Mental Health Professional, Youth​/Family; IPS

Overview

Mental Health Professional - Youth and Family - Intensive Placement Stabilization (IPS)

Schedule:

Full-Time | Every other Friday off (paid wellness day)

Heritage Behavioral Health Center is a mission-driven Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic located in Decatur, Illinois, dedicated to improving mental health and substance use care across a multicounty region. We recognize that every team memberregardless of positionimpacts client care and contributes to our mission.

• Collaborative, mission-driven work environment
• Every other Friday off - paid wellness days
• Competitive salaries aligned with state and national benchmarks
• Loan forgiveness eligibility through NHSC
• A culture that prioritizes staff wellbeing
• Supportive leadership and opportunities for advancement

Mental Health Professional - Youth and Family

Intensive Placement Stabilization (IPS)

You will provide short-term, intensive intervention services for youth in foster care at risk of placement disruption. In partnership with DCFS and community providers, the IPS program uses System of Care (SOC) values and evidence-based approaches, including the ARC Framework (Attachment, Regulation, and Competency), to stabilize placements, strengthen caregiver capacity, and support long-term positive outcomes for youth.

• Provide intensive, community-based mental health services to youth in foster care experiencing behavioral or emotional instability.
• Deliver interventions rooted in evidence-based models (e.g., ARC) to support emotional regulation, attachment, safety, and skill development.
• Conduct strengths-based assessments and collaborate on individualized service plans focused on placement stabilization.
• Offer coaching, psychoeducation, and support to foster parents, caregivers, and placement providers.
• Utilize Systems of Care (SOC) principles, ensuring services are youth-guided, family-driven, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed.
• Coordinate services with DCFS caseworkers, schools, therapists, and other partners to ensure continuity and wraparound supports.
• Provide crisis intervention, safety planning, and de-escalation strategies as needed.
• Document services, progress, and outcomes in the electronic health record in compliance with agency and contractual requirements.
• Participate in team meetings, case staffings, and interdisciplinary collaboration to monitor progress and adjust service plans.
• Engage youth and families using relational, strengths-based, and trauma-informed approaches aligned with IPS program expectations.

• Child and adolescent development
• Mental health diagnoses and evidence-based interventions
• Trauma-informed care and culturally responsive practices
• Understanding of youth in foster care and DCFS systems

• Strong communication and rapport-building with youth, caregivers, and community partners
• Ability to complete assessments and implement therapeutic interventions effectively
• Crisis intervention, safety planning, and conflict resolution
• Organizational skills for managing caseloads and timely documentation

• Adapt to diverse client needs and dynamic community environments
• Collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary teams
• Maintain professional boundaries, ethics, and confidentiality at all times

• High School Diploma or equivalent plus 5 years of supervised mental health or social service experience, OR
• Bachelor’s degree in a human services field, OR
• Graduate degree in counseling, social work, clinical psychology, or related field
• Minimum of 21 years of age
• Valid driver’s license
• Reliable transportation and proof of auto insurance

• Vacation, sick, personal, and holiday leave
• Every other Friday off - paid wellness day
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Fitness reimbursement
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Flexible Spending Accounts (healthcare & dependent care)
• Additional life insurance options
• 401(k) and Roth options
• Tuition assistance and continuing education opportunities
• NHSC loan forgiveness eligibility

Apply today and join a team that cares about your wellbeing just as much as the individuals and families we serve!