Branch Chief of Housing - Placement and Grants

Salary : $138,713.12 - $177,037.12 Annually
Location : Santa Barbara, CA
Job Type: Full-time
Job Number: 26-8142-01 (O/BW)
Department: Behavioral Wellness
Opening Date: 10/02/2026
Closing Date: 10/16/2026 5:00 PM Pacific

Description
Salary: $138,713.12 - $177,037.12
The County of Santa Barbara's Behavioral Wellness Department is seeking a dynamic and strategic Branch Chief of Housing leader to oversee complex, high-impact health services operations in Santa Barbara, CA. This senior management role leads multiple programs and teams with significant operational scope and organizational influence, driving innovation, accountability, regulatory compliance, and service excellence across critical health initiatives.

The Housing Branch spans the behavioral health housing continuum and is responsible for developing and coordinating housing and placement resources for individuals with complex behavioral health needs. The Branch Chief will oversee housing placement strategies, contracted housing services, grants, and long-term care functions, with particular emphasis on increasing appropriate community-based placement capacity and supporting transitions from higher levels of care.

A significant focus of this position will be developing strategies to return individuals currently placed outside of Santa Barbara County to appropriate local placements when clinically, legally, and operationally appropriate. The Branch Chief will work across Behavioral Wellness programs and with community providers, housing organizations, long-term care facilities, fiscal and contracts staff, and other County partners to address placement barriers, maximize available housing resources, and develop new housing opportunities.
This position's County classification title is Health Services Manager III. This position is "At-Will" and is exempt from Civil Service provisions.
As a key member of the leadership team, this position partners closely with executive leadership to shape strategy, modernize operations, strengthen cross-functional collaboration, and advance organizational priorities. You will provide leadership for multidisciplinary teams responsible for delivering essential health services and administrative functions. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in strengthening the County's behavioral health housing and placement continuum, expanding appropriate placement capacity, improving transitions between levels of care, and developing sustainable strategies to meet the needs of individuals with complex and long-term behavioral health needs.
Benefits: The County of Santa Barbara offers generous benefits. Click on the Benefits Tab above or to view more information. In addition, applicants from other public sector employers may qualify for:

• Retirement reciprocity
• Time and service credit towards an advanced vacation accrual rate

The IDEAL CANDIDATE will bring a combination of behavioral health leadership, housing and placement expertise, contract and grant management experience, and knowledge of the behavioral health care continuum. The successful candidate will have experience developing or managing behavioral health housing resources, evaluating placement needs and service capacity, and establishing partnerships with community-based housing and care providers.

The ideal candidate will also possess:

• Experience developing, managing, or expanding behavioral health housing programs and services;
• Experience with housing placement, vacancy management, and transitions between levels of care;
• Knowledge of the behavioral health continuum serving individuals with complex and long-term care needs, including individuals subject to LPS conservatorship and/or requiring locked or skilled nursing settings;
• Experience developing, negotiating, monitoring, and amending behavioral health service contracts;
• Experience identifying and pursuing grant and other funding opportunities, including grant writing, administration, and compliance;
• Experience working collaboratively with fiscal, contracts, procurement, legal, clinical, and program staff;
• Strong understanding of the operational, fiscal, regulatory, and service considerations involved in developing and maintaining behavioral health housing resources; and
• Demonstrated ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and develop solutions to complex placement and system-capacity challenges.

Examples of Duties

These examples are not intended to reflect all duties performed within the job, and not all duties listed are necessarily performed by each individual.

