How to hire a mental health coordinator

How to hire a mental health coordinator, step by step

Here's a step-by-step mental health coordinator hiring guide:

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

What does a mental health coordinator do?

Post a mental health coordinator job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   The mental health coordinator hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect mental health coordinator also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   Here's a comparison of mental health coordinator salaries for various roles:

   Type of Mental Health Coordinator	Description	Hourly rate
   Mental Health Coordinator	Social workers help people solve and cope with problems in their everyday lives. One group of social workers—clinical social workers—also diagnose and treat mental, behavioral, and emotional issues.	$16-38
   Support Services Coordinator	Support Services Coordinators are responsible for leading the administrative and deployment of a staff team. Their duties include preparing presentation documents, preparing and processing expense and budget reports, answering phone and emails, and arranging meetings... Show more	$12-26
   Family Services Coordinator	A family services coordinator maintains quantitative quality and qualitative quality monitoring systems and improvement systems for the program strategies to get executed with quality, fidelity, and reliability. They coach and offer supervisory guidance services to the family service team to keep the staff capacity robust and move the staff members towards mastering the core competencies... Show more	$15-26

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Social Work
   • Mental Health
   • Mental Health Assessments
   • Patients
   • Crisis Intervention
   • Clinical Supervision
   • Behavioral Health
   • Service Delivery
   • Clinical Services
   • Substance Abuse
   • Social Services
   • Rehabilitation
   • Patient Care
   • Group Therapy

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage apartment project for SPMI adults and provide case management support to those tenants.
   • Assist in the development of partnerships with universities, mental health agencies and rehabilitation resources in program design and implementation.
   • Refer patients and family members to community resources or to specialists for mentally abuse children or women rights advocacy as necessary.
   • Provide intake assessments for at-risk youth and families to determine eligibility for intensive in-home and therapeutic day treatment services and Medicaid assistance
   • Exhibit genuine compassion and caring for individuals facing a variety of life challenges.
   • Complete emergency evaluations of patients and refer for inpatient treatment if necessary.

   More mental health coordinator duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your mental health coordinator job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A mental health coordinator can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, mental health coordinators' average salary in arkansas is 56% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level mental health coordinators 58% less than senior-level mental health coordinators.
   • Certifications. A mental health coordinator with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a mental health coordinator's salary.

   Average mental health coordinator salary

   $52,428yearly

   $25.21 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level mental health coordinator salary

   $34,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 19, 2025

   Average mental health coordinator salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$77,858	$37
   2	Washington	$67,738	$33
   3	New York	$64,338	$31
   4	Nevada	$63,290	$30
   5	District of Columbia	$60,341	$29
   6	Colorado	$56,810	$27
   7	Minnesota	$56,455	$27
   8	New Mexico	$54,573	$26
   9	Ohio	$52,726	$25
   10	Iowa	$50,215	$24
   11	Oregon	$49,542	$24
   12	Florida	$49,371	$24
   13	Utah	$48,130	$23
   14	Massachusetts	$48,100	$23
   15	Oklahoma	$47,774	$23
   16	Indiana	$46,262	$22
   17	Illinois	$45,502	$22
   18	Texas	$43,298	$21
   19	Georgia	$42,378	$20
   20	Nebraska	$37,902	$18

   Average mental health coordinator salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Wellpath	$84,426	$40.59	271
   2	City of Lakewood	$75,496	$36.30
   3	Nebraska Methodist Health System	$68,531	$32.95	5
   4	The City of Vacaville, CA	$67,505	$32.45	1
   5	True Care Home Care	$65,272	$31.38	2
   6	Cook Children's Medical Center	$65,118	$31.31	24
   7	St. Charles Health System	$62,701	$30.14	12
   8	Aegis Therapies	$61,567	$29.60	28
   9	VIVA USA	$61,278	$29.46
   10	Encompass Community Services	$59,979	$28.84	14
   11	University of Southern California	$59,373	$28.54	6
   12	Kaiser Permanente	$58,922	$28.33	187
   13	City of El Dorado	$58,716	$28.23
   14	JPS Health Network	$58,602	$28.17	7
   15	New Brunswick Public Schools	$57,906	$27.84	2
   16	Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis	$57,748	$27.76	5
   17	HCSC	$57,590	$27.69	7
   18	Telecare	$57,172	$27.49	144
   19	Wexford Health Sources	$56,875	$27.34	18
   20	Puget Sound ESD	$56,757	$27.29

4. Writing a mental health coordinator job description

   A mental health coordinator 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. To help get you started, here's an example of a mental health coordinator job description:

   Mental health coordinator job description example

   Triage, assessment, crisis intervention clinical work, 100% virtual work option after initial on-site training is complete
   
   Ensure that consumers obtain appropriate mental health and/or chemical dependency treatment by providing clinical screening and triage, clinical consultation, and/or authorization of behavioral health services to appropriate Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington staff and contracted community providers.
   Essential Responsibilities:
   
   
   Responsible for assuring consumers obtain the appropriate mental health and/or chemical dependency treatment.
   Provides clinical screening and triage, clinical consultation, and/or authorization of behavioral health services to appropriate KFHPW staff and contracted community providers.
   
   
   Basic Qualifications: Experience Minimum two (2) years of recent, continuous post-masters experience treating or coordinating care of patients with behavioral health problems. Per the National Agreement, current KP Coalition employees have this experience requirement waived. Education Master's degree in behavioral sciences. License, Certification, Registration Unencumbered license to practice in the mental health field in the state of Washington either as a Certified Counselor, Marriage and Family Therapist or Social Worker required by date of hire/transfer.
   Additional Requirements: Knowledge of DSM IV. Knowledge of ASAM criteria. Knowledge of managed care treatment philosophy and treatment modalities. Familiarity with a broad range of diagnosis and age groups. Familiarity with mental health and chemical dependency levels of intensity. Treatment Planning and utilization management skills. Crisis management skills. Computer skills in a Windows environment.
   Preferred Qualifications: Utilization management experience is preferred.
   
   Job Schedule:
   Job Category: Behavioral Health, Social Services & Spiritual Care

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right mental health coordinator for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your mental health coordinator job on Zippia to find and recruit mental health coordinator candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit mental health coordinators, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to 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 mental health coordinator

   Once you have selected a candidate for the mental health coordinator position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new mental health coordinator. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are 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.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a mental health coordinator?