Service Coordinator Employment Opportunities
Service coordinators play an important role in the lives of the individuals they serve. As the primary point of contact between the individual and the “systems,” service coordinators manage a full range of responsibilities. To do their jobs well, they build on their formal education by taking part in intensive training and mentoring from experienced professionals. They accept the responsibility of developing and mastering specific competencies to ensure that they can work effectively with all partners in recovery.
Competencies Include
- Basic service-coordination skills
- Theoretical understanding of service coordination and community mental health
- Program-specific, service-coordination knowledge and skills
Career Path
Service coordination offers a career with upward mobility, enabling those who choose to be service coordinators the potential for real advancement within the mental health system. Though not every provider agency supports every role, the roles exist across the spectrum of Allegheny County mental health providers.
- Service coordinator
- Senior service coordinator
- Consultant
- Mentor
- Supervisor
Specialized Services
Service coordinators may assist individuals at any age level or with special needs
- Children and adolescents
- Young adults
- Adults
- Older adults
- Persons with physical disabilities, substance use disorders, criminal justice involvement, etc.
As part of the Single Point of Accountability (SPA) Initiative, individuals who are currently providing service coordination services in Allegheny County are required to enhance their skills by completing additional trainings and/or earning a specialized certificate(s). There are also trainings available to provide enrichment and career path development.
DHS-contracted Providers of Service Coordination Services
This table provides links to information concerning agencies contracted by DHS to provide service coordination services for adults and/or children.
Internships
Internships or field placements are available during a student's senior year through the agencies listed above which are contracted with the Allegheny County Department of Human Services Office of Behavioral Health to provide service coordination. More information is available from the student's academic advisor.
Making a Career Change to Service Coordination
Individuals already working in the human services field may be interested in employment as a service coordinator. All people hired as service coordinators, unless they have completed the undergraduate service coordination certificate program, are required, as part of their employment, to complete the service coordination post-graduate certificate course. This one-semester course has a field placement component.
Single Point of Accountability Initiative
Information about the transformation of service coordination through the Single Point of Accountability Initiative.
