Outreach and Engagement Specialist

WestCoast Children’s Clinic, located in Oakland, California, is a non-profit community psychology clinic that provides mental health services to Bay Area children, youth and families. Working at WestCoast Children’s Clinic means being part of an organization that is client-centered, trauma-informed, collaborative, and committed to justice and equity. 

WestCoast Children's Clinic, in partnership with Alameda County's Department of Children and Family Services, is seeking a skilled Outreach and Engagement Specialist for Project AWOL, an initiative supporting youth who have left foster or group homes.

In this frontline role, you’ll connect with vulnerable youth, assess their needs, and link them to critical services. Working closely with clinical staff and child welfare workers, your ability to build trust with disengaged youth is key. You’ll serve communities across Oakland, Alameda County, and surrounding areas within a 90-mile radius.

We’re looking for someone flexible, empathetic, and independent, who uses a strengths-based approach to support abused and neglected children. Your work will directly contribute to reducing AWOL episodes and improving placement stability for youth ages 0–21.

Make a lasting impact - join us in helping young people heal and thrive!

How the Outreach and Engagement Specialist makes an impact:

• Provides community-based outreach, engagement, clinical case management, and individual rehabilitation services.
• Assesses reasons for instances of leaving care, and supports youth in returning to safe, appropriate placements.
• Delivers therapeutic interventions to address issues contributing to placement disruption.
• Provides clinical case management to youth on caseload and at the Assessment Center.
• Links youth to mental health services and community resources.
• Identifies and addresses unmet needs and resource gaps for runaway youth and those experiencing placement disruption.
• Facilitates youth enrollment and maintenance of Medi-Cal coverage.
• Offers psychoeducation on trauma and provide advocacy services.
• Provides comprehensive care and support stabilization in a milieu environment for youth awaiting and preparing to transition to foster placements.
• Adheres to documentation, billing, and compliance requirements - including EPSDT Medi-Cal guidelines and agency protocols.
  
  

Position Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in social work, psychology, criminal justice, or related field
• Minimum 2 years’ experience working with at-risk youth.
• Experience with foster youth, the child welfare system, and/or CSEC (Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children) highly desired.
• Experience providing community-based services (homes, schools, neighborhoods, partner agencies).
• CPR, First Aid, and Bloodborne Pathogens certification (required).
• Training in de-escalation techniques preferred.
• Bilingual Spanish is strongly preferred.
• Ability to travel by car to meet with clients, generally within a 90 mile radius of WCC's Oakland office. Alternative forms of transportation may be accommodated based on the needs of the program and clients. Employees must have a clean CA DMV record. When driving for WCC, current vehicle insurance is required.

The ideal candidate also has:

• Youth Engagement & Trauma-Informed Care: Proven ability to build relationships with youth facing complex trauma, mental health challenges, substance use, and trust/attachment issues using a trauma-informed, relational approach.

• Clinical & Crisis Skills: Skill in clinical case management, therapeutic engagement, and crisis intervention, with knowledge of Medi-Cal documentation, assessments (e.g., CANS), treatment planning, and daily progress notes.

• Cultural Humility & Community-Based Work: Culturally responsive and aware of how power, privilege, race, and SOGIE impact care; open to providing services in diverse community settings (homes, schools, shelters, etc.).

• System Navigation & Collaboration: Experienced in working across systems including foster care, child welfare, juvenile justice, and community mental health; familiar with Alameda County youth resources; able to work independently and within multidisciplinary teams.

• Professionalism & Communication: Strong organizational, time management, communication, interpersonal, and writing skills.

• Growth & Accountability: Committed to ongoing learning, self-reflection, and participation in supervision, training, and program development.

Note that this position is not remote and will require onsite work at the temporary Assessment Center in Oakland. The temporary space is in Downtown Oakland, but we plan to move to our permanent space in Castro Valley within the next 6 months-1 year.

About the Assessment Center:

STAT is a mental health screening and assessment program, located at the Alameda County Assessment Center. When a child is taken into protective custody by Alameda County Child Protective Services or the police, s/he is brought to the Assessment Center, a child friendly receiving center located at a confidential site where the child can comfortably wait until placement with a relative, foster home or group home is found.

Position Details and Compensation:
This is a full-time position reporting to the STAT Assistant Program Director. Hourly rate $31.25 per hour, plus a 10% bilingual Spanish language differential, if applicable. Includes competitive benefits package, 403(b) plan, and performance-based compensation.

Why work here?

• Be part of a compassionate, driven team that is social justice-focused: We have Staff Affinity Groups such as Staff of Color, LGBTQ+, Equity and Inclusion, Health and Wellness, and more!
• Make a difference for the Bay Area’s most vulnerable populations: We serve hundreds of vulnerable kids and their families each year to create positive changes in their lives!
• Access a growth-oriented learning community: As a Joint Commission Accredited agency, we are dedicated to providing the highest standard of care, and offer extensive clinical trainings and seminars led by field experts. Some of our trainings include:
  • CSEC and CSE-IT
  • Child and Adolescent Development
  • Complex Trauma/Trauma-Informed Care
  • Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS)

We also offer:

• Bilingual pay differential for qualified candidates (10% of yearly salary)
• Quarterly and yearly incentive compensation and retirement plan contribution
• 403b retirement contribution and performance-based compensation
• 100% Employer paid medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and long-term disability coverage
• Flex-spending account options - Medical, Dependent Care and Commuter Plans
• Three weeks (15 days) paid time off per year, 12 Paid Holidays, Self-Care Leave (4 days per year), and additional PTO accrual with years of service.
• Professional development stipend
• Weekly supervision and case conference
• CEUs for trainings
• Monthly wellness stipend

Join us and make a difference in the lives of vulnerable children and families in the Bay Area.  

WCC is passionate about leading and encouraging open conversations around race, gender, power, and privilege and how these impact community mental health. We are an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to diminishing the influence of privilege and discrimination in our field and our workplace, whether due to differences concerning age, citizenship, color, disability, marital or parental status, race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.