North Suffolk is looking for Residential Counselors / Residential Support Specialists to join our Emergency Respite team! The Residential Support Specialist participates in the engagement, assessment and treatment planning process and provides interventions to address needs and goals of persons served. The Residential Support Specialist provides direct services to people in a respite setting in the areas of daily living skills, transportation, skill-building, money management, medication administration, risk mitigation and other areas based on the person centered treatment plan. Services are provided based on recovery tenants and are aimed to promote overall health and well-being of persons served.

20 and 40 hours / week positions available. Please indicate preference in application.

What you’ll do:

• Engage people and partner with them to improve their health and wellness, achieve symptom stabilization and self-management, develop and/or restore skills impacted by mental illness and live a self-directed life.
• Assist people with psychiatric and substance use disorders to identify personal priorities, preferences, strengths, and interests in order to help them establish goals that support a life in recovery.
• Instill hope by engaging in positive interactions that promote recovery and empowerment.
• Provide direct care services in timely and flexible ways.
• Implement Community Support Plans, Safety Plans, and Crisis Prevention and Response Plans in order to help prevent and mitigate risk factors.
• Document each person’s progress in the confidential record according to established methods and procedures.
• Carry out the assigned interventions and action steps of the treatment plan through the provision of direct support and rehabilitation services to people on an individual, group, and family basis (in conjunction with professional staff) in the residence and in community settings to teach behavioral symptom-management techniques to alleviate and manage symptoms not reduced by medication and to promote personal growth and development by assisting people to adapt to and cope with internal and external stresses.

What you’ll need:

• Education: 
  • High School Diploma/GED equivalent required
  • Bachelor’s Degree highly preferred.
• Experience: 
  • In lieu of college degree, at least one year experience with population that has severe and persistent mental illness and/or substance use disorder.
• Skills/Other:
  • Must have a Driver’s license. 
  • Must be MAP certified within five months of hire. 
  • Must complete CPR/First Aid certification within five months of hire.

Competitive & Comprehensive Benefits:

• Paid Time Off – Two weeks’ Vacation per year (three weeks after 2 years of service), 12 Sick Days per year, and 11 Paid Holidays per year
• Eligible employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program
• North Suffolk qualifies as an H-1B Cap-Exempt employer (for eligible positions)
• North Suffolk offers visa and permanent resident card support to active employees
• Health & Dental Insurance, with generous employer contribution
• Employer Paid Life Insurance
• 403 (b) Retirement Plan with employer matching
• Voluntary Short and Long Term Disability Insurance
• Medical & Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts
• Access to Credit Union Banking
• Access to State Tuition Remission Program (Worksite Specific)
• Employee Referral Bonus Program
• Discounted Movie Tickets
• Comprehensive Training Program
• Internal Advancement Opportunities