Child Development Specialist- Eagle

The Village was one of the first agencies in the country to providehomes for neglected children. Today, we continue to achieve our mission “to build a community of strong, healthy families who protect and nurture children” by providing a full range of behavioral health,early childhood and youth development, substance use treatment and support services for children, adults and families in the Greater Hartford, Connecticut region.

Named a Connecticut Top Workplace for five consecutive yearswithnationaldistinction for workplace culture and diversity,equity and inclusion practices, you can be sure you)

Starting hourly rate $20.50 per hour

Shift: Monday-Friday 10:30am-7pm (includes a half hour unpaid break)

• Staff of the Month (gift card rewards), Perfect Attendance Awards,staff appreciation events (agency wide and program specific) throughout the year with food and prizes, appreciation shout-outs inemails and weekly newsletter
• Culture and Connection Committee - staff driven group that creates and participates in the implementation of staff engagement activities and groups to create a collaborative, mutually supportive and personally rewarding work environment.
• On the floor coaching and development
• Opportunity for career growth and mentorship
• Regular upward assessments to provide feedback on employee needs
• Employee Assistance Program - includes free counseling services.

JOB SUMMARY

The Child Development Specialist I participate as a key member of amulti-disciplinary treatment team in the treatment and/or education of children with significant emotional, behavioral, and learning disabilities. She/He ensures that the children’s physical and emotional needs are met daily and supports the children’s academic learning by focusing on the enhancement of their social, recreational,and behavioral functioning.

ABOUT EAGLE HOUSE

Eagle House is a 24-bed psychiatric residential treatment facility(PRTF) that serves as a step down, or diversion, from inpatienthospitalization for children ages 6-12 who present with severeemotional and behavioral difficulties due to significant traumahistory. Eagle House helps prepare them for transition to community-based treatment, and/or a family or foster care setting,through providing intensive clinical support services like ongoingpsychiatry and nursing evaluations, individual, group, and family therapy sessions, case management, and special education services.

Youth are typically in the program for around 4 months. We use atrauma-informed model of care to build relationships with youth inorder to stabilize them and help them improve overall functioning.

Through building supportive and therapeutic relationships with theyouth, members of the multi-disciplinary team help guide them through crisis when they arise by reinforcing the use of healthy coping skillsto build emotional regulation, so they will be more prepared to managestressors and interact positively with peers and adults when theytransition back into a community setting. The Child Development Specialists are key members of the multi-disciplinary team that aid inthe treatment and education of children with significant traumahistory, resulting in severe emotional, behavioral, and learning difficulties.

The Child Development Specialists contribute to the progress towards each client’s treatment goals by providing therapeutic behavior management techniques and teaching them healthy coping skills. They are responsible for overseeing the youth’sday-to-day routines (hygiene, meals, etc.) and facilitating/engaging in therapeutic recreational group activities with the youth. The Child Development Specialists provide direct care and constant supervision to the children in the program at all times to maintain a safe and structured environment, not only for physical safety but also for emotional safety.

The Child Development Specialists build therapeutic relationships with the youth to meet their physical and emotional needs, and to enhance their prosocial skills, emotional regulation skills, and behavioral functioning.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Maintain the safety of children in all situations…