How to hire a behavioral health technician

How to hire a behavioral health technician, step by step

Here's a step-by-step behavioral health technician hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a behavioral health technician job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new behavioral health technician
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a behavioral health technician do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the behavioral health technician you need to hire. Certain behavioral health technician roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A behavioral health technician's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, behavioral health technicians from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   The following list breaks down different types of behavioral health technicians and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Behavioral Health Technician	Description	Hourly rate
   Behavioral Health Technician	Psychiatric technicians and aides care for people who have mental illness and developmental disabilities. Technicians typically provide therapeutic care and monitor their patients’ conditions... Show more	$12-22
   Therapist	A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients... Show more	$18-38
   In Home Therapist	An in-home therapist provides case management, counseling, resource system development, support system development, and crisis intervention services for family members and children. They provide goal-oriented and structured therapy on referral issues for families that help recover from neglect, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, or physical abuse... Show more	$19-31

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Behavioral Health
   • Crisis Intervention
   • Social Work
   • CPR
   • Vital Signs
   • Substance Abuse
   • BHT
   • Direct Patient Care
   • HIPAA
   • Patient Safety
   • CPI
   • Rehabilitation
   • Autism

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Monitor and manage preventative behavior with 2-3 MHA'S team and carry out a constructive routine with patients.
   • Provide health monitoring, crisis intervention, supervision, and facilitation of group educational/structure activities for consumers (rehabilitation patients).
   • Train in CPI to handle physically dangerous crisis situations.
   • Display sensitivity, integrity, compassion and respect towards patients and family members.
   • Obtain patients' medical history and vital signs; complete EKG's and blood work.
   • Prepare for HIPAA reviews, ensuring require brochures and pamphlets are available to patients in all clinics.

   More behavioral health technician duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the behavioral health technician job description is a good way to get more applicants. A behavioral health technician salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a behavioral health technician in Kentucky may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level behavioral health technician. Additionally, a behavioral health technician with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average behavioral health technician salary

   $16.64hourly

   $34,611 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level behavioral health technician salary

   $25,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average behavioral health technician salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$44,885	$22
   2	Oregon	$43,209	$21
   3	New Jersey	$36,233	$17
   4	Colorado	$36,072	$17
   5	Illinois	$34,921	$17
   6	Arkansas	$34,822	$17
   7	Arizona	$34,418	$17
   8	Indiana	$34,359	$17
   9	Nevada	$33,839	$16
   10	Iowa	$33,410	$16
   11	Minnesota	$32,423	$16
   12	North Carolina	$32,164	$15
   13	Alabama	$31,578	$15
   14	Michigan	$31,377	$15
   15	Georgia	$31,374	$15
   16	Ohio	$31,102	$15
   17	Alaska	$30,708	$15
   18	Pennsylvania	$30,646	$15
   19	Kansas	$30,158	$15
   20	Florida	$28,724	$14

   Average behavioral health technician salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	University of California-Berkeley	$47,943	$23.05	1
   2	PHMC	$42,779	$20.57	4
   3	Evolent Health	$42,272	$20.32
   4	NurseCore	$41,326	$19.87	4
   5	Deschutes County	$41,111	$19.76	4
   6	STG International	$40,804	$19.62	6
   7	Telecare	$40,466	$19.45	20
   8	Children's Hospital of Michigan	$40,016	$19.24	1
   9	CITC	$39,714	$19.09
   10	Mission Regional Medical Center	$39,524	$19.00	35
   11	Wexford Health Sources	$38,659	$18.59	12
   12	St. Francis Community Services	$38,634	$18.57
   13	Premier Inc.	$38,223	$18.38	36
   14	Southern Vermont Health & Recreation Center Foundation Inc	$38,218	$18.37
   15	New Seasons Market	$38,171	$18.35	7
   16	Wellpath	$38,004	$18.27	159
   17	Ascension Michigan	$38,002	$18.27	72
   18	Peoples Health	$37,866	$18.20	7
   19	Access International, Inc.	$37,806	$18.18	13
   20	Westcare Health Corporation	$37,806	$18.18	1

4. Writing a behavioral health technician job description

   A behavioral health technician job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a behavioral health technician job description:

   Behavioral health technician job description example

   As the Behavioral Health (BH) Technician, you will be asked to maintain a safe, comfortable, and therapeutic environment for BH patients in the ED, monitor the patient’s condition and report changes to the clinical team to ensure changes in condition are addressed in a timely manner. Works in collaboration with Patient Safety Monitors, Security staff, and others to apply de-escalation and restraint prevention techniques, and assists with restraints as needed to maintain patient and staff safety. Reports to the Behavioral Health Care Coordinator in collaboration with the EC Clinical Leadership team.
   DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
   + Monitors BH patients, noting any changes in behavior and reporting that behavior to clinical staff in a timely manner.
   + Utilizes de-escalation and restraint prevention techniques at all times and may assist in applying restraints if de-escalation measures fail.
   + Assists with patient assessments such as vital signs, EKGs, finger stick blood glucose, as needed
   + Supports patient participation in virtual therapeutic programming as needed
   + Interacts therapeutically with patients including, but not limited to, engaging in conversation, playing games, providing reading material
   + Communicates with patient’s family members to update on patient condition and treatment plan as appropriate while maintaining patient privacy
   + Interacts professionally with providers, nurses, and other staff in the ED.
   + Keeps ED nurses, doctors, and other clinicians apprised of patient’s condition.
   + Assists patients with activities of daily living including toileting, personal hygiene, meals, and other needs.
   + Performs all other job duties as assigned.
   Lawrence General Hospital is a private, non-profit community hospital providing the Merrimack Valley & southern New Hampshire regions with patient-centered, compassionate, and quality health care for the whole family. For over 140 years, the dedicated doctors, nurses, and staff of Lawrence General have been committed to improving the health of the people and communities we serve. We offer competitive pay, a robust benefit package, generous paid time off and free parking! We are an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to hiring a diverse workforce.
   In 2022 Healthgrades ranked LGH in the top 5 percent of hospitals in the country, and as was awarded a top spot-on Forbes’ annual list of America’s Best-In-State Employers 2020!

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find behavioral health technicians for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any behavioral health technicians they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level behavioral health technicians with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your behavioral health technician job on Zippia to find and attract quality behavioral health technician candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with behavioral health technician candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new behavioral health technician

   Once you've found the behavioral health technician candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a behavioral health technician?