Behavioral Youth Counselor - Bill's Place

Youth Villages is expanding intensive residential treatment on the Bartlett, TN campus!

Bill's Place will address a gap in services for youth with a greater need of integrated care and the growing community need for intensive treatment options to serve the most at-risk and vulnerable youth. The 148,000 square-foot center will allow 435 youth to be helped annually through our intensive residential services, allowing Youth Villages to help many of the children who otherwise would be on a waiting list for intensive services. .

Bill's place will be a welcoming space with natural lighting and interior finishes that provide a safe, comfortable, and fun environment.

The expansion will include:

Recreational therapy spaces that include theater and musical performance rooms with space for therapeutic drumming Art room, Gym, outdoor pool, exercise room & outside playgrounds Classrooms and modern computer lab Family counseling rooms Enhanced health clinic with nursing and psychiatric staff, pediatricians, dentists, and optometrists Physical, occupational, and speech therapy rooms Sensory therapy rooms containing leadeing edge tacticle equipment Neurofeedback therapy programs - a state-of-the-art, non-invasive technique used for optimizing electrical activity in the brain when it is functioning abnormally A hallmark of Bill’s Place, and all of Youth Villages’ programs, is the use of the Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) approach. The CPS approach uses a revolutionary, evidence-based treatment model for youth.

Collaborative Problem Solving features:

Evidence-based and trauma-focused treatment around the premise that kids do well if they can Demonstrated effectiveness with children and adolescents with a wide range of social, emotional and behavioral challenges across a variety of different settings A set of skills that equips and enables youth to make different and better choices by teaching flexibility, problem-solving skills and frustration tolerance Skills that can be replicated and integrated in both the child’s home and school after they depart residential care

Bill’s Place is dedicated to William “Bill” and Marjorie Lawler, the parents of Youth Villages CEO Patrick Lawler. Bill Lawler was born during the Great Depression and lost his mother when he was just 2 years old. From ages 6 to 11, Bill lived in an orphanage – an unpleasant place Bill despised – but because of his difficult childhood, Bill grew up to cherish the importance of family and instilled those values in his three sons. The way Bill lived his life became one of the driving forces behind Pat’s commitment to ensuring that every child has a path to success and ultimately created the legacy that will now be Bill’s Place.

Youth Villages has grown over its 34 years from helping approximately 40 youth in West Tennessee to serving more than 30,000 children and families annually across 20 states and the District of Columbia. The addition of Bill’s Place complements Youth Villages’ results-oriented programs and expands the organization’s outreach in providing services to children with emotional, behavioral and medical concerns.

Program Overview

Youth Villages’ Residential Treatment programs serve children with emotional and behavioral problems. Our residential campuses provide the setting for an intensive treatment program that combines the unique balance of structure and freedom. This enables children and their families to identify, understand and cope with their individual needs and develop the skills necessary to succeed in less restrictive settings. We have three different types of facilities—Intensive Residential Centers, Open Campuses, and Group Homes. Located in Tennessee and Georgia, all of these facilities utilize the Re-Education of Emotionally Disturbed Children therapy model (Re-Ed).

Position Overview

The Behavioral Youth Counselor, also known as a Teacher Counselor:

Teaches the children necessary life skills and provide for their physical daily care. Assists in treatment planning for each child. Conducts daily documentation such as contact notes, milieu notes, and precautionary notes. Participates in client transports to various locations Participates in recreation therapy with children. Improves children’s behavior through coping skills and other therapeutic interventions. Participates group counseling sessions

Additional Information

The Teacher Counselor schedule is as follows:

Week 1 - Sunday 6:30 am - 10:30 pm, Wednesday 11:00 am - 10:30 pm, Saturday 6:30 am - 10:30 pm

Week 2 - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 2:00 pm - 10:30 pm; Wednesday 11:00 am - 3:00 pm

The supervision and treatment of youth requires prolonged periods of walking and standing and physical agility. May be required to run and climb flights of stairs. Must be able to participate in physical interventions with youth when necessary. Must frequently lift and/or move up to 50 pounds, and occasionally lift and/or move more than 100 pounds.

Will be required to complete Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) and CPR training. Applicants are required to pass an agility and strength evaluation. Applicants must have valid driver license.