Youth & Child Care Specialist PD

The New York Foundling•New York, NY

About The Position

The Youth and Child Care Specialist supervises pregnant and parenting residents and helps maintain a warm, constructive, safe, and nurturing residential environment. The role promotes independent living skills and effective parenting, reinforces the program’s core concepts of Safety, Responsibility, Respect, and Personal Growth, and collaborates with the program team to sustain a trauma-informed therapeutic milieu. The Specialist also provides safe, developmentally appropriate child care and supports residents’ participation in structured programming and case planning.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED required.
Supervisory experience required.
Experience working with adolescents and children required.
At least 1–2 years of experience working with pregnant and parenting teens.
At least 1–2 years of experience caring for infants and toddlers.
Good verbal and written communication skills.
Computer literacy in Microsoft Word, Outlook, and Excel.
Good organizational and interpersonal relationship skills.
Ability to engage difficult and acting-out adolescents.
Knowledge of pregnancy, infant development, and adolescent development.
Ability to support, nurture, and discipline children and youth in a structured environment.
Demonstrated strong commitment to safety.

Nice To Haves

Associate or bachelor’s degree preferred.
Bilingual English/Spanish preferred.

Responsibilities

Supervise and support pregnant and parenting teens and participate in recreation and structured programming.
Teach independent living skills, such as laundry, cleaning, and cooking, and help residents develop effective parenting skills through positive role modeling.
Co-facilitate groups as needed and participate in the training and implementation of Trauma Systems Therapy and the program’s strengths-based behavior management system.
Provide safe child care and developmentally appropriate learning for children in the program.
Change diapers, bathe, dress, and feed children as needed or instructed.
Assist with meal preparation for residents in the absence of the program cook.
Administer medications to adolescent mothers, pregnant teens, and children as instructed, and accurately document medication on required forms.
Prepare rooms for new admissions by sanitizing and cleaning them, making beds with fresh linens, and providing welcoming baskets.
Facilitate new-admission orientation, review the Resident M/C Program Manual, and ensure proper medical clearances.
Uphold expectations of the Primary role when selected and implement trauma-informed responses with youth.
Comply with agency rules, policies, procedures, and program operating standards for Specialists and residents.
Submit required documentation in a timely manner, including daily shift logs, resident program notes, medication reports, and incident reports.
Report problems, critical incidents, and unusual situations involving adolescents or their children to the appropriate program and social work staff; document incidents in the communication log and complete internal incident reports.
Conduct room checks at least every 30 minutes throughout the shift as required by regulations and program policy.
Read the communication log at the beginning of each shift and accurately document shift events in it.
Work with the case planning team to identify and monitor youth goals.
Promote and maintain a safe, secure, and nurturing environment for residents.
Escort residents to emergency room visits, medical appointments, and school as directed.
Participate in orientation for new admissions, treatment updates, and case planning meetings.
Ensure residents attend structured activities, including therapeutic, independent living, birthing and parenting, health and human sexuality, tutoring, and mentoring groups.
Remain flexible with duties and schedules to meet program needs and stay on shift until relief arrives.
Perform other tasks as assigned.