Overnight residential youth counselor

Job Details

Job Location: CYFS Offices - Beckley Hill and New Leaf - Barre, VT 05641

Salary Range: $23.83 - $24.80 Hourly

Job Shift: Night

Job Category: Direct Service

Overnight Residential Youth Counselor

Overnight Residential Youth Counselors provide safety, structure, and emotional support for youth with significant emotional and behavioral challenges during some of the most difficult times in their lives. By building trusting relationships and creating a calm, home-like environment, you help youth feel secure, supported, and ready to work toward permanency and stability. This role is especially critical during evening and overnight hours, when consistency, responsiveness, and thoughtful intervention can make a meaningful difference in a young person’s sense of safety and well-being.

Summary of Duties

• Provide overnight and evening supervision in a residential home for youth with significant emotional and behavioral needs.
• Identify potential risk situations and use de-escalation strategies to support youth safely.
• Implement individualized behavior and crisis plans consistently and compassionately.
• Provide supportive counseling and therapeutic interventions during nighttime hours as needed.
• Maintain familiarity with each youth’s needs, triggers, and goals to support effective intervention.
• Complete required documentation each shift, including logs, medication entries, point sheets, and timesheets.
• Provide transportation for youth as assigned, using a personal vehicle when required.

Compensation and Benefits

WCMHS provides a comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, retirement, and a generous paid time off package including flexible holidays and 12 vacation days in year one. The pay range for this position is $23.83 - $24.80 per hour.

Qualifications

Summary of Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in human services or a related field preferred.
• Relevant experience working with youth with emotional or behavioral challenges may be considered in lieu of formal education.
• Ability to build positive, respectful relationships with youth.
• Flexibility and adaptability to respond to the changing needs of youth and residential settings.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to remain calm in high-stress situations.
• Willingness to learn and apply crisis de-escalation and passive restraint techniques.
• Experience providing direct instruction or therapeutic services to youth with challenging behaviors preferred.
• Ability to deliver services and complete treatment notes in English.

Work Environment:

This position is based in a residential treatment home and primarily consists of evening and overnight shifts, including weekends. Staff provide supervision during nighttime hours and may need to respond to behavioral or emotional crises to ensure safety. The role requires physical activity, including lifting and carrying up to 50 pounds and implementing physical restraints when necessary. Driving youth using a personal vehicle may be required, and staff must maintain appropriate insurance coverage. The environment can be fast-paced and emotionally demanding, requiring alertness, professionalism, and compassion throughout overnight shifts.

About the Agency

For more than 50 years, Washington County Mental Health Services (WCMHS) has served the Washington County community and the Orange County towns of Orange, Washington, and Williamstown. WCMHS provides education, support, and treatment to individuals and families living with mental health challenges, substance use issues, and developmental and intellectual disabilities. Providing accessible, high-quality services in the community, schools, and health care settings, we work toward positive outcomes for wellness with collaborative, inclusive, and compassionate care. Washington County Mental Health Services is “Where Hope and Support Come Together.”