Resident Care Specialist IV

Compensation

Basic Purpose

Positions in this job family are involved in providing direct care, supervision and security, transportation, and role modeling to adjudicated youth in the custody of the juvenile justice system. This will include providing paraprofessional guidance and counseling to residents, interventions to control aggressive behaviors, documentation of behaviors and activities, and monitoring and moderation of resident behavior.
 

Typical Functions

• Provides security and supervision to adjudicated residents in a variety of situations and activities.
• Performs routine duties in care, custody, education, and treatment of residents; observes, records, and reports health symptoms, behavior, and activity of residents.
• Manages aggressive and non-aggressive behavior through verbal and physical intervention using prescribed and approved techniques; quickly responds to physical assaults, riots, and other emergency situations.
• Conducts counts of residents and enforces institutional rules and regulations; observes resident and staff activities on multiple surveillance monitor screens.
• Provides paraprofessional counseling and instruction to residents by directing their daily activities, maintaining order, providing support, and helping them develop and achieve personal goals; serves on a treatment team to review residents’ progress, treatment and educational plans; serves as a group leader by reviewing and assessing the adjustment and functioning of a group of residents.
• Inspects the facility's living areas and work locations to ensure health and safety standards are being met, conducts searches for unauthorized objects, materials, and contraband; maintains security in an assigned area or post; controls movement of residents to and from living quarters for activities and off-campus appointments; maintains order and discipline during programs, meals, and recreation periods by utilizing empathic verbal communication skills.
• Patrols facility grounds, juvenile living quarters and work areas on an assigned shift while observing the activities and movements of residents; checks authorized persons in or out of buildings and grounds area while assuring unauthorized persons are denied access.
• Checks the physical security of the facility, including doors, windows, and lighting.
• Completes written and/or typed reports on a variety of incidents and residents' behaviors; sends and receives verbal transmissions over a hand-held radio; maintains a written log of daily facility activities; communicates by telephone with emergency responder agencies in crisis situations.
• Provide safe and secure transport services for OJA custody youth to and from placement, juvenile detention centers, court hearings, and various other appointments such as medical, dental and mental health evaluations.
• Will have responsibility for GPS monitoring, tracking, inventory and documentation in assigned areas.
• Other high risk transportation duties as assigned and specified through the Performance Management Process (PMP).
• Assists other OJA employees as needed/other duties as assigned.

Level Descriptor

This is the leadership level of the job family, where employees are responsible for planning, organizing and directing staff activities in a 24-hour secure residential facility in the juvenile justice system. This includes directing the operations of the facility, participating as a member of the treatment teams, making recommendations concerning development and implementation of treatment and education plans for residents, and assisting in the promotion and implementation of the overall program. Employees assume responsibilities for the supervision of multiple who are assigned to various units or shifts. These additional responsibilities include but are not limited to scheduling employees for duty, evaluating performance, making visits to assigned posts to review operations, developing and conducting training, and otherwise planning and controlling the operations of an assigned unit and/or shift.

Education and Experience

Education and Experience requirements at this level consist of the statutory requirements of OAC 377:3-13-43(c)(1): All direct-care staff shall be at least 21 years of age and possess a high school diploma or its equivalent (10 O.S. § 401 et seq.); and the completion of thirty semester hours from an accredited college or university or one year of security experience; plus three years of security experience working with juveniles in a residential care and treatment facility.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Competencies

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities required at this level include knowledge of security methods; of basic human physical and psychological needs; of basic first aid methods; of crisis intervention techniques; of simple health and safety precautions; of behavioral problems typically found in delinquent residents; of methods and practices of household management; of environments and events that impact the problems of youth in custody; of state statutes and agency policies concerning care of residents in secure facilities; of supervisory principles and practices; and of administrative principles and practices. Ability is required to interact with juveniles; to establish and maintain effective working relationships with others; to follow written and oral instructions; to gather facts and effectively communicate those facts in reports; to positively interact with residents of various racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds; to remain alert and act quickly and appropriately in emergency situations; to physically and appropriately handle escapees and violent or unruly juvenile residents; to exercise good judgment in the evaluation of situations and in making decisions; to efficiently organize and supervise the work of others; to conduct investigations and investigative interviews; to train staff; to analyze situations and make independent decisions in accordance with rules, laws, and regulations; and to make educated recommendations concerning the trajectory of a resident’s treatment and overall programming.

Special Requirements

Applicants must be willing and able to perform all job-related travel normally associated with this position, possess a valid Oklahoma driver’s license at time of appointment and be willing to be on-call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The Office of Juvenile Affairs has determined that some positions in this job family are safety sensitive as defined by 63 O.S. § 427.8.

Must be able to pass background check, fingerprints and drug screening.

A trial period of 12 months will be required.

** Please call the Service Desk at 405-521-2444 if you have issues with accessing your Workday account.

**For additional information/questions regarding the job posting, benefits and additional career opportunities, please contact Sheryl Liepins at 405.620.6495 or sheryl.liepins@oja.ok.gov **

Equal Opportunity Employment

The State of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of genetic information, race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, or disability.

Current active State of Oklahoma employees must apply for open positions internally through the Workday Jobs Hub.

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