Direct Care Specialist

About the role

Positions in this job family are involved in providing direct care and supervision to clients with developmental or other disabilities. This includes basic health care and assistance with health care needs, assisting clients with life skills, including living, vocational, recreational, and educational skills, reviewing treatment plans for appropriateness, and supervising implementation of care and treatment plans.

Responsibilities

• Performs routine duties in the care, custody, education, and treatment of developmentally disabled clients, youth or children residing in an institution, shelter, group home, or school.
• Responds to emergencies affecting individuals, including administering CPR and using approved intervention techniques.
• Provides paraprofessional guidance and counseling to clients to help find solutions to their personal problems, including problems of separation and adjustment to group living, and to develop personal values and goals; directs their daily activities, maintains order, and provides support.
• Serves on a treatment team to review resident’s progress, treatment, and educational plans; reports on activities, programs, and attendance.
• Provides active treatment programming to clients in life skills; controls movement of residents to and from living quarters for activities and off-campus appointments.
• Ensures cleanliness of facilities through inspections, reports and adherence to safety standards.
• Lifts individuals to and from wheelchairs, floor mats, baths or beds; off may perform nonprofessional nursing aide duties; serves as a certified medication aide.
• Supervises residents to and from facility for activities and off-campus appointments.
• Affords assistance to teachers in a classroom setting.
• Performs various clerical duties as needed, types and makes copies, orders supplies, etc.; sorts and files records; assists with maintenance of records and reports of attendance, activities and grades; maintains and operates audiovisual equipment.

Requirements

• Education and Experience: High school diploma or equivalent. One year of experience working with children or adults in a treatment facility for disabled individuals or working with children or adults in a residential or school setting.
• Knowledge, Skills and Abilities required at this level include knowledge of basic human physical and psychological needs; of simple health and safety precautions and basic first aid methods; of the format used to prepare daily progress and behavior reports; and of crisis intervention techniques.
• Ability is required to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing; to interact with children or clients with developmental disabilities; to read and comprehend training manuals; to follow written and oral instructions; to carry out the physical requirements to assist in lifting individuals, as necessary; and to exercise mature judgment in appraising a situation and adopting an effective course of action.

Qualifications

• Education and Experience requirements at this level consist of a high school diploma or equivalent and one year of experience working with children or adults in a treatment facility for disabled individuals or working with children or adults in a residential or school setting.
• Knowledge, Skills and Abilities required at this level include knowledge of basic human physical and psychological needs; of simple health and safety precautions and basic first aid methods; of the format used to prepare daily progress and behavior reports; of crisis intervention techniques; of behavior and adjustment problems associated with children or clients with multiple developmental disabilities; of developing individuals self-help skills; of health and safety precautions; and of the statutes and agency policy concerning care of residents/clients.
• Ability is required to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing; to interact with children or clients with developmental disabilities; to read and comprehend training manuals; to follow written and oral instructions; to carry out the physical requirements to assist in lifting individuals, as necessary; to exercise good judgment in the evaluation of situations and in making decisions; and to establish and maintain good working relationships with others.

Skills

• Basic human physical and psychological needs.
• Simple health and safety precautions and basic first aid methods.
• The format used to prepare daily progress and behavior reports.
• Crisis intervention techniques.
• Behavior and adjustment problems associated with children or clients with multiple developmental disabilities.
• Developing individuals self-help skills.
• Health and safety precautions.
• Statutes and agency policy concerning care of residents/clients.

Benefits

N/A

Pay

• Monthly Salary Range: Monthly Annual Level I (Pay band E) $2,471.84 $29,662.08 Level II (Pay Band F) $2,968.13 $35,617.56

Schedule

N/A