1. Provides strategic and operational leadership for the Behavioral Wellness Housing Branch, overseeing housing, placement, grants, and long-term care functions that support individuals with serious and complex behavioral health needs, including individuals transitioning from acute, locked, skilled nursing, and other higher levels of care to appropriate community-based placements.
2. Leads the development and implementation of housing and placement strategies that increase access to appropriate levels of care and housing within Santa Barbara County, including identifying gaps in the existing housing continuum, evaluating service capacity, and developing recommendations for new or expanded housing opportunities.
3. Oversees placement strategies for individuals with complex and long-term behavioral health needs, including individuals subject to Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) conservatorship and individuals requiring locked, skilled nursing, residential, or other specialized levels of care. This includes coordinating efforts to transition individuals placed outside of Santa Barbara County to appropriate local placements when clinically, legally, and operationally appropriate, and addressing barriers to successful transitions.
4. Oversees the Grants and Long-Term Care operations within the branch, including program planning, funding strategies, grant development and administration, reporting requirements, and coordination of long-term care services and placements.
5. Directs the development, negotiation, implementation, amendment, and monitoring of contracts for behavioral health housing, residential, placement, and long-term care services. Monitors provider performance and contract compliance and works collaboratively with County fiscal, contracts, procurement, legal, and program staff to develop and maintain agreements that meet operational, funding, regulatory, and service requirements.
6. Monitors and evaluates housing and placement capacity, including contracted capacity, vacancies, utilization, placement patterns, service access, transitions, and other performance measures; identifies service gaps and operational barriers; and develops recommendations to maximize resources, improve outcomes, and expand appropriate placement capacity.
7. Develops and maintains partnerships with community-based organizations, housing providers, healthcare and behavioral health providers, long-term care facilities, governmental agencies, and other stakeholders to expand housing and placement resources, develop new service opportunities, and strengthen coordination across the behavioral health care continuum.
8. Oversees branch budgets, grants, and other funding resources; reviews funding needs and expenditures; makes recommendations regarding funding priorities and resource allocation; and identifies opportunities to leverage federal, state, County, and other funding sources to expand and sustain housing and placement services.
9. Leads the development of grant applications, funding proposals, program plans, reports, and related materials for housing, placement, long-term care, and behavioral health initiatives; ensures grant activities and reporting are consistent with applicable funding requirements.
10. Develops and implements program goals, operational plans, policies, procedures, and performance expectations for housing, placement, grants, and long-term care functions consistent with department priorities, applicable requirements, and identified community needs.
11. Supervises and provides direction to management, professional, and other staff assigned to the Housing, Placement, Grants, and Long-Term Care functions, including establishing priorities, assigning work, evaluating performance, supporting employee development, and addressing personnel matters.
12. Represents Behavioral Wellness in meetings and collaborative initiatives involving housing, placement, long-term care, and behavioral health system development, and prepares and presents recommendations to department leadership, County partners, community stakeholders, and other entities as appropriate.
13. Identifies and resolves complex operational, contractual, fiscal, placement, and service-delivery issues affecting housing and placement services. Researches and interprets applicable laws, regulations, funding requirements, and behavioral health and housing practices; develops recommendations and implements operational improvements; and escalates matters requiring executive-level direction or policy decisions.
14. Researches emerging behavioral health housing, placement, and long-term care practices and funding opportunities and recommends strategies to improve service capacity, access, continuity of care, and effective use of available resources.
15. Performs other related duties as required.

Employment Standards
Education and Experience
The knowledge, skills, and abilities listed below may be acquired through various types of training, education, and experience. A typical way to acquire the required knowledge and abilities would be:
Equivalent of a bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year college or university in public health administration, public administration, behavioral/mental health, or a closely related field and seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in public health, behavioral health, or healthcare programs including at least three (3) years as a supervisor or manager.

Desirable Qualifications:
Preference for individuals who are licensed as a Nurse, Social Worker, or Counsel and/or have experience in a mental health housing continuum, direct clinical experience, and contractor management.

Licenses and Certificates
For specific positions, possession and maintenance of a valid California driver's license and the ability to meet automobile insurability requirements of the County or the ability to provide suitable transportation needs as a condition of continued employment.

Knowledge of:

• Principles, practices, and techniques of health services programs and operations in a public agency setting, including public health, mental health and recovery, correctional health, and/or medical health programs, including the interpretation of laws, regulations, policies, and procedures.
• Principles and practices of public administration and program management, including strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation.
• Trends in public, mental, medical, and correctional health, and recovery education, treatment, prevention, and related issues
• Management principles, practices, and techniques.
• Principles and practices of governmental accounting, fiscal management, budgeting and auditing.
• Principles and practices of program planning and administration.
• Personnel management principles and practices, including employee supervision, training, and evaluation.
• Principles and practices of group facilitation, conflict resolution, and consensus building.
• Principles and practices of procurement and contract administration.
• Principles and techniques of effective oral presentations.
• Applicable federal, state, and local laws, codes, regulations, and standards.
• Business systems, equipment, and applications relevant to the area of assignment.
• Social, economic, cultural, and other issues impacting program area.

Ability to:

• Effectively administer public health, mental health and recovery, correctional health, and/or medical health programs and activities.
• Manage assigned operations/programs and ensure ongoing compliance with strategic objectives and performance measures.
• Develop and implement policies and procedures.
• Build coalitions among groups with differing needs and objectives.
• Manage large-scale complex projects and/or initiatives, enterprise projects, and/or overseeing the management of multiple projects simultaneously.
• Manage and evaluate assigned staff, including training, coaching, participating in developing goals and strategic objectives, coordinating deadlines, prioritizing work demands, and assigning and monitoring work.
• Analyze and evaluate operational programs, projects, and procedures.
• Plan, organize, coordinate, and supervise changes and improvements in public agency projects and studies.
• Manage budgets, contracts, grants, and resource allocation.
• Interpret, monitor, and report financial information and statistics.
• Oversee the implementation of and adherence to quality assurance activities and standards.
• Research, recommend, and implement industry trends, solutions, and best practices.
• Resolve complex problems within the area of assignment.
• Prepare and oversee the preparation of reports, grant proposals, documents, and presentations.
• Create and provide informative presentations to stakeholders, elected officials, County leadership, and the public.
• Collaborate with program stakeholders, elected and appointed boards, the public, and internal leadership.
• Interpret and apply applicable laws, codes, regulations, and standards.
• Communicate effectively, clearly, and concisely.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with a diverse range of individuals, including but not limited to coworkers, subordinate staff, supervisors, other managers, professional agencies, and the general public.
• Maintain accurate records and files.

Supplemental Information
SELECTION PROCESS:

• Review applications and supplemental questionnaire