Psychiatric Technician

Job Description

Job Description

Psychiatric Technician

Location: Anaheim, CA (home and community)
Position type: part time, 20 hours per week, with the option to move to full time
Shift: Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Pay: $40.00-$50.00 per hour
Vehicle: your own sedan is required
Mileage: miles driven during the shift are reimbursed at the IRS standard mileage rate, currently 76 cents per mile (effective July 1, 2026)

About the Role

This position supports a young adult woman at home and in the community. The morning shift covers her personal care routine (bathing, dressing, toileting), health monitoring, and then an outing in the community. She has a person-centered behavior support plan written by her BCBA, and this caregiver carries it out every day.

A typical morning includes toileting and hygiene care, a bath with a skin check, skin care and dressing, stripping and remaking the bed, breakfast with aspiration precautions, and an outing in the community. Care notes are finished before the shift ends. This is a steady weekday schedule, and having the same caregiver every morning helps her build trust and keep a routine.

This role calls for a nursing mindset: close observation, accurate charting and spotting changes in her health early.

The position is set at the level of a mid level ABA clinical supervisor, a nurse or a Psychiatric Technician (see Qualifications). You may not be the only person in the home, but you are expected to work independently, without step by step direction. You will run the morning routine: personal care, health monitoring, carrying out the behavior support plan, driving and community outings, and judgment calls as they come up, including knowing when something needs to go to the BCBA or her family. The right candidate’s work history shows progressive experience, moving from supervised entry level work into roles where they handled their job duties independently. This is not an entry level position.

Retired and Semi-Retired Professionals Encouraged to Apply

Retired and semi-retired nurses (LVN or RN), Psychiatric Technicians and behavioral professionals are encouraged to apply. Active licensure is not required. Memory care experience counts, including supporting residents with combative behavior. That work calls for the same calm, patient responses, safety awareness and close observation this role needs. Weekday mornings and a part time schedule make this a good way to supplement retirement income with meaningful work, without going back to full time facility work.

Personal Care

• Bathing: stand by while she gets in and out of the tub using the hand supports. Give full physical assistance with bathing using the handheld sprayer: wash, rinse and dry her completely, with extra attention to skin folds.
• Skin care: apply creams and lotions as directed, paying close attention to skin folds and areas exposed to moisture.
• Dressing: give full physical assistance with dressing for the day and for the weather.
• Toileting and incontinence care: she wears pull-up briefs. Prompt her to use the toilet on a regular schedule during the shift and stand by while she gets on and off the toilet. Give full physical assistance with perineal hygiene care after toileting, including changing her brief.
• Bed: strip and remake the bed every morning, and also any time it is soiled, with a clean mattress cover, washable pads and sheets.
• Mobility: she walks around the house on her own and uses a wheelchair for longer activities outside the house.
• Meals: she eats a minced and moist diet with thin liquids. Make breakfast or snacks in that texture and stay with her the whole time she eats.
• Dignity: protect her privacy during all personal care, explain each step before you do it and go at her pace.

Health Monitoring and Clinical Observation

• Do a skin check during bathing and toileting. Record and report redness, rashes, irritation or breakdown the same day.
• Follow aspiration and choking precautions at every meal and snack: the correct food texture and liquid consistency, sitting fully upright and close observation the whole time.
• Track food and fluid intake during the shift.
• Watch her breathing, color, energy level and alertness, and report any change in condition right away.
• When she shows signs of illness, check and record her vital signs, including oxygen saturation (O2), and report the readings to her family right away.
• Follow infection control practices: hand hygiene, gloves, and clean handling of soiled linens and briefs.
• Know which changes need a same day report and which need emergency help, and act on them.

Community Outings

• Drive her in your sedan to outings such as errands, appointments and her regular community activities.
• Fold her manual wheelchair, lift it into the trunk and take it back out. Push her in the wheelchair during longer activities.
• Help her get into and out of the car safely, and keep her seated safely while you drive, as set out in her behavior support plan.
• Pace each outing to her energy level and watch for signs of fatigue.
• She can’t get around the community on her own, so stay with her the whole time.

Behavior Support

• Follow her behavior support plan and the training her BCBA provides.
• Her plan focuses on calm, supportive responses and a safe environment, not on reducing behavior.
• Leaving the house and starting personal care can take her time. Prompt her calmly, give her time and choices, and avoid power struggles.
• If she becomes distressed, stay with her, respond calmly and keep the space around her safe.
• Record behavior data in the format the BCBA sets up.
• Take part in BCBA training and supervision, and put the feedback into practice.
• Learn how she communicates. Her speech is limited.

Documentation, Communication and Professional Expectations

• Write daily care notes in a clear, objective, clinical style: food and fluid intake, skin checks, vital signs when taken, behavior data, the outing and any change in condition.
• Report illness, injury, incidents or changes in her health or behavior to her family and the BCBA the same day.
• Clock in and out every shift using the electronic timekeeping system.
• Arrive on time every shift and give as much notice as possible if you can’t make it.
• Keep her personal and health information confidential and keep professional boundaries.

Qualifications

Required:

• One of the following three levels, each with hands-on behavioral experience. Memory care experience with combative behavior counts as behavioral experience. Active licensure is not required.
• Mid level ABA clinical supervisor or equivalent: you have moved past the behavior technician level. You have trained or overseen other staff, carried out BCBA-written behavior support plans independently, and collected and reviewed behavior data. Supervisory experience in memory care, long-term care facilities, group homes, supported living, day programs or community programs counts as equivalent.
• Nurse (LVN or RN), current or retired, or equivalent: you have nursing-level clinical skills, including close observation, charting, infection control and recognizing changes in condition, and experience supporting people with behavioral needs.
• Psychiatric Technician, current or retired: you hold or have held a California Psychiatric Technician license and have experience supporting people with developmental disabilities and behavioral needs.
• A work history that shows progressive experience, with increasing responsibility and more independent job duties over time
• Able to work independently and make sound decisions without step by step direction
• Valid California driver’s license, clean driving record and current auto insurance
• Your own sedan in good working condition, available every shift
• Able to pass a background check

Preferred:

• At least one year of paid experience giving personal care to adults with developmental disabilities, including bathing, incontinence care and transfers
• Experience supporting people with Down syndrome
• Comfortable doing skin checks, taking vital signs including oxygen saturation, and writing clear, objective care notes

Physical Requirements

• Give full physical assistance with bathing, dressing and hygiene care
• Stay within arm’s reach during tub and toilet transfers, ready to step in for safety
• Lift, fold and load a manual wheelchair into a car trunk
• Bend, kneel and work at floor level
• Push a wheelchair over community distances

What This Position Offers

• $40.00-$50.00 per hour
• Part time, 20 hours per week, with the option to move to full time
• Mileage reimbursed at the IRS standard mileage rate
• A steady Monday to Friday morning schedule
• Training and ongoing support from her BCBA

Pay: $40.00 per hour

Expected hours: 20.0 per week

Benefits:

• Retirement plan

Work Location: In person