Team Lead Counselor

About St. John’s

Founded in 1826 as a home for orphaned children, St. John’s has evolved into a nonprofit social services agency providing residential care to New York City youth involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. We offer holistic, trauma-informed support to young people up to age 21. Our main campus in Rockaway Park, Queens, houses a Residential Treatment Center, Close to Home Non-Secure Placement programs, administrative offices, clinical services, and an on-site NYC Department of Education school. We also operate a Non-Secure Detention residence in Richmond Hill and Limited Secure Placement programs in Brooklyn and Staten Island. St. John’s is dedicated to helping youth heal, grow, and build the skills they need to achieve their goals and return to family or a stable, supportive environment as engaged members of their communities.

Responsibilities

• Assign advocates to all residents upon arrival to NSP.
• Facilitate no less than 5 therapeutic group meetings consistently.
• Assist in the development of a comprehensive program schedule/activity plans with site director.
• Assist the Unit Manager in facilitation of weekly team meetings.
• Coordinate all staff schedules two weeks in advance with final approval from site director.
• Secure staff for all appointments, i.e. medical, court, probation, outside therapy, etc.
• Meet with each shift bi-monthly for group supervision around strengths/challenges; submit documentation of meetings within 48 hours to site director/NSP residential director.
• Meet with NSP residential director bi-monthly; attend all meetings/trainings as assigned.
• Ensure all shifts maintain a minimum of a 1 to 4 child-to-adult ratio. In the case the unit (on any and all shifts) is short-staffed, the group leader is required to fill in.
• Support SCM trainings upon certification.
• Collaborate with all service providers both internally/externally to meet needs of youth.
• Support residents in working on treatment activities and petitioning for phase in a timely fashion.
• Hold all shifts accountable (morning, evening, overnight Monday through Sunday) to follow the schedule and implement all activities as required.
• Attend no less than 3 treatment planning conferences per resident per month (1st month, 3rd month, and final discharge meeting).
• Organize resident drop-off and pick-up, assign staff as needed, and ensure all residents are back in the facility no later than 5pm on Sunday.
• Attend all special events e.g., family day, St. John’s day, community service projects, trips, etc.
• Perform any and all tasks as assigned by program leadership.

Requirements

• Associate's Degree in Human Services or related field preferred.
• Minimum 1 year experience working with vulnerable youth.
• Well-versed in the MYSI approach/standards, experience facilitating group meetings in an NSP setting utilizing the MYSI approach, knowledge of NSP programming.
• Valid driver’s license and strong communication skills with the ability to manage appointments (i.e., medical, court, probation, therapy, etc.) for all residents.