Recreation Specialist

Recreation Specialist Work Days: Sunday thru Thursday Work Hours: 10 am to 7 pm Work Location: 919 Mission Rd., San Antonio, TX 78210 The Mission of St. PJ's Children's Home is to be a safe and loving refuge for children in crisis and to accompany them on their journey to healing and wholeness, breaking the cycle of abuse and neglect one child at a time. Under the general direction of the Assistant Program Director, the Recreation Specialist is responsible for the coordination and implementation of daily recreational activities for UAC in accordance with agency policy, TDFPS Minimum Standards and ORR Policy. This includes ensuring a safe, clean and organized environment for structured and unstructured activities that enhance quality of life for UAC, support pro-social behaviors, and promote acculturation. Position Responsibilities: Designing, scheduling and facilitating age-appropriate activities for the residents, including cultural and spiritual activities; Ensuring educational services are provided in a manner that promotes best practices and facilitates the optimum delivery of quality trauma informed care to UAC; Ensuring that UAC receive at least one hour per day of outdoor, unstructured leisure activities and one hour per day of structured activity (outdoor recreation is increased to a total of three hours per day on weekends and holidays); Creating a monthly recreation calendar that includes cultural and spiritual activities; Maintaining recreational supplies and equipment inventory; Ensuring that necessary supplies, equipment, and directions/instructions are available for all unstructured and structured activities; Working with the volunteer coordinator to recruit, train, and monitor viable program volunteers who have specialized skills or talent to share with residents; Working with community organizations, groups, and businesses to procure special activities and events for the residents; Collaborating with the domestic services in the planning and implementation of campus-wide activities and events; Coordinating and scheduling at least one off-campus recreational field trip per month; Serving as a chaperone and ensuring 4:1 staff ratio during off-campus activities; Assisting with ratio and supervision of UAC as needed during structured recreation activities; Creating and distributing weekly Recreation Logs for UAC; Ensuring that the Recreation Logs are completed in a timely manner and accurately reflect the recreation activities of each resident; Implementing the program's token economy and behavior incentive system "La Tiendita"; Actively participating in the enhancement and/or improvement of the living and working environment Attending administrative staff meetings, staff retreats, and other team building activities; Demonstrating knowledge and sensitivity of cultural norms, values and heritage; Must be sensitive to the service population's cultural and socioeconomic characteristics; Adhering to safety training and protocols on a daily basis, and taking precautionary measure to ensure the safety and well-being of self, others; Protecting the confidentiality of any information or material obtained in the service with the organization to include but not limited to client names and information, services rendered to clients, donors' names and gifts, internal and external investigations or results of any investigations, and financial information; Adherence to the Code of Conduct and the Faith and Morals Policy is mandatory; Every employee is required to take a solution-oriented approach in their interactions and undertakings, as well as being a team member that promotes collaboration and commitment to the Mission and Vision of the organization Attendance and successful completion of a 10- day New Employee Orientation is mandated for the position. The inability to meet this requirement will conclude employment with the Agency; Other duties as assigned by the Program Director. Competencies: Adaptability Ability to adjust to changing conditions and remain committed to excellence. Communication Ability to effectively share information and ideas of various degree of difficulty and sensitivity through different means of communication and to diverse audiences. (Verbal and/or written) Critical Thinking Ability to actively and skillfully process and generate information and belief using a set of core skills analysis, evaluation, inference, deductive reasoning, and inductive reasoning. Customer Service Ability to be attentive to the needs of internal and external customers and being able to find resolution within the parameters of set standards and messaging in a positive manner. Teamwork Ability to listen and respond constructively with others fostering collaboration and team success. Requirements: Minimum Qualifications: Education A Bachelor's degree in the behavioral sciences, human services or social services fields; or Minimum of a high school diploma or equivalent plus two years of employment experience in the child welfare field planning activities for children and/or adolescents. Experience Minimum one year experience in the child welfare field working with children and/or adolescents in a social service setting. License and Credentials Reliable transportation; Valid driver license; Valid vehicle insurance. Able to show proof of immunity to vaccine-preventable diseases transmitted by the respiratory route if working directly with unaccompanied children: Varicella: two doses of varicella vaccine (at least 4 weeks apart) OR born in the United States before 1980 with a reported history of chickenpox (verified by an adult present at the time of illness) OR titers indicating varicella immunity OR documentation from healthcare provider verifying previous infection. MMR: two doses of MMR vaccine (at least 4 weeks apart) OR titers indicating immunity to all three diseases DTaP or TDap: Complete primary vaccination series. If primary vaccination series completed in childhood, one TDaP dose in adulthood. Influenza: one dose annually during flu season. Minimum Knowledge and Skills: Must have the ability to read and interpret documents such as policy and procedures and program standards; Must be able to write routine reports and correspondence and speak effectively before individuals and groups; Bilingual: Fluent in English/Spanish with regards to reading, writing, speaking, and comprehension of the spoken language; Must be able to perform multiple tasks simultaneously, organize and manage responsibilities, and prioritize duties and assignments; Must possess strong assessment skills and the ability to remain calm and composed in crisis situations; Must be detail oriented, organized, self-motivated, work well independently and on a team; Must have good critical thinking and problem solving skills. Travel Requirements: Travel requirements for the position includes 0% local and 0% overnight. Physical Requirements: The position requires the following physical demands in the frequency noted. C = Constantly (2/3 or more of the time) O = Occasionally (Up to 1/3 of the time) F = Frequently (From 1/3 to 2/3 of the time) R = Rarely (less than on hour per week) Physical Demands Frequency Lifting up to 20 pounds F Reach above shoulder height F Sitting F Reach below shoulder height F Walking F Driving F Running O Stooping F Standing F Pushing F Bending waist (forward or sideways) F Pulling F Balancing F Talking F Squatting F Hearing F Climbing F Crawling O Repetitive motions F Other: Disclaimer: This is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, skills, duties, requirements, efforts or working conditions associated with the job. While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise the job description or to require that other or different tasks be performed when circumstances change (e.g., emergencies, changes in personnel, workload, etc