Behavior Intervention Specialist

JOB TITLE: Behavioral Intervention Specialist

DEPARTMENT: Behavioral Supports and Psychology Services Division/Residential Services

Position Summary: Under the general direction of the Director and/or Assistant Director of Behavioral Supports and Psychology Services, the Senior Behavioral Intervention Specialist is responsible for assessing and providing clinical and behavioral support services to the individuals we serve and for providing staff training for all residential services staff.

Essential Functions:

• Recognize, prevent, and report Abuse.
• Conduct functional behavioral assessments for individuals with challenging behaviors, and with an emphasis on adaptive behavior and behavioral health.
• Provide multiple assessments including but not limited to: financial, informed consent, sexuality assessments, home and community alone time, self-advocacy, etc. to develop the individuals’ maximum development and acquisition of skills.
• Develop behavior support plans that focus on areas such as: emotional stability, effective use of time, appropriate socialization, and conflict resolution.
• Provide measurable behavioral goals and implement and monitor behavioral data tracking systems. Provide monthly and quarterly written evaluations on the effectiveness of supports through the analysis of data.
• In conjunction with the IDT and under the guidance of the Director and/or Assistant Director of Behavior Supports and Psychology Services, assist in the creation of residential goals and services/Staff Action Plans based on individual choices and identified needs and skills. Assist direct support staff in developing programs to enhance independence and skills of individuals.
• Provide on-site, hands-on training to all direct and support staff, observe implementation of supports and meet with the DSPs regularly to review the behavior support plan(s) and provide additional guidance and training to ensure the team is consistently implementing and documenting the supports and interventions.
• Provide on-site in-service training to staff at the discretion of the Director and/or Assistant Director of Behavioral Supports and Psychology Services, Sr. Director of Residential Services and/or the IDT. Examples include, but are not limited to therapeutic environments, proactive interventions, advocacy, SCIP-R and other topics related to behavioral health.
• Maintain regular contact with psychological therapeutic supports including individuals’ psychiatrist, therapists, social workers, day program providers. Coordinate psychological and behavioral support care with all programs, families and other relevant supports involved in the provision of and advocacy for the individuals served and supported.
• Provide oversight of psychiatric medications including written reports summarizing behavioral support data and any acute psychiatric interventions such as emergency hospitalizations, to the treating psychiatrist. Attend psychiatric appointments as necessary.
• Provide crisis intervention and train staff in addressing challenging behaviors and emergency care. *See on-call rotation expectations below under Requirements*.
• Prepare presentations on restrictive interventions and medication approvals for the Human Rights Committee.
• Ensure all behavioral support services documentation/records are current, accurate and well-organized for documentation retrieval on-site and/or electronically.
• Develop programs to enhance the behavioral health of house residents and which facilitates proper socialization within the residence.
• Provide support to individuals as per incident triage and safeguards and ensure the needs of each person is met and recommendations are followed up on. Conduct mediations with individuals and their peers as needed and as per Incident Review Committee recommendations. Document those supports and safeguards as required.
• Provide crisis intervention to individuals.
• Provide therapeutic supports, individual counseling and/or group counseling, where appropriate and as necessary.
• Is an active member of the Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) and attends annual, semi-annual, day program and all other residential and/or agency meetings as required.
• Follow agency standards and OPWDD regulatory requirements.

Other Functions:

• Assess individuals ADL and other need/skill areas by assisting with personal hygiene, household chores, safety plans and other goals/service plans.
• Drive agency vehicles to transport individuals to psychiatric/therapeutic appointments and/or assist residential staff during behavioral/psychiatric emergencies.
• All other duties as assigned.

Requirements:

Education:

Master’s Degree in a clinical or treatment filed in Psychology, School Psychology, Applied Psychology or Social Work required.

Certification/License:

• BCBA preferred.
• SCIP-R, and CPR certification required.
• Valid and clean (to be validated in LENS) New York State Driver’s License required.

Experience:

• Minimum 1-3 years’ experience working with intellectually/developmentally disabled population required.
• Must be available for on-call crisis/behavioral health coverage on rotation with other BIS’; required.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

Training in assessment techniques and behavior support plan development and implementation.

• Must be able to travel to multiple sites.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Able to exchange information with other people concisely and accurately.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, multi-task capable and able to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
• Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business and professional literature, technical procedures/instructions and governmental regulations. 
• Ability to write reports, business correspondence.
• Self-Starting and ability to work independently and with minimal supervision.
• Ability to influence people and build strong relationships with individuals & co-workers.
• Ability to work in a team environment.
• Ability to work flexible hours including evening and weekends.
• Strong mathematical skills with the ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical solutions.
• PC skills—Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and Outlook).

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that are to be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable persons with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job. Employee(s) in this position must have the ability to:

• Sit and stand for extended periods of time.
• Heavy phone work on a daily basis and during peak business times in the year.
• Speak so that others may understand at normal levels and on the telephone.
• Walk, bend over, reach overhead, grasp, push, pull and move.
• Lift and move items, equipment or otherwise weighing 30 lbs. or more.
• Able to lift and transfer an adult weighing 150lbs or more.
• Work indoors in a standard, open space office environment and be in direct contact with other employees, individuals and the public.
• Enter data in the computer and operate standard office equipment
• See and read a computer screen and written documents/correspondence.

Job Types: Full-time, Part-time

Pay: $30.00 per hour

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Education:

• Master's (Required)

License/Certification:

• NYS driver's license (Required)

Work Location: In person

Salary : $30