Paid: Information Technology Encore Fellow

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Encore.org: Encore Fellowship Opportunity with Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services

You are a seasoned professional with a minimum of 25+ years of experience, who is retired or in transition. You want to continue to work and want to do something with meaning. You are ready for a second act for the greater good.

Encore Fellowships are structured programs that place highly-skilled, experienced professionals into social-purpose organizations, where they help nonprofits build capacity, and ultimately, have a greater impact on their communities. Fellows commit to 1,000 hours of work over 6 to 12 months. They are paid a stipend of $20,000 and are integrated into the nonprofit’s leadership team.

About Didi Hirsch Mental Services

Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services (DHMHS) has provided free mental health, substance use disorder and suicide prevention services since 1942. Dedicated to serving communities where stigma or poverty limits access, Didi Hirsch helps more than 150,000 children and adults from 10 locations and 100 schools throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties each year.

Their outpatient services include counseling, medication management and case management. Intensive services are delivered to those experiencing severe mental illness in the community, home or clinic settings while residential treatment programs are also available.

DHMHS’s Suicide Prevention Center (SPC) operates the oldest 24/7 suicide prevention crisis line in the nation serving those at-risk of suicide or those who have lost a loved one to suicide. The Suicide Response Team offers immediate support at the scene of suicides and for those who have lost a loved one to suicide, SPC provides bereavement support groups and counseling. They also offer support groups to individuals who have attempted suicide. Finally, staff and volunteers provide prevention training to mental health professionals and others through schools, law enforcement agencies, hospitals, counseling centers, and places of worship.

Encore Fellow Information Technology: Primary Role and Responsibilities

When the Coronavirus lockdown was put in place, IT’s focus rapidly pivoted to moving over 500 employees and 200 crisis line volunteers to remote working. For many employees this meant acquiring and configuring new laptop computers and providing other equipment and helpdesk support. There were considerably more challenges moving the suicide crisis line to remote working and it is apparent that the current call center software is not adequate for their needs. As the senior IT director moves from a highly reactive mode to proactive, he needs support in the following areas:

• Disaster Planning
• Assessment of medium and long-term infrastructure needs
• Development of an infrastructure strategy and deployment plan
• Identification of business systems and technology tool needs
• Identify trends in healthcare technology and how new tools can be utilized to improve services delivery and experience of clients and staff
• Development of the IT team to meet future needs of the agency
• Mentoring IT team members within a growing $50 million organization