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. 

Position Details 

Title: Outreach and Engagement Specialist

Classification: Regular Full Time (1.0 FTE), Non-exempt

Location: Oakland, CA / Hybrid (availability to provide client services in-person and complete documentation remotely)

Regular Work Schedule: Full time, M-F 

Compensation:

• $31.25 per hour
• Additional compensation for qualified bilingual candidates (+10% of base salary)

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.

Why work here?

• Be part of a compassionate, driven team that is social justice-focused: We have several Staff Affinity Groups: BIPOC council, LGBTQIA+, Alianza Latine, Equity and Inclusion, and more!
• Serve vulnerable kids and their families and create positive changes in their lives
• Exciting professional development opportunities for experienced clinical staff, including WCC’s Supervisor in Training Program. 
• As a Joint Commission-accredited agency, we provide the highest standard of care and offer extensive clinical training and seminars led by field experts. Training includes CSEC, Telehealth, Complex Trauma/Trauma-Informed Care, Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS), Supervisor in training program, and much more!

Benefits:

• Employer-paid Medical Benefits for Employees 
  • 100% employer-paid dental and vision 
  • Dependent medical, dental and vision (50% employer-paid) 
• Medical and Dependent Care FSA and commuter plans
• 100% employer-paid life insurance long-term disability insurance
• Voluntary accident, term life and hospital indemnity insurance 
• 403(b) and ROTH retirement plan options, employer contribution targeted at 7.5% after first year of employment
• Quarterly (5-10%) and annual incentive compensation (10%)
• Three weeks PTO during the first year of employment, 4+ weeks PTO with additional years of service
• 12 paid holidays plus one paid floating holiday per year
• 4 paid self-care days per year
• Wellness stipend ($100.00 per month)
• Professional development stipend and CEUs for trainings
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

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.