Director of Mental Health & Wellness / Clinical Director

Position Summary

Circle of Friends is seeking a visionary and highly collaborative Director of Mental Health & Wellness / Clinical Director to lead the launch and long-term development of Circles of Support, a new disability-informed mental health initiative launching in September 2026.

This is a critical leadership position responsible not only for providing clinical leadership, but for helping build the infrastructure, systems, partnerships, and interdisciplinary team necessary to successfully launch and sustain a comprehensive mental health and family wellness program serving youth with disabilities and those who love them across Lane County.

The Director will play a central role in operationalizing the organization’s vision for accessible, community-informed behavioral health services by helping establish clinical workflows, hiring and supervising clinicians, developing referral pathways, implementing documentation and quality assurance systems, and collaborating closely with families, schools, healthcare providers, and disability-serving organizations.

Working alongside executive leadership, this individual will help shape a first-of-its-kind model of disability-informed mental health care grounded in trauma-informed practice, accessibility, whole-family wellness, and community voice. The Director will also help ensure the program is positioned for long-term sustainability, measurable outcomes, and thoughtful future growth.

This role is ideal for a leader excited by the opportunity to build something meaningful alongside a mission-driven organization at a transformative moment of growth.

About Circle of Friends

Circle of Friends mission is to advance equitable access to education, mental health, community, and opportunity for youth with disabilities and those who love them.

Originally founded as a specialized K–8 school, Circle of Friends is evolving into a broader disability-centered ecosystem of support informed directly by community voice and a recent county-wide disability services needs assessment. Families identified mental health services as one of the community’s most urgent unmet needs, with barriers including provider shortages, long waitlists, affordability challenges, transportation barriers, and lack of disability-informed care. Circles of Support was created in direct response to this feedback.

Key Responsibilities

Clinical Leadership & Program Development

• Lead the development and implementation of Circles of Support

• Establish clinical protocols, documentation practices, workflows, and quality standards

• Help design accessible, trauma-informed, disability-affirming systems of care

• Provide individual and/or group therapy services as appropriate

• Develop family-centered mental health programming and caregiver supports

• Support crisis prevention, emotional regulation, and whole-family wellness approaches

Team Building & Supervision

• Recruit, onboard, supervise, and mentor mental health clinicians, interns, and future program staff

• Foster a collaborative, mission-driven, and trauma-informed organizational culture

• Support ongoing professional development and continuous learning practices

• Assist in building a sustainable behavioral health workforce pipeline

Community Collaboration & Systems Coordination

• Build strong referral pathways with schools, healthcare providers, and disability-serving organizations

• Collaborate with educators, caregivers, advocates, and community stakeholders

• Help reduce fragmentation across systems through coordinated care approaches

• Participate in strategic partnerships and community-based planning efforts

Evaluation & Quality Improvement

• Support outcomes tracking and continuous quality improvement efforts

• Collaborate with Circle of Friends leadership and third-party evaluators

• Utilize data and stakeholder feedback to strengthen services, accessibility, and impact

• Assist in reporting outcomes to funders and community partners

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree in social work, Counseling, Psychology, Marriage & Family Therapy, or a related behavioral health field

• Active Oregon licensure in good standing required (LCSW, LPC, LMFT, Psychologist, or equivalent)

• Minimum 3–5 years of clinical experience providing mental health services to youth, families, or individuals with complex support needs

• Demonstrated leadership, supervisory, program development, or team management experience

• Experience working with youth with disabilities, neurodivergent individuals, and/or complex family systems

• Strong understanding of trauma-informed, disability-affirming, and culturally responsive care practices

• Experience collaborating across schools, healthcare systems, nonprofit organizations, and community partners

• Strong organizational, communication, and relationship-building skills

• Ability to help build systems, policies, and clinical infrastructure within a growing program environment

• Commitment to inclusion, accessibility, collaboration, and family-centered care

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience launching or expanding behavioral health programs

• Clinical supervision credentials or eligibility

• Experience with Medicaid billing, insurance reimbursement, or behavioral health documentation systems

• Knowledge of Oregon disability services systems and community resources

• Experience providing group therapy, caregiver support, or interdisciplinary care coordination

• Bilingual or multilingual candidates strongly encouraged to apply

Why This Role Matters

Lane County families consistently report significant barriers to accessing behavioral and mental health services, including provider shortages, long waitlists, transportation barriers, affordability concerns, and systems that are difficult to navigate. Circles of Support seeks to address these gaps through accessible, coordinated, disability-informed care that strengthens both youth and families.

This role represents an opportunity to help shape a new model of care rooted in community voice, collaboration, dignity, and long-term impact. Through this work, Circle of Friends hopes to build not only stronger mental health outcomes, but stronger systems of support, belonging, and stability for families across the region.