Group Home Youth Counselor Part-time

Waypoint; Virginia; On-site; USD 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Waypoint in Virginia seeks a Group Home Youth Counselor to provide treatment and supervision for up to 8 youth in a group home under the direction of the Group Home Manager. You will teach, guide, and support youth to develop healthy habits and achieve goals while ensuring thorough documentation.

You will maintain a therapeutic, family-style environment aligned with VHBG standards, and communicate with teachers, parents, caseworkers, and probation officers.

Qualifications

• Must adapt to change and demonstrate flexibility in work schedules as the need arises.
• Ability to lead by example.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Organizational, time management, and analytical abilities to handle varied workloads.
• Social perceptiveness and active listening.
• Solution-focused mentality and positive energy.

Responsibilities

• Supervise and engage up to 8 youth on and off-campus.
• Document daily activities, behaviors, contacts, and interventions.
• Provide a therapeutic, family-style treatment environment per VHBG standards.
• Maintain professional communication with teachers, parents, caseworkers, and probation offices.
• Attend bi-weekly treatment team meetings and other meetings as assigned.
• Assist with transportation for youth employment, activities, appointments, and home visits.
• Follow approved Behavior Support Plans for each child.
• Embrace agency commitment to open communication.

Skills

Lead by example

Strong interpersonal skills

Time management

Organizational skills

Active listening

Oral communication

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Bachelor's degree preferred

Job description

About Group Care Services at Waypoint

Waypoint is licensed by the Department of Social Services and aims to create the most natural environment for our youth that still provides them with the supports they need to overcome past trauma, build relationships, and work on transitioning to a more permanent environment. We work directly with the child's agency that placed them with us (typically the city or county department of social services) to make decisions that are in their best interest. Youth are able to leave our campus to spend time with their families, attend summer camps, gain employment, and participate in other extracurricular activities. We have been able to give the youth who come here the opportunity to have a childhood and experience the joy in life.

About the Opportunity

Position summary:

The Group Home Youth Counselor is responsible for the treatment of up to 8 youth in a group home under the direction of the Group Home Manager. This position provides teaching, guidance and supervision to youth to include overseeing physical care, development of acceptable habits and attitudes, positive behavioral supports, crisis intervention, assistance with the upkeep of the physical environment, helping youth achieve mastery of identified goals and objectives and the timely thorough completion of required documentation.

Core duties and responsibilities:

• Responsible for the sight and sound supervision and engagement of youth on and off-campus
• Responsible for documenting daily activities, behaviors, contacts, and interventions.
• Responsible for providing a therapeutic, family-style treatment environment for youth according to the model and standards developed by VHBG
• Responsible for professional communication with teachers, parents, caseworkers, and probation offices, etc. for the youth.
• Responsible for attending bi-weekly treatment team meetings and other meetings as assigned.
• Responsible for assisting with transportation such as youth employment, athletic events, doctor's appointments, youth home visits, etc.
• Required to work a two week rotating schedules with alternating evening and weekend hours.
• Follows approved Behavior Support Plans for each child.
• Embraces agency commitment to open communication in both giving and receiving information and feedback.

Job Specifications (KSA'S):

• Ability to perform job in accordance with the organization's policies & procedures.
• Must be able to adapt to change and demonstrate flexibility in work schedules as the need arises (e.g. staffing crisis, inclement weather/natural disasters)
• Ability to "Lead" by example.
• Must possess strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work with all levels of individuals internally and externally.
• Must possess excellent organizational, time management, and strong analytical skills to organize and coordinate a varied workload and identify priorities. Must be able to adapt to change and demonstrate flexibility
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Ability to learn theory and implement it in appropriate practice
• Must bring positive energy, innovation and new ideas to the environment
• Must have a solution focused mentality

Physical/Mental Requirements:

• Must be able to stand for long periods of time.
• Must be able to lift, crouch, reach, handle, push and pull.
• Must be able to move objects weighing up to 50lbs.
• Must be able to remain calm and focused in a loud environment
• Must be able to perform restraint procedures.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Experience and Education:

High school diploma or equivalent required; Bachelor's degree preferred. Minimum of 6 months working with children or adolescents required. One year of experience working with youth in a group home facility is preferred. Clinical experience working with youth is preferred.

In addition, the candidate must poss