Youth Care Worker - Emergency Shelter (Full Time Overnight)

LifeWorks Austin•Austin, TX

10h•Onsite

About The Position

LifeWorks of Austin, TX is looking for a Youth Care Worker to join our Emergency Shelter team! A Youth Care Worker (YCW) is responsible for providing care and services to youth, typically ranging from ages 16-22 living in a 24-hour licensed residential facility. A YCW helps maintain safety and compliance of the residential facility. A YCW monitors, supervises, transports, and helps meet basic needs of youth in a way that positively supports their development as well as their individual goals.

Requirements

Requires a high school diploma, GED or equivalent;
Requires 1+ year of related experience;
Proficient in MS Office including Word, Excel, and Outlook.

Nice To Haves

Equivalent combination of education and experience.

Responsibilities

Supervises clients and the facility by overseeing their care and safety through the core values and mission of the organization.
Ensures client safety and engagement services by: Consistently interacting with clients using LifeWorks’ client-focused and strengths-based approaches. This includes supporting day-to-day activities of youth and relating to clients as they move toward their individual goals.
Assisting clients with day-to-day needs including assistance with case management, school activities, job search activities, transportation, cleaning activities, meal preparation, and administration of daily medications.
Coordinating and helping with transportation for clients to a variety of outings, including staff-led community-based activities, client appointments, job interviews, emergency room visits, etc.
Engaging in conversations with youth regarding topics such as race, identity proclamation and exploration, substance use, mental health, healthy boundaries and habits, and self-sufficiency while maintaining professional boundaries and client confidentiality in accordance with state and federal laws.
Demonstrating the ability to provide youth with positive coping methods while supporting the healing from trauma through a healing centered approach.
Demonstrating the ability to manage emotions and perform in high pressure and/or crisis with calm, care, and unconditional positive regard for youth.
Managing emotional, physical, and verbally escalated situations by applying approved behavior modification technique to de-escalate youth back to normalcy, as well as physical restraints utilizing “Handle with Care” techniques when necessary.
Follows DFPS Minimum Standards for incident reporting, implementation of safety plans action plans in coordination with team members, including case managers.
Distribute, document and observe clients in receiving prescribed medications. This also includes having a basic understanding of psychotropic medications as learned in trainings and the administration/transfer of such medications.
Coordinates and completes Intake and discharge of client services. This includes consent for services and risk assessment for supervision guidelines.
Completes Initial Orientation. This includes explanation of services, client rights and responsibilities, policies and guidelines.
Follows health and safety guidelines per DFPS minimum standards and LifeWorks safety planning.
Ensures program compliance by: Completing regular perimeter walks, room checks, facility/room searches, and ongoing visual checks of facility.
Documents and maintains daily written records of client whereabouts and incidents and communicates information with team members while maintaining client confidentiality in accordance with state and federal laws.
Documenting and maintaining written records of client behavior, client progress, activity engagement, school attendance, medications and incidents through daily notes, logs and incident reports while maintaining client confidentiality in accordance with state and federal laws.
Communicating effectively with team members and client support team while maintaining client confidentiality in accordance with state and federal laws.
Conducts drills in accordance with Emergency Preparedness and Response Planning.
Maintains cleanliness within licensing standards including cleaning in common areas, offices and kitchen.
Engaging and completing all required trainings, meetings and professional development plans, including monthly supervision with supervisor.
Other duties as assigned by supervisor and Director.