Direct Support Professional

Position Overview:

Join our passionate team at HCA as a Direct Support Professional and make a meaningful impact in the lives of individuals with disabilities. As a DSP, you'll play a vital role in promoting independence, fostering inclusion, and creating a supportive environment for those we serve. Embrace a rewarding career where every day brings new opportunities to inspire and empower while gaining valuable experience in the human services field. Join us in creating a brighter future, one life at a time. Apply now and be part of a dedicated community committed to making a difference.

• $17.50/hour base if scheduled for 20 or more hours, $16.50/hour if scheduled for fewer than 20 weekly hours, with increases based on experience.
• These rates include stipends for maintaining driver status and medication certification
• $2.00/hour Weekend Differential from 6:00 pm Friday - 6:00 am Monday
• Flexible scheduling, with full and part-time hours available

HCA operates 16 Residence homes throughout the Southern Tier staffed by dedicated and compassionate Direct Support Professionals.

Under direct supervision care for the developmentally disabled. No experience is required with paid on-the-job training.

These tasks involve encouraging, guiding, and training individuals in developing daily living skills and habits, taking care of their personal needs, and maintaining their living environment. Must maintain all required training, including Medication Dispensing, CPR, and First Aid certification.

Full-time and part-time schedules are currently available with great flexibility and many shifts offered. Weekend availability is required for this role. Applicants must be available to work evenings or overnights to be considered.

There is a sign-on bonus of up to $1,500 for this position.

HCA: not just a job opportunity but an opportunity to make a difference.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Personal Care:

Performs/teaches and reinforces accepted infection control and personal grooming techniques; performs/teaches and assists in bathing, toileting, dental care, hair and nail care, personal hygiene and grooming routines as necessary.

• Performs/teaches and assists individuals in dressing, clothing selection, storage, laundering and repair of clothing and accessories, may help them shop for clothing.
• Performs/teaches and assists in proper use and care of shavers and razors, eyeglasses, hearing aids, prosthesis as prescribed by appropriate medical practitioner.
• Administers and teaches individuals first aid treatments; administers cardiopulmonary resuscitation techniques, and performs other health related techniques as required.
• Takes records, reports temperatures, blood pressures, pulse rate, weight, and other significant symptoms/health related occurrences; aides consumer in understanding, recording, reporting such factors.
• Maintains confidentiality of information.
• Reports unusual incidents and physical symptoms promptly and accurately to the supervisor.
• Applies valid and accepted limits for inappropriate behavior.
• As per written behavior plan or emergency situation, helps individuals to gain control in situations that the consumer is causing harm to themselves, others, or their environment, or a credible threat of the above, utilizing approved SCIP-R techniques.
• Administers prescribed medications and treatments; teaches, observes, reports problems and progress in self-administration of medication programs. Assists individuals in achieving more independence in administration of medications. Teaches use of skin care lotions, topical ointment, eye and ear drops and assists in their use as needed.
• Accompanies individuals to medical, dental, and other pharmacy, takes medications to home site and logs same; instructs and observes individuals in use of these substances.

Food Preparation, Mealtimes:

• Assists individuals in eating who cannot feed themselves independently, teaches them to eat in a family-style setting, while promoting choice.
• Teaches and assists individuals to plan, shop, store, prepare and serve meals using currently accepted nutritional standard to clean kitchen and dining areas, and dispose of leftover food safely.

Maintaining the Environment:

• Performs/teaches developmentally disabled individuals routine housekeeping duties such as dusting, washing floors and walls, cleaning bathrooms, and vacuuming rugs.
• Assists consumer in keeping room neat and orderly.
• Follows safety procedures in living unit and surrounding grounds, by mopping up spills, reporting unsafe condition, teaches and reinforces fire safety procedures. Checks to see that fire exits are clear, night-lights on, windows are locked and other security measures, checks fire equipment and reports malfunction.
• Performs minor routine maintenance tasks such as changing light bulbs, fuses, etc.
• May assist as directed in various household inventories.

Individual Development and Personal Interests:

• Teaches and reinforces use of a variety of communication skills.
• Teaches and reinforces principles of human growth and development, including human sexuality, as determined by each person's developmental level.
• Teaches acceptable work habits (e.g. punctuality, dress and grooming), to enable individuals to develop readiness for work/school outside the home, or in support of individuals' vocational, provocation or other work/volunteer experiences.
• Transports/arranges for transport of individuals to community events, accompanies consumers to dances, camping trips, swimming, or other age appropriate leisure activities.
• Teaches money management principles to consumers, completes/aids in the completion of banking activities, and ensures accurate recording of personal expenditures.
• Helps consumers to develop/maintain positive interpersonal relationships with their fellow residents, with others in the families, and with others in the community. Aids in explaining feelings, resolving conflicts, teaching/reinforcing acceptable means of handling frustration and anger.
• Teaches/supervises/participates in a variety of leisure and recreational activities, craft projects, seasonal and permanent home decoration; assists in planning/supervision of family days and holiday celebrations as selected by the consumers, their families and staff.
• Aides in the selection, care, and use of age-appropriate personal leisure time belongings.

Interdisciplinary Treatment Team Member:

• Actively participates in staff meetings by communicating observations concerning progress and reactions to various therapy programs.
• Record Daily Residential Habilitation, Incident, Behavioral, and other required documentation.
• Performs other duties as assigned.