Community Inclusion Assistant

Cooke School and Institute • New York, NY

5d • $34,800 - $55,123 • Hybrid

About The Position

Community Inclusion Assistants (CIAs) are integral members of the school instructional team, providing crucial support to students in developing essential daily living, community, and vocational skills. These skills are central to Cooke's curriculum. CIAs are responsible for delivering direct instruction and training to students in these areas within various community settings, such as stores, banks, college campuses, gyms, and restaurants, as well as during off-site educational experiences. They are also tasked with meticulously tracking and documenting student progress in vocational and community settings. When not engaged in off-site duties, CIAs provide instructional support within the classroom. A key aspect of their role involves documenting observations of students in diverse settings and furnishing weekly updates to the instructional team. The primary goal of CIA instructional support is to facilitate the integration of daily living, community, and vocational skills, initially learned in the classroom, into practical, real-world work and community environments. CIAs are also responsible for providing travel training to students, guiding them to and from their community service or job sites, and other off-site community activities. Regular meetings with their supervisor are scheduled for collaboration, planning, and providing specific feedback related to community experiences. CIAs are expected to represent the Cooke School and Institute professionally and are encouraged to pursue ongoing professional development.

Requirements

• Associate’s degree or a minimum of 60 credits towards a Bachelor’s degree.
• A minimum of two years of professional experience working with Students with Special Needs.
• Classroom experience and/or experience in the field of adult services.
• Able to maintain the physical capacity required to navigate the school environment and to ensure the safety of the students; the ability to walk, run, sit, and stand, move rapidly forward, backward, and laterally, bend and stoop, push, pull, and lift.
• Must arrive on time 8:30 a.m.

Nice To Haves

• Continue professional development.

Responsibilities

• Provide instructional support at internship sites.
• Collaborate with internship hosts to accommodate student needs, manage scheduling, and provide feedback.
• Track and document student progress in vocational and community settings, providing weekly updates to the instructional team.
• Attend all scheduled staff development activities and staff orientation sessions.
• Provide one-to-one or small group training at internship sites and community activities.
• Assist in developing short-term and long-term goals for student internship placements.
• Provide job-specific task analysis for teaching specific skills.
• Administer functional assessments to students.
• Provide direct instruction in small groups and/or individually in the classroom under the supervision of the Head Teacher.
• Report to each designated internship site on time and provide timely feedback to internship hosts specific to student accommodation needs, calendar changes, attendance, etc.
• Assist students in establishing a daily routine and schedule for work.
• Provide systematic training to students on specific job duties.
• Model and coach students on appropriate work-related behaviors.
• Provide instructional support and assistance to students to promote social integration and develop self-advocacy skills.
• Instruct students in strategies to improve work performance (speed, accuracy, complexity, etc.) as determined by specific learning needs.
• Develop a plan for moving individual students towards greater independent functioning in the classroom, at internship sites, and in the community.
• Keep accurate documentation of student performance and meet all required reporting deadlines.
• Provide information to the instructional and transition teams for the development of student transition plans and progress reports.
• Participate in the progress report process for students three times per year.
• Provide travel training to students en route to and/from their community service and/or ‘job’ sites, as well as other off-site community activities.

Benefits

• Equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws.
• Compliance with applicable state and local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities.
• Policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.
• Prohibition of any form of unlawful employee harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status.
• Non-tolerance of improper interference with the ability of the Cooke’s employees to perform their expected job duties.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Associate degree