Residential Counselor

$72,000 - $79,888

(on-site)

The City of Falls Church is recruiting for two Residential Counselors 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 assist 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.

Falls Church is an independent city six miles from the nation's capital. It is small in area (2.2 square miles) and population (about 16,000). 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
• 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 prepare records and reports;

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree major course work in human or juvenile psychology or related field
• 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 is $72,000 to $79,888 depending on qualifications. This is a full time position with all City benefits. Benefits package includes pension plan, health insurance, dental insurance, 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. City uniforms are supplied for wear while on the job. See more details on benefits here.

The City of Falls Church does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age or disability.

During the selection process, applicants with disabilities may request reasonable accommodation with the agreement of the Human Resources Division. Requests should be directed to the Human Resources Division. 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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