On Call Youth Counselor

Heartshare Human Services Of New York•South Ozone, NY

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Youth Counselor works as scheduled, providing supervision, support, and direction to children fostering their positive growth and development. This role involves maintaining a hazard-free, clean, and orderly household, preparing meals according to menus, and completing all required logs, forms, and reports. The counselor participates in scheduled meetings and accompanies groups or individual children for outside activities or appointments. The position aims to provide a warm, homelike atmosphere by establishing individual relationships with each resident, focusing on their positive growth and development. This includes providing individualized care and supervision, ensuring an orderly schedule for residents (wake-up, school, meals, study time, chores, bedtime), and monitoring appointments for punctual attendance. The counselor also monitors each youth's physical well-being, ensuring suitable clothing, adequate food, and necessary medical treatments, including dispensing medication. They communicate and enforce household rules, apply discipline fairly, and accompany/transport children to outside activities and appointments. Maintaining a clean and orderly household, preparing meals and snacks, and managing petty cash and valuables are also key responsibilities. The role requires completing various reports (incident, AWOL, medical, medication, logs book) and participating in meetings to ensure treatment/permanency plans are carried out daily. Additional duties include organizing and facilitating independent living skills groups, recording client progress, participating in service planning, delivering services in accordance with goals, employing trauma-sensitive practices, providing counseling and support, ensuring adherence to medication regimens, providing crisis intervention and behavior management, reporting incidents promptly, and assisting with household duties while training children in these skills. The position also involves attending supervision and meetings as scheduled and performing other job-related duties.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent.
Valid NYS driver's license.
Must obtain a S95 & F-07 fire safety certification within the first 3-months of employment.
Demonstrated experience in providing support, nurture, and guidance to children in a structured environment, as evidenced by 1-year professional childcare experience.
Experience working with youth with serious emotional disturbance.
Experience in working with diverse communities, and knowledge of multicultural issues including race, class ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, gender expression, etc.
Proven skills in cooking, household maintenance, interpersonal skills, physical stamina, and the ability to adjust for the unique needs of anyone participating in your activities.

Nice To Haves

Flexibility to work a 10-hour shift based on program needs.

Responsibilities

Provide a warm, homelike atmosphere by establishing an individual relationship with each resident focusing on that resident's positive growth and development.
Provide individualized care and supervision of each resident.
Ensures an orderly schedule for the residents by supervising their daily activities: wake-up, school, or other program attendance, mealtime, study time, assigned Healing Home chores and bedtime; monitors individual appointments for each child to endure punctual attendance.
Monitors each youth's physical well-being ensuring suitable clothing, adequate food, and all required medical treatments, including the dispensing of medication.
Communicates and enforces Healing Home rules with each child; applies discipline as outlined in Healing Home procedures in a fair and objective manner.
Accompanies and transports children to outside activities (including supervised recreation) and appointments as required.
Maintains a hazard free, clean, and orderly household by promptly reporting maintenance problems to the supervisory staff and by completion of assigned household chores in a timely and efficient manner.
Prepares meals and snacks under the assignment and direction of the Household Coordinator according to posted menus.
Holds petty cash (Distribute and reconcile petty cash) and other valuables of the home as assigned and dispenses according to Healing Home procedures.
Complete all required paperwork such as incident, AWOL, medical, medication, and logs book reporting for the Healing Home.
Participates in meetings as required and ensures that treatment/permanency plans are carried out daily.
Accompany, supervise, and provide transportation for activities.
Provide direct care coverage with flexible work hours.
Organize and facilitate independent living skills groups in the residence.
Record client progress in regard to independent living skills development.
Participate in the service planning and review process.
Deliver services in accordance with service goals and objectives.
Employ trauma-sensitive practices.
Accompany, supervise, and provide transportation (when necessary) for appointments and activities.
Provide counseling and support.
Ensure adherence to medication regimen.
Provide crisis intervention and behavior management.
Report incidents, occurrences, or untoward events to the supervisor as soon as they occur and complete appropriate paperwork.
Complete all assigned documentation in a timely fashion.
Assist in residence household duties (general cleaning, laundry, shopping, meal planning and preparation); train and supervise children in developing these skills.
Attend supervision and meetings as scheduled.
Performs other job-related duties as assigned, consistent with the scope, responsibilities, and level of the position, and in compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and organizational policies.