Career Opportunities

Behavior Support Specialist

Responsibilities

  • BSS addresses challenges consumers may have because of limited social skills, perseverative behaviors, rigid thinking, difficulty interpreting cues in the natural environment, limited communication skills, impaired sensory systems, or other reasons.
  • BSS uses specialized interventions to increase adaptive skills for greater independence, enhance community participation, increase self-sufficiency, and replace or modify challenging behaviors.
  • Supports focus on positive behavior strategies that incorporate a proactive understanding of behavior, not aversive or punishment strategies.
  • BSS are based on individually tailored plans developed by the staff.
  • BSS promotes consistent implementation of the Behavioral Support Plan (BSP) and Crisis Intervention Plan (CIP) across environments and across people with regular contact with the participant, such as family, friends, neighbors, and other providers.

Direct supports include

  • Support of and consultation with the consumer to help them understand the purpose, objectives, methods, and documentation of the BSP, evaluate the effectiveness of the BSP and review recommended revisions.
  • Crisis intervention supports provided directly to the consumer in response to a behavioral episode that manifests with acute symptoms of sufficient severity of immediate intervention will result in placing the consumer and/or the persons around the consumer in serious jeopardy including imminent risk of institutionalization or place the consumer at imminent risk of incarceration or result in the imminent damage to valuable property by the participant.
  • Travel includes driving to the consumer’s residence, and then to their appointments. (Does not travel far distances, and not overnight)

Consultative supports include

  • Support of family members, friends, waiver providers, other support providers, and employers to help them understand the purpose, objectives, methods of implementation, and how progress of the BSP is collected and documented and to understand any revisions that have been made to the plan which have previously been agreed upon with the participant.
  • Monitoring and analyzing data collected during the BSP implementation based on the goals of the BSP.
  • If necessary, modification of the BSP or the CIP, possibly including a new FBA, based on data analysis of the plan’s implementation.

Behavioral Specialists must be available for crisis intervention support 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.

  • Master’s degree in psychology, special education, social work, or a related field.
  • You must be able to safely transport consumers with a safe vehicle. (No motorcycles)
  • Driver’s license, vehicle insurance & registration in your own name.
  • Be able to pass an FBI & PA state clearance background check.
  • Strong interpersonal and communication skills for working with clients, families, and team members.

Preferred Skills

  • Experience working with individuals with autism or other developmental disabilities.
  • Knowledge of applied behavior analysis (ABA) principles and techniques.
  • Familiarity with medical terminology related to behavioral health.
  • Understanding of patient care principles and ability to provide compassionate support.
  • Knowledge of HIPAA regulations and ability to maintain confidentiality.
  • Experience in conducting functional behavior assessments and developing behavior intervention plans.
  • Ability to collect and analyze data to inform treatment decisions.
  • Familiarity with data collection methods for tracking client progress.
  • Knowledge of behavioral therapy techniques.

This career is good for people who like the freedom to move within their client area range to help include the consumer into the community without direct oversight. Short weekly updates are required with the clinical supervisor about progress with the consumer. Weekly documentation, consultation, and quarterly progress notes about the consumer’s goals are to be expected.

Benefits include approximately 27-30 hours per week

Flexible schedule,

Mileage Reimbursement,

Two weeks paid vacation & 6 paid holidays after 90 days

Compensation $40 per hour

Does not Include: Health / Dental / Vision / 401k