RESIDENTIAL COUNSELOR

Under the supervision of the Program Manager, the Transitional Housing Program (THP) Residential Specialist (RS) is responsible for the THP program implementation within a Unity Care,  Community Care Licensed home. The RS provides support to the residents and program implementation.  This position is responsible for maintaining a safe and clean home environment and to support residents with achieving program goals and their individual goals, as identified in their service plans.

The RS supports the residents to excel and develop essential independent living skills, takes an active role mentoring the residents and ensuring they are following the program requirements such as meeting curfew, maintaining home cleanliness, and following home rules. This position is an integral part of the resident’s CFT (Child, Family Team) and THP Program Team in Sacramento and Placer Counties.

As with all UC staff, this position is responsible for adhering to the performance standards set forth in the UC Employee Handbook and UC policies and procedures.

DIRECT REPORTS: 

None

 

QUALIFICATIONS:

Required Skills: 

1.     60 completed college units from an accredited institution.

2.     Minimum of 5 years’ experience in the field, which includes an equivalent of two years’ experience working with at-risk youth,  in a residential setting.

3.     Skills in system documentation (i.e. documenting in an electronic health record system), requiring accuracy, timelines, and attention to detail.  Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office Suite and Outlook email.

4.     Confident and responsible role model with excellent judgment

5.     Able to work well independently in high stress environments

6.     Display a proven dedication to youth through leadership and/or mentoring experience

 

Preferred Skills:

1.     BA in a relevant field

2.     Experience working in a Community Care Licensed Housing

3.     Bilingual in Spanish

 

RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE (but not limited to):

1.     Direct Client Services:

a.     Make sure home is secured and maintained in a safe and orderly manner

b.     Ensure interior and exterior of home is neat and orderly, clean, and sanitary and is in working order

c.      Mentor and advise residents regarding daily living responsibilities such as meal preparation, chores, time management, and conflict resolution

d.     Monitor resident’s chores and room; assign chores, sign off chores each day, update chore book weekly, give residents a time frame when chores will be checked and demonstrate how the chore is to be done

e.     Teach residents socially acceptable habits of behavior and appearance and how to behave in public

f.      Be available for the residents to ask questions, seek advice, and assist

2.     Program Services:

a.     Work in collaboration with Program and Case Manager to report progress in the home by meeting with residents individually on a weekly basis to discuss and track progress in program

b.     Participate in weekly Home Monitor Team Meetings with Program Manager to discuss weekly planning, compliance, and resident issues

c.      Help facilitate community home meeting once a month with individual resident staff, Case Manager, and UC staff

3.     Compliance and Reporting:

a.     Responsible for enforcing the home rules, setting limits and consequences with the residents which will be determined in collaboration with the Case Manager

b.     Maintain a daily log in Awards, which monitors each resident’s behavior and feelings as they are related to current situations in daily living as well as school information, medical visits, and incident reports

c.      Implement emergency procedures in the event of crisis situations – behavioral or environmental

d.     Notify Program Manager of rule violations and any other immediate concerns; Check in with residents daily, and document this in the Awards residential daily log 

e.     Conduct weekly maintenance check of property to ensure continuous compliance with CCL and all regulations and external requirements and submit reports to Case Manager

f.      Maintain resident records and incident reports

4.     Program Ambassador and Youth Mentor:

a.     Demonstrate professional boundaries and appropriate self-disclosure when interacting with residents

b.     Implement appropriate authority and discipline to set limits for behavior and help each resident practice self-control

c.      Act as community and neighborhood liaison

5.     Quality Assurance:  

a.     Ensure compliance with THP Program Statement

b.     Facilitate a high level of youth engagement

c.      Ensure a healthy home environment and client-focused programming

d.     Ensure quality improvement and cultural sensitivity & diversity

e.     Attend required trainings to maintain knowledge

6.     Organization Duties:

a.     Timely and accurate submission of timecards to supervisor

b.     Time away from the Office, Program and/or Home (i.e. vacations, personal time off, leaves of absence) must be pre-approved by supervisor and requested based on process outlined in the UC Employee Handbook.

c.      Maintain knowledge of staff handbook, policies, procedures, manuals, and pertinent documentation

7.     Other duties as assigned.

 

 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES and QUALIFICATIONS:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.   The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions.

1.     Read and interpret documents and procedure manuals.  Write routine reports and correspondence.

2.     Speak effectively in small setting and groups, i.e. UC employees, clients, or residents.

3.     Apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form. 

4.     Resolve problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.

5.     Identify negative disruptive behaviors and redirect behavior using mediation and de-escalation techniques.

6.     Employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to handle, or feel objects, tools or controls; reach with hands and arms; climb stairs; balance; stoop; kneel, crouch or crawl; talk or hear; taste or smell. 

7.     Employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. 

8.     Employee may be required to make or receive physical contact with clients and residents,  such as  in the process of delivering First Aid/CPR or de-escalation interventions.

9.     Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

10.  Must have CPR and First Aid certificate within 10 days of start date and maintain a current certificate with Human Resources.

11.  Must clear a Department of Justice background check including fingerprinting before start date and maintain clearance.

12.  Must be able to work in a DSS Community Care Licensed Facility.

13.  Must clear a health screening, including TB before start date and maintain clearance.

14.  Must have a car, valid California Driver License and be able to drive, have a clean driving record and maintain a clean driving record.

15.  Meet and maintain the minimum vehicle liability and property insurance limits (to be insured by our insurance carrier for using vehicle for business purposes such as  transportation of residents or reimbursement of business-related mileage expenses ).

Disclaimer: The duties and responsibilities described in this document are not a comprehensive list and additional tasks may be assigned to the employee from time to time and the scope of the job may change as necessitated by business demands at the sole discretion of the company.  The specific statements shown in each section of this description are not to be all-inclusive.  They represent typical elements and criteria to successfully perform the job.