Mental Health Instruction Specialist - Administrative Program Specialist 2

GENERAL SERVICE

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

Mental Health Instruction Specialist - Administrative Program Specialist 2

 $65,748 - $88,416 annually  
 

Closes May 20, 2024 
 

The Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) seeks to fill the Mental Health Instruction - Administrative Program Specialist 2 position. This full-time, 1-year project position is based in Olympia, Washington. This position may be eligible for partial to near full-time telework. Telework is a combination of in-building and off-site days. We encourage interested candidates to visit the OSPI website to gain insight into our agency.

About OSPI and our initiatives

OSPI is the primary agency charged with overseeing public K–12 education in Washington state. Working with the state's 295 public school districts and 7 state-tribal education compact schools, OSPI allocates funding and provides tools, resources, and technical assistance so every student in Washington is provided a high-quality public education.

At OSPI, we recognize that our employees are the key to the success of the agency. We are committed to our work but value the balance with our personal lives. We demonstrate our commitment to employees by providing an environment that stimulates professional growth and values them for their expertise. OSPI is a great place to work and has several initiatives to help create a great working environment, including:

• We support a healthy work/life balance by offering flexible/alternative work schedules and mobile and telework options. (Depending on job duties and work location.)
• We have a tuition assistance policy and support employees seeking tuition waiver through participating higher education organizations. 
• We have an Infant at Work Program that is based on long-term values of newborns and infant-parent bonding. Eligible employees who are new parents or legal guardians can bring their infant (six weeks to six months) when returning to work. (Depending on job duties and work location.)
• We value and are actively involved in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within OSPI by way of cross-divisional, collaborative committee. The focus of the committee includes employee engagement and education; reinforcing OSPI values; and maximizing the value of diversity and identifying strategies for inclusion.

Vision, Mission, and Values
Vision: All students prepared for post-secondary pathways, careers, and civic engagement.
 
Mission: Transform K-12 education to a system that is centered on closing opportunity gaps and is characterized by high expectations for all students and educators. We achieve this by developing equity-based policies and supports that empower educators, families, and communities.

Values: Ensuring Equity, Collaboration and Service, Achieving Excellence through Continuous Improvement, Focus on the Whole Child

Equity
Each student, family, and community possesses strengths and cultural knowledge that benefits their peers, educators, and schools. Ensuring educational equity:

• Goes beyond equality; it requires education leaders to examine the ways current policies and practices result in disparate outcomes for our students of color, students living in poverty, students receiving special education and English Learner services, students who identify as LGBTQ , and highly mobile student populations.
• Requires education leaders to develop an understanding of historical contexts; engage students, families, and community representatives as partners in decision-making; and actively dismantle systemic barriers, replacing them with policies and practices that ensure all students have access to the instruction and support they need to succeed in our schools.

Position Overview

The Student Engagement & Support (SES) team values the voice of students, parents, and communities as we work to ensure our work is aligned with, and build upon, the strengths of our youth and families. As a member of the SES team, this position provides project management for Mental Health Instruction proviso implementation in alignment with the agency’s social & emotional learning efforts 5950-S.SL.pdf (wa.gov) (501)(l). 

The position will facilitate the addition of mental health education curriculum in schools, including but not limited to the following activities:

1. Working with the educational service districts to build awareness of learning benefits and resource availability; 
2. Providing training and support to school staff in the implementation of mental health education and integration into 23 existing health curriculum; 
3.  Facilitating office website updates to reflect available mental health instruction resources and supporting data; and, 
4. Facilitating the addition of mental health literacy components to state learning standards and updating social emotional learning standards to reflect differentiation between the two programs and the grade-appropriate nature of each program.

Key Responsibilities
 

Ensure inclusion of student/family/community partnerships in service to mental health literacy instruction and programming across state and local partnerships. Provide programmatic expertise and oversight for the development and implementation of mental health instruction to support school safely, student health and well-being, attendance, and behavioral health programming.

Provide oversight and guidance in the modification of policy and continued funding to support sustainability of services for mental health literacy in educational programming development, implementation, and evaluation of services.

Independently manage state funded medial literacy contracts and grants to support school leaders, students, and their families, including but not limited to recruitment of curriculum experts, instruction monitoring, budgeting, and program evaluation.

Coordinate the gathering of other state, regional and local experts to inventory current efforts related to mental health literacy and mental health curriculum in K-12. Plan, facilitate meetings and compile shared information. 

Manage state communications and resource distribution and provides technical assistance relative to mental health literacy. Organize and facilitate trainings as needed. Co-leads division communication and professional development planning and delivery.

Travel for contract site visits, meetings, and presentations/promotion of evidence-based to mental health literacy.

Coordinate with agency social and emotional learning efforts to ensure sustainability and alignment with broader prevention efforts. 

Attend SEL Team meetings and support integration of substance use/abuse prevention intervention research and evidence-based information into SEL activities.

Participate in SES-related activities, such as the staff meetings, equity learning spaces, and department professional development, with the purpose of creating a safe and supportive work environment for the SES team.

Required Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree social science (psychology/sociology), education, or related field. 
• Three or more years of experience including planning, policy analysis, coordination, and consultation with a variety of public and private entities, organizations, and/or levels of government. 
• Additional years of experience may be substituted for a degree.
• Work experience in adolescent mental health promotion and/or education. 

In addition to those required qualifications, our ideal applicant will also have some or all of the following:

• Sound management practices, professional staff development, program planning, and individual and group decision making strategies.
• Knowledge of relevant state government processes, laws, and legislative processes.
• Strong organization and planning skills.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Experience with project management individual and group decision making strategies, and collaborative long-range planning strategies.
• Experience working with diverse groups of internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience functioning effectively in a fast-paced, complex work environment. This includes experience multi-tasking, prioritizing work for self and others, managing short deadlines, working independently, and serving as a positive and supportive team member.
• Demonstrates strong knowledge of OSPI, Office of Financial Management and State Administrative and Accounting Manual rules and regulations. 

Compensation
The annual compensation for the position is $65,748 - $88,416 per year and depends upon experience, educational background, and qualifications. Geographic differentials may be applied based on work location of successful candidate. Washington State offers a generous benefit package including health, dental and life insurance, retirement, and an optional deferred compensation program. Please visit Health Care Authority for information regarding health benefits and the Department of Retirement Systems for retirement plan information. This is a general service position. This position is not represented by a bargaining unit.

Application Process

Those interested in this position must apply through Careers.wa.gov. Applications must include the following documents in MS Word and PDF format only:

• A letter of interest specifically addressing the qualifications listed in this announcement; 
• A current résumé, and;
• A list of three or more professional references. 

Please address any questions to:

Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
 600 Washington Street Southeast
 Olympia, Washington 98504-7200

360-725-6278: sal.salazar@k12.wa.us 
 
Persons needing accommodation in the application process or this announcement in an alternative format may contact the Human Resources Office at (360) 725-6270 or (360) 725-6066, or e-mail hroffice@k12.wa.us.

New Jobs Alert Service

OSPI offers a subscription service, which regularly notifies subscribers of new OSPI employment opportunities on careers.wa.gov. Subscribers are notified via text or email alert. If you are interested in this service, then please subscribe at this location. 

OSPI is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from job seekers who will contribute to our diversity. OSPI provides equal access to all programs and services without discrimination based on sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, honorably discharged veteran or military status, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability. If you would like, please include your name, and gender pronouns in your application, to ensure we address you appropriately throughout the application process. Persons needing accommodation in the application process or this announcement in an alternative format may contact the human resource consultant listed in “Application Process.”