Youth Counselor

Position Purpose:

The Residential Child and Youth Care Practitioners Certified (RCYCP) Youth Counselor is responsible for providing supervision of the residential care of adolescents in accordance with program guidelines and expectations.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provides coordination of structured daily living activities and supervision of young people and line staff in the residential unit. Ensures that scheduled activities occur as planned.

• Provides for the overall safety and care of residents through appropriate supervision of their activities.

• Teaches adolescents adaptive, pro-social skills and responses.

• Provides behavior management and crisis intervention as required.

• Co-facilitates weekly groups, including life skills, therapeutic groups, and community meetings.

• Providing weekly breakfast for residents Monday through Friday, and three meals per day on Saturday and Sunday.

• Assists the adolescents in meeting their social, emotional, physical, spiritual, recreational and educational needs.

• Works as part of the Treatment Team to develop and implement the Individual Program Plan.

• Counsel the adolescents weekly on individual goals as their assigned primary Youth Counselor.

• Completes appropriate documentation in a timely fashion, including incident reports, medication log, logbook entries, and monthly team reports.

• Dispenses medication to residents as needed.

• Provides transportation to school, medical appointments, etc. as needed.

• Maintain agency vehicle by ensuring the cleanliness of the vehicle and as well updating the vehicle log and informing the Team Leader of any vehicle issues or concerns.

• Attend mandatory staff meetings both on the programmatic level as well as the agency level.

Non-Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
• Acts as a liaison with outside agencies including schools, social services systems, judicial systems, and other organizations as necessary. Advocates for the needs of residents.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Position Requirements:

• College degree (BS or BA) with one year related experience (experience may be substituted for degree).

• Must have current or apply and receive Residential Child and Youth Care Practitioner Certification within 180 days of hire. Employees must bear the cost of fingerprinting and the application fee ($62.50/$50.00)

• Strong commitment to teamwork and to serving difficult, vulnerable youth and their families.

• An attitude and maturity compatible with the goals and purposes of the National Center for Children and Families.

Physical Demands/Work Environment:

While performing the responsibilities of the job, the employee is required to talk and hear. The employee is often required to sit and use their hands and fingers to handle or feel. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, reach with arms and hands, climb or balance, and stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl. Vision abilities required y this job require close vision working with a computer monitor. While performing the duties of this job, employee is occasionally exposed to moving mechanical parts and vehicles. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet to moderate. While performing the responsibilities of the employee's job, these work environment characteristics are representative of the environment the employee will encounter. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable people with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

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