High School Advisor, Regional (Southern California)

The Jed Foundation is developing a program to assist high schools and school districts in improving their policies, practices, and procedures around mental health and suicide prevention. As part of this program, we are developing a Comprehensive Approach for Mental Health Promotion and the Prevention of Suicide for High Schools, which provides recommended practices for schools and school districts on building comprehensive mental health and suicide prevention policies, programs, and systems.

We are seeking individuals with clinical expertise and experience working with high schools to continue to build and develop the program, provide guidance and technical assistance, and develop new resources to influence the field of high school mental health nationwide.

The Regional High School Advisor role is dedicated to building community-level support in Southern California.

This is a regional remote position, with the intention that Regional High School Advisors reside within an easy (approx. 60 min) commuting distance from an airport to facilitate transit within the region. The Regional High School Advisors must have the ability and desire to travel to high school campuses, conferences, regional internal meetings, and the JED headquarters office in NYC as needed (40% travel).

Key Responsibilities

Strategy & Program Development

• Gather and recommend materials for inclusion in the high school playbook (an online resource that provides recommendations on evidence-based programs in high school mental health)
• Maintain relationships with schools and school districts in our technical assistance portfolio
• Develop implementation tools and materials as needed

Provide direct technical assistance to schools/school districts on mental health practices, programming, and policies. Activities include:

• Onboarding schools/districts and maintaining relationships and building relationships with schools and districts within your assigned portfolio
• Assisting schools in completing high school assessment to evaluate their current practices and areas for development and improvement and Healthy Minds study (survey of students to understand the prevalence of mental health issues in the school community and attitudes toward mental health among students)
• Analyzing data from assessment and Healthy Minds and drafting feedback reports
• Providing schools/districts with a strategic plan for improving their mental health and suicide prevention activities, policies, and programs
• Providing ongoing technical assistance to help schools implement strategic plans
• Assisting with the development of professional development materials for broader school and district convenings based on experience working with individual schools and districts

Resource Development

• Assist implementation team in identifying and developing new resources on the topics of mental health, substance use, and suicide prevention in high schools.
• Assist in the curation and development of materials, topics, and speakers for webinars and other professional development opportunities for high schools in our technical assistance portfolio

Skills, Knowledge, and Expertise

• Minimum of master’s level training in psychology, social work, or related field required; MSW’s, MPH’s, MED’s, and early to mid-career PhD’s are encouraged to apply.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience working with adolescents in educational, healthcare, or community settings is required.
• 3 years of experience with secondary education systems strongly preferred.
• Experience building and managing programs.
• Strong verbal communication. Bilingual in English/Spanish is highly preferred for this role.
• Strong written communication; excellent attention to detail.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship management skills, including comfort with establishing new partnerships.