Autism Day Treatment Intern

Job Description

About Company

St. David’s Center is an agency dedicated to creating an inclusive environment where all individuals are seen, heard, and supported. They are committed to diversity, employee wellness, professional development, and the overall well-being of their clients. This is achieved through supportive and collaborative team environments, flexible work schedules, and mission-inspired work. Their Autism Day Treatment Internship Program is a key part of their service delivery.

Job Description, Detailed

Program Summary
The Autism Day Treatment Internship Program offers a multi-disciplinary, relationship-based, developmental approach to therapy for children aged 2 to 6 years old. Treatment rooms accommodate up to 6 children. Morning rooms typically serve younger children, those newly diagnosed, or those with lower skill sets. Afternoon rooms are for children who have progressed from morning rooms or those who enter the program with higher skills, focusing on the next stage of skill development.

Position Overview
Each treatment room operates with a dedicated team:
• Treatment Team Structure: Consists of two paraprofessionals and one intern per room.
• Oversight: Each room is overseen by a mental health professional and a program supervisor. These supervisors complete assessments, create treatment plans and goals, coordinate the overall team, and provide supervision for practitioners and interns.
• Mental Health Practitioners: Two practitioners per room plan and facilitate daily therapeutic activities, model interventions for other staff, and manage scheduling and staffing decisions within the room. They are also responsible for providing families with in-home support, which can take place in the home, community, or at St. David’s Center.
• Speech and Occupational Therapists: Work with clients 4 days a week, with each client receiving one hour of speech and occupational therapy daily. They maintain their own treatment plans and goals and facilitate a separate rehabilitation space.
• Intern Role and Progression: Interns are expected to jump into the role quickly, learning behavioral interventions and strategies through observation and modeling from experienced staff. As the internship progresses, interns will begin to develop and lead activities. The ultimate goal is for interns to feel confident planning and facilitating the entire treatment day by the end of the internship. Interns will also learn clinical documentation skills, including daily billing, treatment plans, and diagnostic assessment write-ups. There is also an opportunity for interns to provide individual family support in tandem with a Mental Health Practitioner.

Daily Schedule Components
The daily schedule within the program incorporates various therapeutic and developmental activities:
• Sensory Prep: Brief intervals throughout the day for calming, arousing, and focusing activities to ensure sensory systems are well-organized.
• Music: Provided daily by Mental Health Practitioners.
• Snack/Lunch: Structured time for working on skills such as sitting at a table, impulse control, sharing space, communicating wants, and addressing feeding issues.
• Gym/Playground: A sensory break providing time to relax and work on functional play skills with outdoor equipment and peers.
• Mental Health Therapy: Activities targeting specific treatment goals within a highly structured setting.
• Rehab Therapy: Led by speech and occupational therapists, focusing on targeted goals related to speech/language development, fine and gross motor skills, and sensory processing.
• Notes/Group Processing: Time for staff to reflect on the children’s progress (what they did or did not do) and their own interventions.

Requirements and Schedule

Undergraduate Requirements / Schedule
• Internship Duration: 3-month (40-hour summer block) or 9-month internships are available.
• Weekly Hours: 20 hours per week. This includes 3 days per week in the classroom, with additional time outside for paperwork, planning, supervision, and family sessions.
• Shift Options: Students will be matched with either a morning treatment team (7:30 am – 12:30 pm) or an afternoon treatment team (11:30 am – 4:30 pm), depending on program needs, with efforts made to accommodate preferred schedules.
• Availability: Must be available 3-4 days per week for a total of 20 hours.
• Car Requirement: Not required.
• Stipend: Not available.

Graduate Requirements / Schedule
• Weekly Hours: Minimum of 3 days per week.
• 15 hours per week are spent in the day treatment room (AM or PM shift) providing Mental Health Skills and Psychotherapy in a group setting.
• 5 hours per week are dedicated to in-home family skills or psychotherapy, individual skills, clinical paperwork, assessment observation, treatment planning time, and other tasks assigned by the supervisor.
• Shift Options: Morning shift (7:30 am – 12:30 pm) or Afternoon shift (11:30 am – 4:30 pm).
• Supervised Evening Hours: One time per month for Family Support Group (currently paused due to Covid-19). In-home therapy may also be scheduled in the evening.
• Supervised Weekend Hours: Not available.
• Car Requirement: Preferred.
• Stipend: Not available.
• Orientation: A 2-4 day training is scheduled prior to the start.

Job Qualifications
• Education: Candidates should be pursuing degrees in Counseling, Psychology, Human Services, Social Work, or Marriage and Family Therapy.
• Internship Commitment: The typical internship duration is 9-12 months.
• Internship Terms:
• Fall: Approximately September 1st to May 31st.
• Spring: Approximately January 1st to August (specific end date not fully specified in provided text).
• Summer: Approximately May 1st to January 31st.
• MSW Summer Block: Late May to August.
• Specific dates are approximations and will be adjusted to work with school requirements/timelines.
• Pay: This is an unpaid position.
• Other Requirements: The agency conducts background checks. All new employees are required to provide proof of being fully vaccinated (booster doses not required at this time) or have an approved exemption before their start date.

St. David’s Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer, ensuring all qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, veteran status, or disability.