The Walker Beacon School is a private non-profit 198-day special education school serving students of diverse racial and cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities and expressions. We serve a population of 65 students in grades 7 through 12 with average to above average cognitive and academic ability who struggle predominantly with anxiety, depression, and trauma, which frequently manifests as internalizing behaviors. Many members of our school community have also experienced difficulties feeling accepted in a public-school setting while working to explore and accept their identities.

We are seeking a part-time Direct Care Counselor in a Therapeutic After‑School Program for the Department of Mental Health-enrolled youth, aged 6-13, in need of therapeutic, educational, and recreational programming that supports youths' social-emotional development and skill‑building. Organize and facilitate activities and groups that are youth-guided, family-driven, and culturally competent, and support the ongoing operations of a structured, therapeutic milieu. In addition to tasks within the Therapeutic After-School Program, the Direct Care Counselor will work within the Walker Beacon School as a milieu support based on a schedule mutually agreed upon between TASP and the Walker Beacon School. In this role, the Direct Care Counselor will support youth within a classroom setting to best manage emotions, engage in appropriate social and regulation skills, and enhance the overall learning environment for the students.

Schedule: Monday-Friday 2:00pm-6:00pm

Education and Licensure

Required: High School Diploma

Preferred: Bachelor's Degree in education, social work, psychology, or human services.

Experience

Required: Experience working with youth who have serious emotional disturbance or have experienced emotional distress, trauma, or significant mental health challenges. Demonstrated behavior support skills and experience organizing and facilitating activities and groups for youth.

Preferred: Experience in a therapeutic school or therapeutic after school setting.

Abilities

Required: Ability to be flexible and work collaboratively. Ability to set limits for the children, work independently, and respond to emergency situations quickly and safely. Ability to work in a stressful and fast paced environment. Must understand child development, and the impact of emotional, behavioral, and learning disabilities on development. Must understand issues of confidentiality. Must be receptive to supervision and professional development.

Ability to work and stand for extended periods of time. Job may require bending, stooping, stretching, and lifting. Job requires energy and stamina. Job requires the ability to perform therapeutic physical intervention using TCI as needed. Job requires driving a program van throughout program catchment area; valid driver's license to drive in Massachusetts required.

Essential functions:

1. Working collaboratively with the Walker TASP Program Director and Clinician, develop therapeutic, educational, and recreational programming for enrolled youth.
2. Able to provide supportive counseling when needed and help students develop coping and stress reduction skills and assist with implementation throughout the school day.
3. Collaborative member of the Lighthouse Room team to provide specialized instruction to students when they are unable to be in the classroom.
4. Review youths' Individualized Education Plans (IEP) and Individual Action Plans (IAP) to create programming that best supports youths' IEP and IAP goals.
5. Design, plan, and facilitate developmentally- and age-appropriate daily activities and groups for up to 8 youth and occasional meals and other events for youths' families.
6. Document youth attendance, participation, and progress in Walker's electronic health record and the state's Virtual Gateway system, as needed.
7. Maintain communication with families about youth attendance, participation, and progress.
8. Transport youth to and from the after-school program using a program van.
9. Participate in supervision and staff meetings as scheduled.
10. All other duties, as assigned.

Supervision to be received: Supervised by the Program Director.

Supervision to be exercised: No employee supervision.

Walker is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based upon an individual's race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information, disability, veteran status, pregnancy, national guard or reserve unit obligations, participation in discrimination complaint-related activities, or membership in any category protected by federal or state law.