Direct Support Professional Mobile

Description

Direct Support Professional – Mobile

Job Summary: Direct Support Professional’s support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in being as independent as possible in all areas of their lives, to become and remain involved in their community and to assist each person to achieve personal outcomes that reflect their dreams, hopes and desires. We maintain a structured and healthy environment to enhance the wellbeing of persons served while providing continual guidance regarding life skills. The DSP-Mobile is staff member that will work a set schedule for at least 36 hours per week at any location as determined by the Work Force Coordinator or designee.

Position accountable to: Community Living Supervisor

Position supervises: NA

FLSA: Non-Exempt

Customer Service and Excellence:

• Embodies the mission of the agency and takes pride in the job.
• Is compassionate, patient, encouraging, and treats all individuals supported, family members, and coworkers with respect and dignity.
• Makes ethical decisions even when no one is watching.
• Provides Person-Centered services to all people.

Professional Conduct:

• Has good attendance and highly dependable, uses leave appropriately, is punctual and hardworking, and has professional appearance.
• Provides positive and appropriate feedback and support to coworkers, team members, supervisors, and agency representatives.
• Participates in and completes periodic training as required.
• Attends and participates in all assigned meetings, sharing ideas, discussing issues openly and honestly.
• Reports all concerns to the appropriate Quality Assurance Coordinator, supervisor, or administrator in a timely manner.
• Mentors, trains, and provides guidance to staff to ensure their success and is willing to learn from others.
• Displays conduct at all times that enhance the image of the people supported and the agency.

Accountability:

• Assumes responsibility for all actions.
• Completes assigned duties, recognizes co-workers work load and things that need to be done, and assists as needed without constant supervision.
• Maintains peoples’ finances ethically, honestly and accurately with appropriate documentation and receipts.
• Follows all agency policies and procedures, state and federal regulations and displays moral conviction.
• Provides emergency coverage, and serves as on-call relief staff when needed or assigned.
• Takes initiative in performing additional or less than pleasant tasks and allows for cross-training at multiple sites if required.
• Accurately completes, maintains, and submits all documentation as required by agency policy.

Community Involvement:

• Demonstrates, develops, and facilitates the importance of community involvement, social interactions, maintaining relationships, and giving back to the community.
• Aids individuals supported to participate in activities of their choosing.
• Provides inclusive opportunities for activities in various settings and transportation as needed.

Rights, Dignity, Respect, and Choices:

• Allows people to lead self-directed lives by making informed decisions, experience risk, understand consequences and learn from their mistakes, while balancing safety and welfare.
• Teaches appropriate skills and assists all individuals in being actively involved in the daily activities to achieve greater independence using person- centered planning.
• Maintains strict confidentiality of all information and records concerning people supported according to HIPAA, State, Federal laws and guidelines, and coaches’ others on what is sensitive information and when to release that information.
• Knows, advocates and respects the rights and privacy of individuals supported.

Safety: Security, Environment, & Health

• Follows all agency policies, procedures and protocols regarding safety in all environments and maintains an environment that is healthy, safe, peaceful and comfortable at all times.
• Monitors and reports concerns/issues regarding maintenance and repairs to the facility or company vehicle.
• Must be able to pass Medication training and testing. Administers and inventories medications in accordance with Aspire, Inc.’s Medication Administration Policy.
• Monitors and documents safety, medical or dietary needs or concerns, and notifies the proper person.
• Assists people with all daily living with the least amount of assistance needed for the person to be as independent as possible with personal hygiene and health such as bathing, repositioning, brief changes, cooking/eating, shaving, brushing teeth, cleaning/laundry, appointments, activities, work, etc.

• Implements individual support plans as written and follows due process.

• Responds to medical or behavioral emergencies rationally and constructively, remains emotionally detached, directs others and chooses best response to the challenging situation.
• Reports all alleged instances of abuse, neglect, mistreatment and exploitation immediately to the appropriate person by following Aspire, Inc. policy.

Working Environment/Conditions:

DSP’s work with people who may be unpredictable, verbally and physically aggressive and self- abusive; exposed to mental and physical demands including back and muscle strain, stress, loud environments, and works in a variety of settings inside or outside the home/workplace and throughout the community. Responsibilities/essential functions require the following physical demands and challenges:

• Frequent kneeling, squatting, twisting, crouching, crawling, and bending
• Standing/ Walking (for extended periods of time)
• Lifting and/or carrying up to 50 pounds (may exceed 50 pounds during medical and safety emergency situation) with or without varying amounts of assistance on a reoccurring basis.
• Pushing, and/or pulling (i.e. wheelchairs, moving groceries/supplies, etc.)
• Transfers and/or repositioning people who are not able to move on their own, in a sitting or lying position, to and from their chairs, beds, toilets, floor mats, vehicles, etc.
• Some climbing and balancing (i.e. stairs, assisting people walking with gait belts, etc.),
• Must have the ability to perform CPR and NVCI.
• May be exposed to infectious diseases, bodily fluids, odors, dust, cleaning agents, etc., throughout the day.

Work Challenges:

Challenges include learning about the people in order to know how to teach and motivate them, recognizing changes in behavior that may indicate additional services are needed, redirecting and implementing Behavior Support plans, and ensuring other plans are implemented correctly while dealing with maladaptive behaviors. Motivating people to perform up to standards on work, home, and community expectations and instilling pride, confidence, and self-respect in the people served is also challenging.

Problems include recognizing manipulative and maladaptive behavior, assisting resistive people, determining appropriate level of intervention, and dealing with equipment malfunctions and adaptations.

Decision Making:

Staff decide how to present themselves and how to respond to situations at every moment. Decisions include how to de-escalate a situation and if physical restraint is needed; when a behavior and physical condition should be documented or reported to medical staff; priority of daily work activities that are not related to someone’s personal treatment; assisting people served to requisition their funds; making good judgments, how to treat others, when to intervene in disputes between people served; when to refer a person’s needs to higher authority; recommendation of changes in treatment and if the team needs to meet to address a person’s issues.

Decisions referred include final plans, medical needs, procedures for implementing treatment plans, and formal counseling.

Qualifications

Qualifications:

• Minimum of High School diploma or GED
• Must be at least 18 years of age
• Basic fluency in oral and written English.
• Pass qualifying criminal background checks which includes motor vehicle driving records.
• Pass a pre-employment drug screening. Upon hire, employees are subject to random and reasonable suspicion testing per Aspire Inc.’s Drug Free Workplace Policy.

Licenses/Required Testing:

A valid driver’s license and evidence of insurability is required upon hire. Must have a safe driving record, have at least 3 years of driving experience, and be insurable under our insurance.

Employees must successfully complete all required agency training in the required time allotted, and recertify annually.

Every effort has been made to make your job description as complete as possible; however in no way is it stated that these are the only duties you are required to perform. Any one position may not include all of the listed items nor do the listed items include all functions which may be found in positions of this class. Aspire, Inc. reserves the right to make changes to job descriptions, job responsibilities and functions, employment practices, supervisory lines of authority, employment titles, etc. as it deems necessary.