Behavior Health Services Director

Texas Health and Human Services Commission

$116K — $156K *
Healthcare
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Master's degree in psychology, social work, or related field
  • Current licensure as a LPC or BCBA
  • Minimum of 5 years in behavioral health services management
  • Experience with regulatory compliance in healthcare settings
  • Strong background in developing therapeutic programs and plans

Responsibilities

  • Oversee the clinical and administrative functions of the behavior health services department
  • Direct long-term strategic planning and execution for departmental policies
  • Evaluate the effectiveness and outcomes of therapeutic programs
  • Lead quality improvement initiatives and corrective action plans
  • Supervise and mentor behavioral health specialists and clinicians

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health benefits plan
  • Retirement savings plan options
  • Paid time off and holiday leave
  • Opportunities for professional development and training
  • Supportive work environment focused on mission and values
Full Job Description
Functional Title: Behavior Health Services Director Job Title: Manager VII Agency: Health & Human Services Comm Department: Professional Supervision Posting Number: 19635 Closing Date: 10/02/2026 Posting Audience: Internal and External Occupational Category: Management Salary Range: $9,720.33- $13,051.00 Pay Frequency: MonthlySalary Group: TEXAS-B-28 Shift: Day Additional Shift: Days (First) Telework: Not Eligible for Telework Travel: Up to 5% Regular/Temporary: Regular Full Time/Part Time: Full time FLSA Exempt/Non-Exempt: Exempt Facility Location: San Angelo State Supported Living Center Job Location City: CARLSBAD Job Location Address: 11640 US HWY 87 N Other Locations:MOS Codes: 0203,0207,0302,0520,0602,0802,1802,5502,6302,6502,7202,7208,7210,7220,111X,112X,113X,114X,16GX,41AX
611X,612X,631X,632X,641X,648X,86M0,86P0,8U000,9G100,SEI15

Brief Job Description:

Come work in an environment where we truly value and respect those we serve and believe in the mission that all people can achieve a higher level of wellness and independence.

The state supported living centers serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are medically fragile or who have behavioral problems. The centers provide campus-based direct services and supports at 13 centers located throughout the state. Learn About Our State Supported Living Centers

If you are looking for a place to work where you can establish a career that is filled with purpose, this is the job for you!

Serves in an on-call rotation, as assigned.

The Director of Behavior Health Services performs highly advanced managerial work, overseeing the clinical and administrative functions of a State Supported Living Center (SSLC) behavior health services department. Oversees the behavior health services department with the SSLC to ensure quality and integration of counseling and ther therapeutic programs with other disciplines, alignment with SSLC strategic goals, and regulatory compliance. Direct and oversees the formulation and execution of long-term strategic departmental plans, departmental policies and procedures, and oversees implementation of local and statewide initiatives. Oversees and evaluates the quality, timeliness, effectiveness and outcomes of plans produced by the department staff. Ensures the behavior health services department is focused on continuous process improvement by identifying issues, providing solutions and managing quality improvement plans. Performs managerial functions and provides professional oversight and guidance to highly specialized employees including Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs), Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs), health assistants, behavior health specialists, and skills acquisition plan (SAP) specialists. Oversees daily behavior health services activities, provides feedback, and ensures coordination, integration and collaboration. Within scope of practice, completes diagnostic evaluations such as assessments of intelligence and adaptive behavior, or other standardized tests and develops therapeutic programs. Prepares for and responds to annual survey and regulatory audits. Serves on or leads the work of committees and workgroups. Oversee special projects and the implementation of special initiatives, as assigned. Reviews, develops and approves documents and reports. Works with the State-office Discipline Coordinator for Behavior Health Services and State Reviewers in state-wide efforts to share and facilitate best practices, ensure uniformity of procedures, support system values and mission, and to assist the coordinator to complete projects as requested. Performs other related duties as assigned. Works under minimal supervision with extensive latitude for initiative and independent judgement.

Essential Job Functions (EJFs):

Attends work on a regular basis and may be required to work a specific shift schedule or, at times, even a rotating schedule, extended shift and/or overtime in accordance with agency leave policy and performs other duties as assigned. Serves in an on-call rotation, as assigned.

Oversees the behavior health services department within the SSLC to ensure quality, integrated therapeutic services that align with SSLC strategic goals and regulatory requirements, with the overarching goal of providing treatment that helps individuals develop new skills or abilities, remediate or restore an impaired skill, or maintain existing skills related to behavioral and emotional regulation and activities of daily living (ADLs). Ensures that skills acquisition programs (SAP), positive behavioral support plans (PBSPs), psychiatric support plans (PSPs), counseling plans and other therapeutic programs in the department are effective and are in compliance with Intermediate Care Facility Serving Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (ICF-IID) standards, and all other relevant state and federal laws, rules and regulations. Ensures therapeutic services are delivered within the scope of practice for all behavioral health staff for each therapeutic area. Oversees procurement of therapeutic resources necessary for robust service delivery such as reinforcers for behavioral treatment, materials for skill acquisition training and contracts for counseling services. Leads the department in resolving clinical differences between colleagues, or across disciplines, to foster effective collaboration.

Direct and oversees the development and implementation of long-term strategic departmental plans, policies and procedures, and ensures execution of local and statewide initiatives. Establish priorities for achieving departmental goals and objectives, developing and approving schedules for work completion on an ongoing basis. Conducts annual, quarterly, monthly or more frequent monitoring of the quality, timeliness, and effectiveness of plans developed by department staff, including Positive Behavior Support Plans (PBSPs), Psychiatric Support Plans (PSPs), Skill Acquisition Plans (SAPs), and counseling plans, utilizing QSR tools, SAP audit tools and individualized audit tools created to target specific areas of performance. Develops and implements tools and techniques which monitor behavioral health services and activities such as Section K: Behavior Health, Section C: Restraints, and Section S; Skill Acquisition and Pre-Treatment Sedation of the Quality Service Review (QSR) process. Establishes interrater reliability on QSR tool with the behavioral health services leads to ensure consistent and accurate monitoring. Oversees and evaluates behavioral health services outcomes, including the development of new skills, increased use of emotion regulation and coping strategies, improvement in functional and socially appropriate behaviors and overall reductions in behaviors that interfere with daily living, through personal observation, staff interviews, document reviews, and by using available data such as peer-to-peer incidents, use of restraints, and self-injurious behaviors frequency data.

