deliver services in the community or via home visits and supporting families in court, juvenile justice system or school; this also includes transporting youth and families as needed (must maintain valid California driver’s license, satisfactory driving record and personal vehicle insurance coverage).

POSITION REQUIREMENTS: Must have knowledge of and experience working with trauma, and an understanding of the impact trauma has on the physical and emotional development of young children. Knowledge of early development and experience with assessment of young children’s social emotional and developmental needs. Demonstrated understanding of the concepts underlying young children’s social-emotional development, such as attachment, separation, and the ways in which relationships shape development. Must have understanding of the ECE culture and community, the OUSD school system and RCEB services, as well as a working knowledge of community resources and the ability to make appropriate referrals. Must be competent in working with people of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, have sensitivity to the community’s attitudes and strengths, and have the ability to manage difficult or emotional situations. High degree of professionalism with excellent interpersonal and oral communication skills, the ability to work independently as well as in a team setting, and ability to integrate mental health activities and philosophies into group settings.

EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION:

• Masters degree (MSW/MFT) or Doctorate degree (Ph.D/Psy.D) in Psychology, Social Work, Counseling or related field.

• Bilingual Spanish/English required.

• Prior experience working collaboratively as part of a multidisciplinary team.

• Prior clinical experience working with young children (birth-five years) and families strongly preferred.

• Experience providing mental health consultation within child care setting preferred.

• Intermediate proficiency of MS Word.

WHY JOIN LINCOLN FAMILIES:

• SALARY:

  • $83k unlicensed ($78k base + $5k bilingual)

  • $93k licensed ($83k base + $5k bilingual + $5k licensure)

    • Early Childhood Differential: $2k annually (if applicable)

• Time Off: 4 weeks of vacation, 18 sick days and 11 holidays (including 2 flex holiday); Vacation and sick time begin accruing from day one of employment.

• Benefits: medical, dental and vision with 90-95% employer subsidy for employee premiums; we also offer 50% for dependents. Additional Benefits include flexible spending accounts (FSA), life insurance, disability insurance, commuter benefits, retirement & pension plans.

• Equity at Lincoln Families: we currently have an Employee Equity Council, a Management Equity Team and staff-run Affinity Groups.

• Wellness: Lincoln Families encourages and supports wellness for all employees so that staff are able to sustain themselves in this work and better serve our families. Staff create self-care plans and receive funding they can use each year towards those plans. Employees also have 1-3 hours of paid time per week for wellness activities.

• Professional Development/Training: Each year, employees can be reimbursed for expenses related professional licensing and other fees, as well as for professional development opportunities. Employees who have been at Lincoln Families for one year are also eligible to participate in advanced training series.

• Student Loan Forgiveness: We are a recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit approved site. By working with Lincoln Families, staff are eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Top Bay Area Workplace five years running….. 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025!