Behavior Support Specialist (355)

Lutheran Services Florida • Fort Walton Beach, FL

4d

About The Position

Lutheran Services Florida (LSF) envisions a world where children are safe, families are strong, and communities are vibrant. LSF is seeking a talented Behavior Support Specialist who wants to make an impact in the lives of others. Purpose and Impact: The Behavior Support Specialist performs professional work in behavior management of pre-school children, training and coaching for staff and parents, case management including referral for psycho-educational and mental health services. They are responsible for developing and modeling interventions, and monitoring the child’s progress and linking parents/families to mental health and/or psycho-educational services. Successful experience working with pre-school age children with behavioral concerns. The work involves linking parents/families to community services, providing support, making referrals and following up on referrals, designing and implementing classroom behavior support plans, providing mental health and behavioral management education to parents and staff, planning and consulting with the contracted mental health professionals. This work is performed under the supervision of the Mental Health Manager and is reviewed through conferences, reports and evaluations of program effectiveness. Participates in the HS/EHS Quality Assurance efforts.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in social work, Mental Health, Marriage and Family Counseling, Human Services or related field from an accredited college or university.
• Minimum of one year of experience in mental health services for children; or working with pre-school age children with mental or behavioral disabilities; or experience implementing Behavior Support Plans for pre-school children; or any equivalent combination of related training and experience.
• Certification in First Aid and CPR within six months of the date assigned to this position; and successful completion of a Level II background screening, local criminal record check and drug screening prior to hiring.
• Knowledge of behavior management techniques for the classroom.
• Knowledge of child developmental stages.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with diverse parents, staff and community residents.
• Ability to express ideas clearly, both orally and in writing.
• Knowledge of mental health and psycho-educational services.
• Understanding of low-income families, cultural differences and group dynamics.
• Exceptional organization skills and attention to detail are required and the candidate must be able to meet designated deadlines.
• Must demonstrate sensitivity to our service population’s cultural and socioeconomic characteristics and needs.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree preferred.
• Must be willing to complete Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) Practitioner if available within two years of hire. Cost of these training will be covered by the agency with understanding that employee must remain in the position at least two years after completion of training.
• Bilingual preferred: English/Spanish or English and other languages present in the local area.

Responsibilities

• Provides parents support to access necessary resources and conducts in-home follow-up, monitoring and training to assure consistency between parents and teachers as needed
• Teaches effective parenting skills.
• Participates in the multi-disciplinary team meetings, individual and staff conferences, health and mental health services advisory committee meetings, team meetings and other appropriate meetings, as necessary.
• Performs case management services when appropriate through referrals to mental health service providers, psycho-educational services and other appropriate community agencies and resources.
• Assists the teacher with understanding and implementing the Behavior Support Plan.
• Conducts appropriate individual observations and assessments of enrolled children as necessary.
• Conducts classroom level observations at least twice per year (Fall and Spring) as needed.
• Analyze observation data to monitor improvement in social-emotional learning and behavior management, and plan effective respond to improve child and family outcomes.
• Provides coaching support to teachers in implementing the Trust-Based Relational Intervention Model (TBRI) with fidelity.
• Performs crisis intervention activities when necessary.
• Writes, reviews and supports Behavior Support Plans for children with behavior concerns.
• Assist with behavior management training and on-site technical assistance to the centers.
• Assists with processing internal referrals to Mental Health Manager and /or contracted Mental Health Provider.
• Assists with monitoring services facilitated by the Mental Health Treatment Counselor and/or contracted Mental Health Provider.
• Attends all workshops and meetings as deemed necessary by immediate supervisor and the Executive Director
• Attends all required staff and parent meetings and activities.
• Maintains strict confidentiality with respect to Head Start/Early Head Start children, families and staff in accordance with HIPAA standards and established program policies and procedures.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental and Vision
• Telehealth (24/7 online access to Doctors)
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Employer paid life insurance (1X salary)
• 13 paid holidays + 1 floating holiday
• Generous PTO policy (starting at 16 working days a year)
• Note: Head Start employees paid time off and holiday schedule may differ
• 403(b) Retirement plan with 3% discretionary employer match OR 3% student loan repayment reimbursement
• Tuition reimbursement

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level