Youth & Child Care Specialist PD

The New York Foundling•Bronx, NY

About The Position

The Youth and Child Care Specialist supervises pregnant and parenting residents and helps maintain a warm, constructive, safe, secure, and nurturing residential environment. The role promotes independent living and effective parenting skills among pregnant and parenting teens, reinforces the program’s four behavior-management concepts—Safety, Responsibility, Respect, and Personal Growth—and collaborates with team members, including social work staff, to sustain a trauma-informed therapeutic milieu. The Specialist provides developmentally appropriate care for children in the program, supports residents’ participation in structured programming, and helps prepare for and orient new admissions. The position also includes medication administration and documentation, room checks, shift logs, incident reporting, escorts to appointments and school, and collaboration with the case-planning team. Specialists must follow agency and program policies, remain flexible as program needs change, and stay on shift until relief arrives.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED.
Supervisory experience.
Experience working with adolescents and children.
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 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.
Bilingual in English and Spanish.

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 support residents in developing effective parenting skills and positive behavior.
Co-facilitate groups when needed and participate in training and implementation of Trauma Systems Therapy and the program’s strengths-based behavior-management system.
Provide safe, developmentally appropriate childcare and learning experiences for children in the program.
Change diapers, bathe, dress, and feed children as needed or instructed.
Assist with meal preparation for residents in the program cook’s absence.
Administer medications to adolescent mothers, pregnant teens, and children as instructed, and accurately document medication on required forms.
Prepare rooms for new admissions by cleaning and sanitizing, making beds with fresh linens, and providing a welcoming basket.
Facilitate new-admission orientation, review the Resident M/C Program Manual, and ensure proper medical clearances.
Uphold expectations of the Primary role if selected and use trauma-informed responses with youth.
Comply with agency rules, policies, and procedures, and uphold program operating procedures for specialists and residents.
Submit required documentation in a timely manner, including 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 or social work staff; document incidents in the communication log and internal incident reports.
Conduct room checks at least every 30 minutes throughout the shift, as required by state regulations and program policy.
Read the communication log at the beginning of each shift and accurately document shift events.
Work with the case-planning team to identify and consistently 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 new-client orientation, 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 changing duties and schedules to accommodate program needs.
Remain on shift until relief arrives.
Perform other tasks as assigned.