Direct Care Staff

Position Summary:

The direct care staff’s goals is to improve the quality of life and make a difference in the lives of the children under their direct care by providing direct supervision, support and behavior management in a safe, therapeutic and nurturing environment residing in residential care.
This positions does not have direct reports.
Essential Functions

• Provides regular and consistent supervision of all children under their care by providing a creative environment using appropriate limit-setting and structuring techniques within the boundaries of residential standards
• Implements and institute daily routines for the unit to include evaluating structure and effectiveness
• Maintains a safe, positive living environment for children to include cleaning and other housekeeping skills
• Develops and maintains a constructive relationship with each assigned child
• Stays current in knowledge of each child’s case history and the existing treatment plan, provides input for the re-evaluation of each treatment plan on a quarterly basis, and logs observations essential for formulating that plan
• Observes and records children’s progress on a daily basis and completes detailed, comprehensive and factual reports regarding behavior and incidents of the children pursuant to policies
• Provides for the basic health needs of the children with the assistance of the Childhelp medical staff to include providing proper medical care, teaching personal hygiene habits, diet, and preventative medical care
• Communicates measurable behavioral objectives and guides children toward mastery
• Assists children in identifying barriers interfering with learning, and assists them in ways to overcome barriers to success.
• Identifies children’s needs and development for implementation of interventions for meeting them encompasses areas such as:
• Education: communicating with school, instituting individual homework plan, teaching reading etc.
• Emotional growth: building self-esteem, role modeling and demonstrating effective coping and problem solving skills and interpersonal skills to children to help them more effectively respond to personal issues they encounter such as peer pressure, adapting to their new surroundings, and appropriately responding to conflict
• Social Skills: Manners, interactions with peers, and increasing community involvement.

• Attends and actively participates in training and development programs and opportunities, mandatory training, weekly unit meetings and supervisory sessions, and demonstrates learned concepts on the job
• Oversee and/or participates in various recreational programs and activities with children to stimulate interest in and cooperation with various social and educational programs.
• Provides back-up weekend coverage on a rotating basis as assigned
• Supervises the children to and from school
• Supervises the children throughout the school day and provides classroom teachers with behavioral support
• Adheres to attendance policies
• Applies crisis intervention with children during school hours to include primary preventative measures before a child needs further disciplinary action, (i.e., supervision, change of placement)
• Communicates daily and as necessary with Teachers, Child Care Workers and all Supervisors
• Provides behavioral support to children in residential placement who attend off-grounds school
• Other duties as assigned

Requirements
Education/Experience/Knowledge/Understanding

• Bachelor’s degree (B.A.) from four-year college or university in Human Services or related course of study; OR Associate’s degree (A.A.) from two-year college or technical school, AND three (3) months professional experience working with children; OR High School Diploma/GED AND six (6) months professional experience working with children.
• Knowledge and understanding of the needs of children served in a children’s residential setting
• Must be at least 21 years of age
• Possess a valid unrestricted driver license

Skills

• Strong verbal, written, and listening communication skills to include communicating clearly, effectively, tactfully, and patiently to a diverse population
• Strong interpersonal skills and demeanor with the ability to build rapport and garner trust with others
• Proficient in the use of a PC; in a Windows environment; in the use of the Internet; and in the use of MS Office Applications such as Outlook, Word and Excel

Abilities

• Ability to successfully pass fingerprint background screening through the Department of Justice, FBI and Child Abuse Index
• Ability to effectively engage with children from various backgrounds and circumstances
• Ability to provide consistency and behavioral limits through relationship-based interventions
• Ability to maintain professional behavior in high pressure situations
• Ability to solve problems by applying basic analytical skills to include collating and reporting information; identifying trends and exceptions; investigating to define problems more accurately; sorting information in order of importance; identifying relationships and linkages between components; identifying variable potential causes and effects; soliciting guidance to define criteria and assign values of importance and urgency; and escalating issues of an exceptional nature
• Ability to work collaborative as part of a team
• Ability to demonstrate dependability and flexibility
• Ability to deliver high level of professionalism and service
• Ability to work with confidential information
• Willingness and ability to embody Childhelp’s core values of Acting with Honor and Character, Being Open and Receptive, Caring About and Relating to Others; Nurturing Diverse Relationships; Performance Excellence; and Inspirational Leading & Managing

Physical Demands

• Ability to frequently stand, see, hear, speak, and be physically flexible; occasionally sits walk, stoop, lift up to 50 lbs., carry, run and drive; and at times may bend, climb, squat, kneel, push/pull
• Ability to spend 65% of time outdoors, 35% indoors, withstand moderate noise levels including voice levels 90% of the time, extreme heat up to 111 degrees; wind, rain cold weather; to operate household appliances; to drive an automobile; occasionally work alone; work with others 85% of the time
• Employees may be exposed to children who may ask inappropriate personal questions, display socially unacceptable personal behaviors, insult your physical appearance, age, sex, and race, use profanity, sexually explicit phrases, exhibit defiance, dishonesty, threats, accusations, and theft, assaultive behaviors and self-destructive behaviors.

Childhelp remains true to their vision. The internationally respected nonprofit is the largest organization dedicated to helping victims of child abuse and neglect as well as at-risk children. Though it has grown beyond their wildest dreams, CEO and Chairman, Sara O’Meara, and President, Yvonne Fedderson, who still work every day for this critical cause, have never forgotten those eleven little orphans in a storm that inspired their mission of hope.