During the recruiting phase, you are balancing multiple aims. First, you want to attract a highly qualified pool of applicants. At the same time, you want to keep qualified candidates engaged in your opportunity until you are ready to select the best candidate. You want every qualified candidate to want the job and hope to work with you.  How you set up and manage the interviewing process will tell them a lot about your agency.

Things to consider when advertising a remote therapist position: 

• It may help to frame your position as an attractive opportunity to do important work and close the gap in quality mental health for children living in an under-resourced region of the state.
• The opportunity to work from home without needing to relocate are also attractive features of the position.
• Working for a CAC offers several benefits and opportunities including, for example, being part of an MDT focused on justice and healing for children, providing much-needed support to a child through the legal process, the ability to share mental health concerns (with consent) directly with investigators and prosecutors, access to current research through the National Children’s Advocacy Center’s Child Abuse Library Online (CALiO), and access to free or low-cost trainings and resources through the National Children’s Alliance (NCA), State Chapters, and Regional Children’s Advocacy Centers.
• CACs can provide additional support by offering clinical supervision or consultation for free as well as access to clinical training on evidenced-based treatment and assessment.

Develop your job description to recruit the right candidate.

If you choose to adopt a job description from an allied community agency or another CAC, be sure it meets the added needs of a remote therapist delivering telemental health.

• Start with a clear description of the core functions of the job. At a minimum, the description should outline the expectations of therapists as set out in the . Other key attributes include ability to work independently and with remote supervision.
• Include reference in the job description to expectations around teamwork with the local CAC staff and MDT and documentation in the CAC’s record management system, including an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) if used by the CAC.
• The job description should also emphasize the attractive aspects of delivering teletherapy such as working from home, flexibility in scheduling, and backing that the CAC will offer to support the clinical process, such as the close “task sharing” support of the victim advocate.
• The job description should list preferred or required education and licensing credentials that meet or exceed those listed in NCA’s National Standards of Accreditation for Children’s Advocacy Centers, plus experience delivering therapy via telemental health.
• With your ideal candidate in mind, you can add a section on “preferred qualifications” such as fluency in a language beyond English that is commonly spoken in the rural region. It is also appropriate to list training and experience in evidence-based trauma treatment as preferred qualifications, including for example, completion of TF-CBT Web 2.0 training, live training conducted by an approved TF-CBT trainer, and completion of the TF-CBT consultation calls required to be certified in TF-CBT.

Identify remote job candidates.

Your job posting should instruct candidates to submit a cover letter, copy of their resume and a list of trainings they have received and provided in relevant clinical interventions.

• You can advertise on major jobs websites such as LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, professional job boards for behavioral health or university job boards.
• Posting the position on NCA Engage will also reach many already working within a CAC context.
• Consider other specialized sites to recruit clinicians who reflect the demographics of the community being served (such as workplacediversity.com or blackjobs.com).
• Outreach can also be done through prominent and frequent placement via the agency’s social media platforms and shared through all informal networks available including sending to your State Chapter and other CACs and asking their staff to share with friends and colleagues in the community.
• State professional meetings or conferences can be useful for getting information out as announcements and QR codes can be placed in state professional newsletters that link to your CAC website.

Conduct a thoughtful, remote job interview.

You need to engage the candidates in the mission of the CAC and the importance of what they will be doing. Important things to review with candidates include:

• An explanation of how a CAC operates, the role of the MDT, how the CAC staff and MDT will support the work of the remote therapist, the nature of supervision and support, and how all this helps a therapist navigate trauma treatment and associated secondary traumatic stress.
• A brief overview of the geographic area they will be serving and unique attributes and challenges of the children and families living in the region served by your CAC.

After building rapport and explaining the position, the mission and operation of the CAC, and the role of the MDT, it is time to ask your preselected questions. Be sure to include questions specific to telemental health delivery.

Ensure supports are in place.

Remote work of any kind is challenging. If a job provides the only support system for an individual, then working in a remote environment may be problematic. A remote employee needs outside support and people they can interact with on a daily or weekly basis (Swigunski, 2021). This is doubly so for tele-therapists, especially those specializing in trauma. The ideal remote professional will have local support or will follow your advice and build those connections, such through informal networks of fellow therapists, professionals associations, or connections with other therapists at a CAC where they live or via video conferencing.