Compliance Associate for Behavioral Health Consulting

Behave Health Consulting helps behavioral health providers across the U.S. get licensed, accredited, and survey-ready. We're a software company whose consulting arm takes SUD and mental health programs from "we want to open" to "we passed our survey." We're looking for a U.S.-based compliance consultant to work alongside our consulting team on client licensure, accreditation, and policy work. The problem we're solving Our client pipeline is growing faster than our internal compliance bandwidth. Programs come to us needing state licensure applications, CARF or Joint Commission readiness, and policy and procedure sets that will survive an actual survey — not templates. We need an experienced practitioner to own that work stream with us. What you'd deliver •Policy & procedure sets — draft and revise P&P manuals mapped to a named accreditation standard (CARF or TJC) and the relevant state licensure regulations, delivered as review-ready documents •Mock surveys and readiness reviews — conduct remote readiness reviews of client programs and deliver a written findings report with prioritized corrective actions •State licensure application support — assemble and quality-check initial licensure application packages, including required policies, staffing plans, and supporting documentation •Regulatory change monitoring — a concise recurring memo covering federal (HIPAA, 42 CFR Part 2, CMS/Medicaid, DEA) and state-level changes affecting our active client states •Training materials — short, practical compliance training modules for client staff on privacy, documentation, and ethical service delivery Who this is for •5+ years in behavioral health or healthcare compliance, regulatory affairs, quality assurance, or a related field •Hands-on with HIPAA, 42 CFR Part 2, CMS/Medicaid, and DEA requirements as they apply to SUD and mental health providers •You have personally prepared or reviewed policies submitted for CARF or Joint Commission survey •You have worked a state licensure application through to approval in at least one state — and can say which agency and what tripped it up •You translate regulation into procedures that line staff will actually follow Nice to have •Addiction treatment, mental health, or behavioral health startup environments •Licensing and inspection experience across multiple states •Familiarity with EHR systems, document control, or compliance tracking platforms How we work You'll operate as an independent consultant with your own methods and schedule, coordinating with our consulting team lead on scope and deliverables. Start is 10–15 hours per week with room to grow as the client pipeline does. Ongoing engagement, 6+ months. Confidentiality (please read before applying) This work touches regulated health information. We require a signed Business Associate Agreement and confidentiality agreement before any client work begins. No PHI or 42 CFR Part 2 records will be exchanged through Upwork messaging or file sharing — client materials move through our secured systems only. If that's unfamiliar territory, this isn't the right fit. To apply Skip the general pitch. In your proposal, tell us: (1) the states you've worked licensure in, (2) the accreditation standard you know best and the most recent edition you've worked from, and (3) one compliance problem you fixed that a template wouldn't have caught.