Ensures the behavioral health services department is focused on continuous process improvement in the areas of restraint reduction, self-injurious behavior reduction, skill building, and emotional and behavioral regulation. Proactively identifies issues and provides solutions. Oversees and manages corrective action plans and quality improvement plans designed to achieve established goals and objectives, including formal quality improvement plans and plans of correction following regulatory or state-office reviews. Establishes minimum standards for each QAQI meeting and then supplements these by identifying areas of deficits. Focuses on those areas for QAQI by leading a root cause analysis, establishing baseline data, developing and implementing a plan and tracking progress. Develops new departmental procedures to improve programs and services while ensuring policies related to behavioral health, restraint and skill acquisitions are implemented effectively.

Provides professional oversight and guidance to highly specialized employees including Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs), Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs), health assistants, behavior health specialists, and skills acquisition plan (SAP) specialists, seeking additional clinical expertise when clinical issues are outside their licensure and scope of practice. Provides opportunities for professional development of behavioral health staff, including applied behavior analysis, learning principles, behavior change techniques, positive behavior support, treatment and data integrity measures, behavior assessment, skill acquisition planning, the interaction effects of psychotropic medication and behavior, evidenced-based counseling, trauma informed approaches, restraint reduction, and contemporary psychological issues to positively impact service delivery. Maintains current knowledge in relevant professional areas. Ensures department staff adhere to regulatory standards, established state and local procedures/protocols and are using best practices for an integrated approach to the treatment of individuals with complex medical, behavioral and therapeutic needs. Examples of integration include collaborative approaches to identifying and addressing the root cause of crisis events such as emergency restraint, peer-to-peer aggression with serious injury or self-injurious behavior.

Performs managerial functions, directly supervising the BCBAs and has line management authority over all department staff. Performs personnel activities such as hiring, supervising and evaluating staff and fostering recruitment and retention of professional staff in order to maintain a professional and sufficient departmental workforce. Oversees allocation of staff resources, adjusting staffing assignments on homes/units based on current needs. Ensures there is an on-call behavioral health staff who is available to respond to emergent needs at the center. Makes recommendations for changing emphasis to hiring behavioral staff with counseling, behavioral health and/or education/psychology credentials depending upon the changing needs of persons served at the SSLC. Takes action to improve employee retention and reduce turnover.

Oversees daily behavioral health activities by attending the daily morning medical meeting and Incident Management Team Review (IMRT) and by maintaining a frequent physical presence on the homes/units to oversee behavior health services and to ensure coordination of behavioral health services with other areas throughout the facility to facilitate best practices, ensure uniformity of procedures, and to support system values and mission. Provides feedback to behavior health staff and residential services leadership of their findings in areas such as implementation of proper restraint techniques, trauma-informed practices to de-escalate situations, SAPs, PBSPs, and PSPs. Interacts with individuals residing on campus in an emotionally supportive and therapeutic manner to model and provide an environment of caring, dignity and respect. Within areas of licensure, completes diagnostic evaluations such as assessments of intelligence and adaptive behavior, or other standardized tests within the scope of practice. Based on assessments, develops therapeutic programs such as those to address challenging behaviors and increase adaptive, social and emotion regulation skills, as needed.

Prepares for and responds to annual survey and regulatory audits, which can occur at any time. Responds to requests for information such as monitoring schedules and a list of individuals with positive behavior support plans (PBSPs), SAPs, and individuals receiving direct therapy services. Serves on or leads the work of committees and workgroups including QA/QI council, IMRT, Administrative Review team, Critical Incident Team, Mortality Review Committee, and other special projects and other cross-functional committees and teams. Assistants with facility management, such as being the assigned duty officer (ADO). Oversee special projects and the implementation of special initiatives, as assigned. Examples of special projects include topics of restraint reduction, self-injurious behavior, trauma-informed practices, and emotion regulation.

Works with the State-Office Discipline Coordinator for Behavioral Health Services and State Reviewers in state-wide efforts to share and facilitate best practices, ensure uniformity of procedures, support system values and mission, and to assist the coordinator to complete projects as requested. Established Inter-Rater reliability on the QSR tools with the State Reviewers. To prepare for monthly meetings, ensures staff enter behavior health data into the assessment timeliness tracker, MATS and other electronic systems. Reviews the data produced in the SSLC Key Indicators Platform (SKIP) and trend reports. Participates in discussions on trends (restraints, self-injury, peer to peer aggression, etc.), policy updates, trends, and changes needed based on issues seen through state-wide reviews and through individual cases such as in mortality review committee. Represents the SSLC as requested at local, state, and national conferences and meetings as requested.

Reviews, develops and approves documents and reports such as assessments in the electronic medical record, SAPs, PBSPs, restraint trends, data from SKIP and MATS. At least monthly, reviews documentation of staff into the electronic health record for accuracy and completeness and ensure compliance with state and facility standards. Depending upon the tenure and experience of a staff member or the nature of complexity of an individual, reviews, at least monthly, the collection of data and production of plans involving the individual such as PBSPs, PSPs, Counseling Plans, or SAPs. When they are issued, reviews the findings from annual regulatory survey, monitor

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