Children's Specialist - Full Time 1st Shift (Sunday - Thursday) - Crisis Nursery : Job Details

Job DescriptionChildren's Specialist - Full Time 1st ShiftSchedule Available:Sunday - Thursday First Shift: 6:45 am - 3:00 pmOne 4 hour on call shift per week. On-call requires that you are able to arrive with-in 30 minutes to help cover the shift and care for children. Pay is time and a half your hourly rate if called in to work. Overview:Children's Specialist provides direct client care for children, newborn through six years of age, who are voluntarily placed by guardians at Crisis Nursery. They will engage in intentional, developmentally and trauma-informed interventions to prevent child abuse and neglect, provide security, and provide care that helps children and strengthens families. The Children's Specialist reports to the Director of Programming.Essential duties:

• Provide direct care for children in a healthy and nurturing care environment.
• Plan and implement social-emotional, educational, and recreational age appropriate activities for children.
• Assist children to develop safe and appropriate ways of interacting and expressing their feelings.
• Manage children's behavior with the purpose of reinforcing positive behaviors and de-escalating challenging behaviors while processing the situation and providing alternatives in a positive manner.
• Maintain accurate placement of logs of child's daily activities meals.
• Prepare for shift by reading children's files, admission information, parent identified goals and other relevant information.
• Complete other duties as assigned to meet agency needs.

Organizational Expectations:

• Model healthy, professional behavior while working with children, families, staff and volunteers you come into contact with at the Nursery
• Communicate effectively with other staff, supervisors, and volunteers.
• Work as part of a team to complete duties and meet agency needs.
• Work with diverse economic, cultural, and racial backgrounds.

Position Qualifications:

• Must be 21 years of age or older.
• 2 years college credit or 2 years of experience in early childhood education required
• CPR / First Aid certification, or be willing to complete certification
• Skills needed to succeed:
  • Ability to work both independently and collaboratively to make decisions under pressure in a fast-paced, ever changing environment.
  • Ability to work with other staff on shift to ensure proper care of children and that daily duties are completed.
  • Ability to communicate effectively.
  • Passionate about the Nursery's mission and values.

Psychological Considerations:

• Ability to bend from a standing position
• Ability to lift and carry up to 40 pounds
• Ability to sit on the floor and rise quickly
• Ability to hear a child speaking or crying

Job Type: Full Time / HourlyPay Range: $16.50-$18 per hour depending on experienceBenefits Offered: Health, Life, Dental, Vision, Short Term Disability, Accident, Critical Illness, & Simple IRA Vacation, Personal, & Sick (IL paid leave for all) paid time off available