Direct Support Professional

Jewish Board; New York (NY); On-site; USD 25,000 - 30,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous vacation time

Medical/dental/vision plans

Tuition assistance

Job summary

The Jewish Board is seeking a Direct Support Professional (DSP) to assist individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in residential settings. You will support daily living skills, accompany individuals to appointments, and ensure health and safety in line with their Life Plans.

This on-site role requires compassion, patience, and teamwork, with documentation of interactions and participation in trainings.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or equivalent is required.
• A driver’s License is preferred.
• Experience with similar populations in a residential setting is preferred.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office (Outlook, Excel, Word) is preferred.
• Aptitude for learning new systems and software applications.

Responsibilities

• Assist with day-to-day care and personal hygiene.
• Develop, supervise and run activity sessions.
• Accompany individuals on trips, appointments, and outings.
• Complete regular documentation of interactions and progress in electronic records.
• Administer medication as needed and coordinate with the health team.

Skills

Compassion

Communication

Patience

Teamwork

Adaptability

Education

High School Diploma or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

For nearly 150 years, The Jewish Board has been delivering innovative, best-in-class mental and behavioral health services. We are unique in serving everyone from infants and their families, to children, teens, and adults. That adds up to countless opportunities to use your skills, training, and compassion to make a difference in the lives of over 45,000 New Yorkers each year.

The Mishkon Division of The Jewish Board provides supports and services in a healthy and safe environment for individuals with intellectual/ developmental disabilities living in residential programs and in community settings. Our core values are to provide a healthy and safe environment that promotes person centered planning, community integration, and close collaboration with families and the community. This is all accomplished through an Orthodox Jewish lens, and with an understanding that staff, at all levels of the division, is the determining factor in achieving positive outcomes for our clients.

Position Overview

The Direct Support Professional (DSP) supports individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in a residential treatment setting and is responsible for ensuring that those portions of the Life Plan/Individual Program Plan, which deal with day-to-day and independent living skills, are implemented. Acting as a support and providing therapeutic partnering, the DSP is charged with following the Life Plan/Individual Program Plan and the fundamental responsibility of the Individuals health and safety.

Key Essential Functions

• Responsible for day-by-day care of the Individuals in the program including supervision of personal hygiene, social guidance, use of leisure time, and food planning and preparation.
• Develop, supervise and run activity sessions.
• Accompany Individual on trips and outings and supervise activities.
• May be required, to perform SCIP in the event its necessary Employees are required to attend appropriate SCIP training prior to performing such a restraint.
• Drive the Individuals to medical, social or other necessary appointments.
• Accompany Individual on medical appointments as a liaison of the interdisciplinary team, working closely with the medical team to present and receive information to all medical professionals.
• Shares their experience and observation of the Individual under care with the IDT team and immediately brings to the attention of the supervisor any unusual issues.
• Assist/Supervise Individuals with meal preparation including setting dining room table, warming food, portioning for specific Individual and adhering to specifically prescribed modified diets.
• Ensures that Individual are always treated with dignity and respect.
• Supports and encourages Individual’s decision making on the appropriate level to further promote independence.
• Responsible to oversee activities of daily living (ADL) and all personal hygiene of the Individual.
• Assist the Residence Manager in the development and implementation of community inclusion activities using individuals and family feedback as guides.
• Work with Individual in a group setting or on a one-to-one basis depending on the need of the particular individual.
• Participate in regular staff meetings and training.
• May be asked to travel to offsite meetings and trainings.
• Completes regular and timely documentation of all individuals’ interactions, including progress and informational notes in the respective electronic records.
• Coordinate and collaborate with the interdisciplinary team.
• Complete incident reports as appropriate following an incident.
• Administer medication as needed.
• Comply to the Divisional specific Jewish Orthodox culture and practices

CORE COMPETENCIES for the position include

• Compassion, empathy, patience, and genuine desire to make a positive impact on individual’s lives.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Attentiveness to individuals and colleagues.
• Adaptability to address situations.
• Building and Maintaining Positive Relationships.
• Ability to adapt to changing situations and work effectively as part of a team.
• Demonstrating Professionalism.
• Supporting Good Health.
• Supporting Safety.

Educational / Training Required

• High School Diploma or equivalent is required.
• A driver’s License is preferred to meet all insurance requirements.

Experience Required / Language Preference

• Experience with similar populations in a residential setting is preferred.

Computer Skills Required

• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office (Outlook, Excel, Word, etc.)
• Aptitude for learning new systems and software applications.

Visual and Manual Dexierity

• Travel in the community with Individual utilizing agency vehicle.
• Engage in physical activities with the residence.
• Ability to reach paper and electronic documents.
• Ability to perform data entry into various computer programs as needed.

Work Environment/Physical Effort

• To perform the essential functions of this job, the candidate is routinely required to sit (25% of the time) and stand (75% of the time)
• Ability to travel to visit individual in apartments or to escort Individual in the community.
• Ability to lift 25 pounds to assist Individual and to manager stairs in walk-up buildings as needed.
• The role includes assisting individuals with mobility, lifting and supporting daily activities.
• Capable of lifting and/or assisting in lifting individuals who may have limited mobility or require assistance with transfer.

If you join us, you’ll have these great benefits

• Generous vacation time, in addition to paid agency holidays and sick days
• Affordable and high-quality medical/dental/vision plans
• Tuition assistance and educational loan forgiveness
• Free continuing education opportunities
• 403(b) retirement benefits and a pension
• Flexible spending accounts for health and transportation
• 24/7 Accessible Employee Assistance Program
• Life and disability insurance
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion working groups that are available for you to join, including Confronting Structural Racism (COR), Coalition Against Anti-Semitism (CAAS), and the LGBTQ Steering Committee

The Jewish Board delivers innovative, high-quality, and compassionate mental health and social services to over 45,000 New Yorkers each year. We are unique in serving everyone from infants and their families to children, teens, and adults. We are proud to employ and serve people of all religions, races, cultural backgrounds, gender expressions, and sexual orientations. We are committed to building diverse, equitable, and inclusive teams to help support our mission, and we strongly encourage candidates from historically marginalized backgrounds to apply to work with us.

Our Values.

Our values help guide us in everything we do, from our relationships with fellow staff to the clients and communities we serve.

Treat every person
with dignity

We act with respect and caring towards our clients, colleagues, and communities.

Strive to
be outstanding

We are exceptional professionals in all that we do.

Embrace each
other’s differences

We create a fair and inclusive environment for all.

Engage individuals and families
as our partners

We heal our communities one person at a time through thoughtful collaboration.

We respect diversity and accordingly are an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, alienage, citizenship status, age, disability, sex, gender, gender identity or expression (including transgender status), sexual orientation, marital status, partnership status, veteran status, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

This applies with respect to recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, transfer, training, compensation, termination, assignments, benefits, employee activities, access to facilities and programs, and all other terms and condition of employment as well as general treatment during employment.

We will endeavor to make a reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of qualified employees with disabilities, without regard to any protected classifications, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business. Any employees who need assistance to perform their job duties because of a physical or mental condition should contact human resources.

We respect diversity and accordingly are an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, alienage, citizenship status, age, disability, sex, gender, gender identity or expression (including transgender status), sexual orientation, marital status, partnership status, veteran status, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

This applies with respect to recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, transfer, training, compensation, termination, assignments, benefits, employee activities, access to facilities and programs, and all other terms and condition of employment as well as general treatment during employment.

We will endeavor to make a reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of qualified employees with disabilities, without regard to any protected classifications, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business. Any employees who need assistance to perform their job duties because of a physical or mental condition should contact human resources.