Child Development Specialist- Eagle

Our Mission

The Village was one of the first agencies in the country to provide homes 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.

Tuesday-Saturday 2:30 PM-11:00 PM

$20.50 per hour with differential pay given for hours worked between 3 PM-7 AM.

• 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 in emails 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.
• Tuition reimbursement
• 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.

The Child Development Specialist participates as a key member of a multi-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.

Eagle House is a 24-bed psychiatric residential treatment facility (PRTF) that serves as a step down, or diversion, from inpatient hospitalization for children ages 6-12 who present with severe emotional and behavioral difficulties due to significant trauma history. 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 ongoing psychiatry 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 a trauma-informed model of care to build relationships with youth in order to stabilize them and help them improve overall functioning. Through building supportive and therapeutic relationships with the youth, members of the multi-disciplinary team help guide them through crisis when they arise by reinforcing the use of healthy coping skills to build emotional regulation, so they will be more prepared to manage stressors and interact positively with peers and adults when they transition back into a community setting.

The Child Development Specialists are key members of the multi-disciplinary team that aid in the treatment and education of children with significant trauma history, 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's day-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.

• Maintain the safety of children in all situations using supervision and the implementation of various therapeutic techniques, including Therapeutic Crisis Intervention.
• Maintain a safe, clean and dignified milieu environment.
• Serve as a healthy role model.
• Demonstrate techniques that enhance problem solving abilities and enable growth and maturity.
• Understand and relay relevant information.
• Record and document critical information in a timely manner.
• Communicate with parents/guardians in a professional and timely manner.
• Communicate with coworkers in a professional and timely manner.
• Communicate with external professionals (e.g. Teachers, DCF Workers) in a professional and timely manner.
• Manage and assist in the modification of child behavior.
• Maintain appropriate certifications (see Licensure Requirements below).
• Provide safe transportation to and from program activities.
• Conduct oneself in a professional, courteous manner in all job-related interactions.
• Interact with children in a positive, nurturing,…