Residential Direct Support Professional - Astoria and Forest Hills

Job Path supports autistic people and people with developmental disabilities as they make choices about their lives and play valued roles in their communities. Job Path encourages people to explore what they want out of life and to chart their own journeys. Whether it’s finding a job, making a contribution in a volunteer role, establishing a home, or being part of the community, the goal is to assist the person to lead a full and active life.

Job Path is seeking Residential Direct Support Professionals (DSP) who are motivated, flexible, energetic, responsible, and organized. The role of the Residential DSP is to support people with developmental disabilities to live in homes that are truly their own, providing a warm and safe environment. Our approach is to provide assistance when needed while also empowering the people supported to have ownership of their responsibilities and to learn new skills. The men who live in the apartments where we are seeking DSPs have active lives in their communities, the Residential DSP will also be expected to provide community based support.

Please apply to this posting only if you are available to work in Astoria or Forest Hills.

Responsibilities include (but are not limited to) the following tasks

Direct Support; Challenging Individuals To Grow In An Interdependent World By:

• Encouraging personal skill development in all areas of someone's life by modeling and coaching
• Building self-esteem by doing things together, rather than doing everything for them.
• Providing opportunities for new experiences.
• Getting involved in the community - recreation, shopping, building positive relationships
• Encouraging individuals to make choices and decisions in all areas of their lives, and providing the opportunities to learn how to make decisions
• Building a relationship based on respect, to enable you to offer support, guidance and direction when appropriate
• Facilitating any area in which someone may need support in order to achieve full life eg, buying clothes, sending birthday cards, mending clothes, redecorating a room
• Encouraging, teaching and assisting with household, community and personal responsibilities such as shopping, cleaning, banking, doctor appointments.
• Supporting people in social situations to learn to feel comfortable and confident with others through appropriate interactions and build positive relationships

Teamwork; Building A Strong Team Able To Accomplish Goals By:

• Offering support, respect and feedback to other team members
• Ensuring communication is clear, concise and honest
• Attending staff meetings and contributing professionally
• Covering assigned shifts or finding a suitable replacement, giving adequate notice and informing the team.
• Sharing and contributing ideas, knowledge, questions, feeling
• Respecting the workplace physical structure, keeping it clean, safe and secure for those we support
• Assisting in meal preparation

Health & Safety; Respecting Individuals Personal Health Needs By:

• Administering medication correctly
• Being aware of and competent in dealing with individual medical needs eg. seizures, health concerns, allergies etc.
• Attending regularly and consistently to personal care needs such as bathing, hygiene, grooming etc. in a dignifying and respectful matter
• Accompanying individuals to doctors appointments
• Reading and initialing the consult sheet and following through with the information given by the doctor
• Ordering supplies in advance to ensure they arrive when needed eg. medication, gloves etc.

Documentation/Communication; Ensuring Information Is Shared By:

• Reading, documenting in and initialing log books and communication books before and after each shift as appropriate
• Writing reports immediately following an event eg. Doctor’s appointment form, incident reports, etc.
• Correctly documenting Personal Spending, Petty Cash, groceries, etc. immediately after an item is purchased
• Reading staff meeting minutes
• Meeting with team leader periodically for open communication

Qualifications and Skills

• High school diploma or equivalent required
• Previous experience in supporting people with disabilities is a plus, but not required with other relevant experience
• Basic computer literacy to complete case notes and timesheets
• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written
• Punctuality and consistent attendance are essential

Rate: $19.69 per hour

Benefits: Work/Life Assistance Program (EAP), ability to contribute to pre-tax commuter and medical FSA plans, 403b pension with employer match after two years of employment.

Health, dental, and enhanced short term disability insurance available to employees who average 28 hours of work per week after a six month measurement period.

To Apply: Please submit your resume and thoughtful answers to the application questions via our jobs board:

Or, send via fax to 212-921-5342 or mail to:

Job Path

Attn: Cerezmy Salcido

256 West 38th Street 2nd Floor

New York, NY 10018

*Please note: Only applicants we feel meet requirements of the position will be contacted for an interview. You must submit a resume AND cover letter to be considered for the position.

Job Path is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without unlawful discrimination based on races, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, employment, or citizenship status.

Whistleblower policy: https://www.jobpathnyc.org/code-of-conduct/#whistleblower