Lead Family Coordinator
About The Position
Open Roads Behavioral Health is the clinical and programmatic partner to an initiative serving children, youth, and young adults from birth through age 21 who live with, or are at risk of, serious emotional disturbance. The Lead Family Coordinator is one of the program’s federally designated key personnel and carries the family voice into every level of the work, from a parent’s first phone call to the Governance Board where system-of-care decisions are made. The role supports families entering CareConnect Youth, provides peer and family support, helps them navigate child-serving systems, and leads family engagement across program sites. The coordinator also represents families in governance and advisory structures, supports the growth of family peer staff, partners with clinicians and care coordinators on family-centered service planning, and contributes to program reporting and evaluation.
Requirements
- Lived experience as the parent or primary caregiver of a child or youth who has received mental health services; this is a non-negotiable requirement of the federal award.
- Working knowledge of child-serving systems in Cook County, gained personally, professionally, or both.
- Strong listening skills and the ability to build trust quickly with families under stress.
Responsibilities
- Serve as the primary point of contact for families entering CareConnect Youth, helping them understand their options, prepare for appointments, and stay engaged in care.
- Deliver peer and family support grounded in personal experience raising a child with significant mental health needs.
- Help families navigate schools, Medicaid and commercial insurance, child welfare, juvenile justice, and other systems that affect their child’s life.
- Lead family engagement across program sites, including parent education, support groups, and community outreach.
- Participate on the Governance Board and the program’s family and youth advisory structures, ensuring families shape the design and evaluation of the system of care.
- Recruit, train, and support additional family peer staff as the program grows.
- Partner with clinicians and care coordinators so each family’s service plan reflects what the family wants.
- Contribute to required SAMHSA reporting and program evaluation.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
