Youth Mentor: Phase 1 - REGIONS Site Secure Residential Treatment Program

About the role

The REGIONS Site Secure Program is a secure residential treatment program for up to 16 male youth. The program aims to provide a supportive environment where youth can improve their social, physical, and emotional well-being.

Responsibilities

• Provide direct supervision and care, assisting youth with daily activities such as school and group participation.
• Maintain a safe, secure, strengths-based, gender-responsive, trauma-informed, linguistically appropriate, and culturally sensitive environment.
• Maintain accountability for the location of youth at all times; adhere to agency/program policies and procedures.
• Mediate and resolve youth problems using relational and strengths-based practices, and follow policies and procedures.
• Utilize verbal and physical de-escalation techniques to ensure youth and staff safety, and communicate with necessary parties.
• Implement behavior motivational procedures and conduct DBT coaching with youth and groups to address negative behaviors.
• Maintain professional boundaries with youth and their families/visitors, and facilitate therapeutic programming under supervision.
• Conduct formal and informal counts, security and safety checks, and participate in discharge planning.
• Promote a culture of respect, empathy, mutual support, and belonging, and eliminate unconscious bias or discrimination.
• Model pro-social behaviors, and participate in all required training.
• Perform "pat downs" of youth and visitors to maintain security, and become proficient with the use of mechanical restraints.
• Work evening, weekend, and holiday shifts, and be prepared for mandatory overtime.

Requirements

• An Associate's degree or higher with experience working with at-risk or court-involved adolescents and in residential treatment programs.
• A Bachelor's degree in the criminal justice field with a related internship may be considered in lieu of work experience.
• Understanding and knowledge of gender-specific, trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and linguistically appropriate issues and needs.
• Strong interpersonal, communication, emotional intelligence, decision-making, and crisis management skills.
• Ability to interact effectively with a multi-cultural population.
• Willingness to work in a hardware secure environment.
• Valid CT driver's license and reliable transportation.
• Bi-lingual ability (Spanish/English) preferred.
• Lived experience is encouraged.

Qualifications

• Completion of a mandatory 120-hour training curriculum within the first year of employment.
• Completion of a minimum of 40 hours of annual training.
• Knowledge of ethics and boundaries, suicide prevention, first aid/CPR/AED, safe crisis management, PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act), DCF mandated reporting, and additional relevant trainings.
• Proficiency with mechanical restraints and the ability to use them when necessary.

Skills

• Verbal and physical de-escalation techniques.
• DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) Coaching.
• Behavioral motivation procedures.
• Therapeutic programming facilitation.
• Counting and security checks.
• Universal precautions and risk management.
• Professional boundary establishment.
• Security protocols and emergency response.

Benefits

• Comprehensive training program including Safe Crisis Management.
• Opportunity to work in a hardware secure environment.
• Flexible scheduling including evening, weekend, and holiday shifts.
• Opportunity for overtime and additional hours.

Pay

$26.63 per hour.

Schedule

Friday - Tuesday: 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
Wednesday / Thursday: Off