Careers
We are an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer.
Working at RSI
As a member of RSI's direct support team, you will meet and form relationships with people that will impact you in meaningful ways that last a lifetime.
A direct support staff member is an aide, teacher, student, counselor, advocate, friend and more to his or her clients. Depending on your chosen assignment, you'll participate in a wide variety of activities with clients, and support them with a variety of activities of daily living, behavioral, social, health, and recreation needs, and help them not just live in, but fully participate in the life of their communities.
As a direct support staff you may:
- Help a client with spastic quadriplegia, due to Cerebral Palsy, to get ready for work in the morning by providing hands-on help with dressing, bathing, eating, grooming and hygiene; using the bathroom; and caring for his clothing and belongings.
- Help a client with both blindness and profound mental retardation learn to communicate using sign language, and learn to walk using a cane.
- Help a young man with Autism learn to speak, play, and interact with others in meaningful ways; replacing a lifetime of aggressive and destructive habits.
- Help a client who experienced a severe brain injury in a motorcycle accident return to his hobbies of fishing, hunting, and kayaking.
- Help a young woman with severe, persistent mental illness find a new apartment, negotiate with landlords, and understand a lease agreement.
- Work side by side with young men with Fetal Alcohol syndrome while they learn vocational skills and explore career options.
- Accompany four adults with cognitive and physical disabilities on a camping vacation to a music festival.
- Attend concerts, plays, church, and sporting events with clients around their communities.
- Document learning, activities, and behavior of your clients for use in determining best practices for treatment and support.
- Act as an advocate for clients with government and private agencies, businesses, landlords, medical professionals, and other service providers.
- Help a client with mental retardation and an eating disorder learn to cook and eat healthy meals.
- Attend a life-planning session to explore the hopes, dreams, wants, and needs of a client who is returning to her community after ten years in a state hospital.
- Negotiate an agreement between two housemates to help them avoid an argument that has escalated to pushing and shoving.
- Explore options and help set goals for a client who would like to move out of the home and into her own apartment.
RSI serves a number of clients with differing needs and desires. The level and kinds of supports we offer will vary greatly depending on your chosen assignment. Some will require a great deal of personal care and assistance with everyday routines and activities, while others may be fairly independent and able to care for themselves physically, but may need assistance making decisions, managing finances, or attending community functions.
There are many opportunities for employment at RSI. The program a Direct Support Professional is placed at is based on the interests and experience of the employee as well as the needs of the program. RSI is committed to matching employees with appropriate job placements. All placements offer the opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with those you work with.
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Shifts
Shifts are varied, and most often require weekend or evening work. RSI provides the necessary training needed for any position, so prior experience is not needed. Applicants should have common sense, compassion, energy, and enthusiasm, as well and a desire to learn. Some common shifts include:
- Full-Time Awake Overnights: Provide supervision, safety checks, and light housekeeping during the overnight in a home where clients require 24-hour awake supervision. Typical shifts are 10 hours long, worked on a 4-on, 4-off rotation.
- Full-Time Asleep Overnights: Provide presence during the overnight in a home where clients need the availability of staff but don't need awake supervision. Typical shifts are 8-10 hours long and are paid throughout the night (even while asleep).
- Full-Time or Part-Time Days/Evenings/Weekends: Work with clients throughout the day on various shifts. Typical schedules require every other weekend.
- Personal Care Attendant: Provide assistance with daily-living activities (eg. dressing, grooming, bathing, medications, eating, cooking, housekeeping, etc.) to clients in their own homes and apartments, on a scheduled or by-appointment basis.
- Independent Living Skills Counselor: By appointment, work with clients to help with budgeting, menu-planning, shopping, household maintenance, recreation, appointment management, medication monitoring, job-seeking, and other tasks, both in the client's own apartment and around the community. ILS Counselors typically require related two-year degrees (inquire when calling), though RSI may provide training to qualified individuals with significant experience.
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Current Openings
Please visit our list of current openings.
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