Full-Time

Youth Residential Support Specialist

Updated on 9/12/2026

SEARHC

SEARHC

11-50 employees

Youth and family behavioral health care

No salary listed

Juneau, AK, USA

In Person

Category
Social & Community Services (1)
Required Skills
First Aid
Basic Life Support (BLS)

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Requirements
  • High school diploma or equivalent.
  • Qualified Addiction Professional certification or the ability to obtain it within three years of hire.
  • Teaching Family Certification within one year of hire, except for Residential Support Specialists working solely overnight shifts.
  • Basic Life Support certification within 45 days of hire.
  • First Aid certification within 45 days of hire.
  • Current and valid Alaska driver’s license.
  • Must be at least 21 years of age.
  • Ability to engage in moderate physical recreational activities that support recovery.
  • Ability to implement training and participate actively in consultation services, including receiving and implementing feedback.
  • Ability to apply basic principles of child development, behavioral health, and crisis intervention.
  • Ability to understand indicators of child abuse, neglect, and mandatory reporting laws.
  • Ability to understand cultural issues in the treatment process and use cultural differences to enhance treatment.
  • Ability to follow written protocols from medical, supervisory, and clinical personnel.
  • Ability to learn, understand, and implement professional boundaries.
  • Ability to maintain confidentiality.
  • Verbal and written communication skills.
  • Child and youth care skills, aptitude, and experience.
  • Competence in basic outdoor recreational activities.
  • Availability to work rotating days, evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays in a 24/7 program.
Responsibilities
  • Provide behavioral health interventions and teach skill development, including effective communication, positive social interaction, problem solving, decision making, and anger management, to families, individual clients, and groups according to treatment plans.
  • Use the Teaching Family Model and other common treatment modalities to deliver interventions and engage clients in the treatment process.
  • Maintain consistent program and activity structure and provide therapeutic limits.
  • Use approved strategies to prevent aggressive behavior and de-escalate volatile situations.
  • Demonstrate a basic understanding of co-occurring disorders and the relationship between substance abuse and mental health.
  • Understand, utilize, teach, and implement motivational systems.
  • Plan, supervise, and document daily activities that meet therapeutic goals.
  • Monitor clients and provide interventions to ensure their safety, immediately informing a supervisor of any crisis or unsafe situation.
  • Document daily progress notes in a timely manner that meet agency standards and state and federal regulations.
  • Establish and maintain professional collaboration within SEARHC and with relevant community entities.
  • Act as a positive role model for youth and families and provide appropriate care, support, structure, and guidance for youth and family development.
  • Perform other duties as assigned to meet program, clinic, departmental, and organizational goals.
Desired Qualifications
  • One year of experience working with emotionally or behaviorally disturbed youth is preferred.

Juneau Youth Services provides emergency, residential, and community-based behavioral health care for children, teens, and their families in Alaska. Services are tailored and strengths-based, delivered in home-like, least-restrictive settings where trained caregivers and clinical professionals form therapeutic relationships to support youth development and family functioning. The programs operate under the Teaching Family Model and focus on keeping or reunifying children with their families when appropriate. The organization has about 25 staff and positions itself as the leading youth- and family-focused behavioral health provider in Juneau, aiming to help vulnerable youth succeed and thrive.

Company Size

11-50

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

Juneau, Alaska

Founded

1961

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Front Street urgent care opened May 31, 2026, expanding walk-in Juneau access.
  • Mendenhall Valley compounding pharmacy opened August 2026 after years without one.
  • Wrangell plans an 8,000-square-foot medical services building, extending SEARHC's footprint.

What critics are saying

  • SEARHC filed an $8 million federal cost lawsuit in March 2024.
  • Employees protested PTO cuts in February 2025, signaling retention and labor strain.
  • Home health closed in Sitka by September 2025, exposing service fragility and possible contraction.

What makes SEARHC unique

  • SEARHC dominates Southeast Alaska care, anchored by Sitka, Juneau, and Klawock.
  • Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center opened April 23, 2026, centralizing comprehensive regional services.
  • SEARHC combines hospitals, pharmacies, urgent care, behavioral health, and tribal health access.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

401(k) Retirement Plan

Paid Vacation

Parental Leave

Flexible Work Hours