About the Role
Pay: $75,000
Texas Sports Academy is a K-12 school designed for serious student-athletes who want both elite academics and high-level athletic development. Students cover 2x the material in just 2 hours a day, using the same 2-Hour Learning model as Alpha School. That frees up their entire afternoon for serious training, where they work alongside former pro and D1 athletes coaching them at the highest standard.
We're hiring a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) as the dedicated mental health professional for about 150 student-athletes across our Carrollton, Frisco, and Parker campuses. You're the first call in a crisis, from suicide ad self-harm risk to threats against others, and you provide solution-focused support and referrals. You'll split your time across the three campuses based on student need, stay reachable by phone during school hours, and occasionally attend evening family meetings or trainings. Crisis response on any campus always comes first.
What You'll Do
- Student Support: Provide solution-focused individual and small-group support for anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, and family difficulties, plus athlete-specific issues like injury, loss of playing time, performance pressure, burnout, disordered eating, and substance use.
- Screening and Referrals: Screen for mental health needs, refer students and families to outside therapists, psychiatrists, and programs, and keep a current directory of vetted providers in all three areas.
- Crisis Response: Serve as the school's primary responder for suicidal thoughts, self-harm, or threats toward others. Run risk assessments with tools like the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, build safety plans with students and families, and coordinate emergency referrals, including the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, when a higher level of care is needed.
- Threat Assessment and Re-Entry: Take part in behavioral threat assessments with school leadership and, when appropriate, law enforcement. Lead re-entry planning after a hospitalization or crisis, and provide postvention support after a loss in the school community.
- Staff Training and Prevention: Train faculty, Academic Guides, coaches, and staff to recognize and respond to warning signs. Maintain the suicide prevention, crisis response, and threat assessment protocols across all three campuses, and lead student prevention efforts on stress, healthy relationships, and help-seeking.
- Family Partnership: Give parents clear, compassionate next steps during and after a crisis, connect them with outside resources, and offer family education on adolescent and athlete mental health.
- Documentation and Compliance: Keep confidential, timely records of assessments, safety plans, and referrals. Meet mandated reporting duties under Texas Family Code §261.101, maintain Texas licensure, and report anonymized data on crisis responses, referrals, and trainings to school leadership.
Requirements
- Crisis Intervention Experience: Real experience in crisis intervention, suicide risk assessment, and safety planning.
- Rapport With Teenagers and Athletes: You build trust quickly, including with students who are reluctant to ask for help.
- Calm, Clear Communication: Sound judgment under pressure and plain, compassionate communication with students, families, and staff from all backgrounds.
- Ethics and Documentation: Strong boundaries, respect for confidentiality, and organized, timely records.
- Education and Licensure: MSW or DSW from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), and a current, active LCSW license in good standing with the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council.
- Clearances and Certification: Able to pass a criminal background check and fingerprinting. Current CPR/First Aid, or willing to get it within 30 days of hire.
- Location and Travel: Carrollton, Frisco, and Parker, Texas. Valid driver's license and reliable transportation for regular travel between campuses, and the ability to manage a caseload across all three.
Bonus Points
- School or Athletic Setting: You've worked in a school, athletic, or youth sports setting.
- Athlete Mental Health: You know the issues athletes face, like injury, performance pressure, identity, and eating disorders.
- Evidence-Based Training: CBT, DBT skills, or trauma-informed care.
Why Join Us?
You'll be the one dedicated mental health professional for 150 student-athletes, with ownership of the school's crisis response and prevention protocols and a direct line to leadership. Performance coaching and academic counseling sit with other roles, so your time goes to the students who need you most.