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RESIDENTIAL COUNSELOR

Employer
City of Falls Church
Location
Falls Church, Virginia
Salary
$50,082 - $82,686 depending on qualifications
Closing date
May 14, 2019

The City of Falls Church is recruiting for a Full-Time Residential Counselor for Aurora House Girls Group Home, a 12 bed, non-secure community based temporary care residential program for adolescent females ages 13-20 experiencing court involvement or mental health concerns.

You will assists girls and their families by providing therapeutic services that address serious emotional, educational, and behavioral problems in a nurturing, structured, and supervised living environment. Aurora House services include individual, group, and family counseling, family therapy, educational enrichment, community service, and recreational activities. Work is performed on designated weekend shifts and one staff meeting per month.

Falls Church is an independent city six miles from the nation's capital. It is small in area (2.2 square miles) and population (~13,000). The City is known for its urban village community, quality customer service, nationally ranked school system, environmental activism, and endless community activities.

Typical Responsibilities:

  • Counseling, monitoring, and supervising activities;
  • Ensuring and facilitating therapeutic care;
  • Ensuring client’s physical, medical, emotional/mental, education, social, community, and family needs are responded to in a timely and effective manner;
  • Responding to all medical/dental and health care needs for clients in emergency and non-emergency situations including but not limited to administering medication as directed and following protocol for prompt medical care;
  • Creating a safe and therapeutic environment through teaching, modeling socially adaptive behavior, and effectively/consistently implementing the program policies and procedures;
  • Planning and supervising recreation activities and food services including hiking, biking, and other strenuous activities;
  • Conducting individual and group counseling on established and as needed basis;
  • Counseling clients who may be frightened, hostile, rebellious and winning their confidence;
  • Effectively/consistently communicating verbally and in writing client behaviors/needs to staff, parents, providers;
  • Safe transportation of clients for appointments, emergency situations, and planned activities;
  • Essential Personnel status – responsible for providing direct coverage and maintenance of operations including but not limited to safety/security needs, vacancy/direct coverage needs, staff to client ratio, and weather emergencies;
  • Performing related tasks as required.

Minimum Qualifications:

  • Graduation from an accredited college or university with major course work in human or juvenile psychology or related field;
  • Must have residential experience
  • Possession of a driver's license valid in the Commonwealth of Virginia;
  • Ability to obtain first aid, CPR, medication disbursement, bloodborne pathogens, and physical restraint training certification;
  • Some knowledge of human behavior, mental health, juvenile justice, social problems, and the basic principles of human psychology;
  • Ability to pass a comprehensive background check
  • Ability to enforce institutional rules firmly and fairly;
  • Ability to supervise a small group of clients in a closed environment;
  • Ability to prepare records and reports;
  • Ability to deal courteously yet firmly with clients, their families, and the public.
  • Experience working in a residential facility

    Preferred Qualifications:

  • Bilingual in Spanish

Hours:  Full – Time. Work schedule consists of a variety of shifts to include early morning, midday and evening hours. Must be open to covering other shifts as needed.     

Salary:  Salary range $50,082 - $82,686 depending on qualifications. Benefits package includes health insurance, dental insurance, pension plan, deferred compensation plan, flexible spending account, college savings plan, life and long-term disability insurance, paid holidays, vacation and sick leave, credit union membership, free parking, and more. See www.fallschurchva.gov/HR for additional information.

To Apply:  Submit a resume and cover letter to the City of Falls Church, Human Resources Department, 300 Park Avenue, Falls Church, VA 22046, or via e-mail at hr@fallschurchva.gov.

Reasonable Accommodation:  During the selection process, applicants with disabilities may request reasonable accommodation with the agreement of the Human Resources Department. Requests should be directed to the Human Resources Department. The City of Falls Church does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, or disability.

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