Job Description – Clinical Director of Adult Services

Under administrative direction and supervision, the Clinical Director provides ongoing supervisory oversight, program development, and quality assurance to services for adults with developmental disabilities. In addition to overseeing and assisting in the planning, implementing and evaluating prescriptive developmental programs for individuals with developmental disabilities, the Clinical Director provides ongoing supervision to each facility’s developmental specialists; coordinates and monitors developmental specialists’ and developmental technicians’ work schedules; and assists in training professionals, paraprofessionals and/or parents in conducting developmental programs towards remedial treatment of developmental disabilities.

Individual Related Programming

  • Participant Training: Oversees and evaluates the development and implementation of training programs to insure that both frequency and quality are adequate; Data Collection: Oversees and evaluate the data collection process.
  • Program Evaluation: Oversees the developmental specialists’ process in monitoring of progress or the lack thereof of participants’ treatment plan recommendations.
  • Program Coordination: Coordinates treatment programs with inter–related programs such as social work, psychology, communication disorders, occupational therapy, physical therapy.
  • Center–based, Community–Based, and Home–based Developmental Therapy: Oversees the development, implementation, and coordination of daily living skills therapy to individuals with developmental and learning disabilities into the center, residential and community setting.
  • Transitioning School–Aged Individuals: Assists in the development, implementation, coordination, and transition of daily living skills therapy to school–age individuals with developmental disabilities. Incorporates 18 to 21 years of age school–age individuals’ Individual Educational Plan (IEP) and integrate it into Individual Plan of Service system directed towards substantial functional limitations in self–help, receptive and expressive language, learning, mobility, self–direction, capacity for independent living, and/or economic self–sufficiency.

Individual Supervision

  • Ensure that periodic programming reviews and monitoring occur: Conducts weekly and/or monthly reviews, observation of programs and data, and face–to–face supervision of staff providing direct services. The Clinical Director assures a systemized review of program status or progress, evaluates the data reviewed, and directs programmatic modification or adjustments.
  • Observation and review: Monitors provision of direct services performed by all paraprofessional and professional staff on at least a monthly basis, or more often as necessary, to ensure staff demonstrate the necessary skills to correctly provide the service and support.
  • Review and Recommendations: Reviews the summary on a monthly basis and when recommendations for changes to the type and amount of support are identified, submits the recommendations to the plan developer.

Program Related

Actively provides ongoing observations, reviews, and direct supervisory oversight and assistance to direct training personnel to assure that individuals qualified to provide developmental therapy services are trained on the program(s) and demonstrates the necessary skills to correctly implement developmental therapy program(s) towards promoting individual’s performance towards achieving their objective(s). Oversees and evaluates the development and implementation of training programs to insure that both frequency and quality are adequate.

Provides adequate observations, review, and monitors staff to assure all applicable work assignments and responsibilities are being met, especially in the training areas of special health or medical requirements of the participants they serve:

  • Program Implementation
  • Independence
  • Proper use of assistive technology
  • Record keeping
  • Data collection
  • Programming principles/positive behavior intervention.

The provision of adequate observations will entail at least 20% of work hours, unless otherwise directed.

Provides adequate observations and review to assure all rights, advocacy resources, confidentiality, safety and welfare, and proper implementation of all policies and procedures developed by the agency are being met.

  • Supervision of Daily Routines: Oversees staff supervision of individuals while involved in treatment activities, when training staff or working directly with individuals, follows daily schedules and related training procedures.
  • Individual Safety: Trains staff in individual safety procedures, ensures that the facility is maintained in a safe, sanitary condition, reports any safety/sanitation/maintenance repair needs to administration, and recommends the purchase of materials, supplies, and equipment necessary to the operation of the program.
  • Reporting Requirements: Oversee and ensure that all six (6) month and annual provider reviews are completed and submitted to the appropriate party or parties.
  • Medical Services: Ensures any changes in medical status are immediately reported to the appropriate residential service provider, and takes necessary emergency action when necessary to safeguard individual’s health.
  • Planning and Coordination: Plan, organize, coordinate, and integrate prescriptive therapeutic programs and activities into the most appropriate natural environments.
  • Treatment Team Planning: Participates as a member of a multidisciplinary team, for the purpose of coordinating evaluation, diagnosis and treatment planning for participants, oversee the determination of long/short-term treatment objectives and goals and integrates with other treatment services, and oversee the development and implementation of individualized prescriptive programs and procedures for remediation of developmental delays or deficiencies.

Support Services

  • Maintenance of Facility: Ensures that staff is working with individuals to train independence in household chores, assigns staff to complete everyday cleaning activities such as sanitizing the bathroom, laundry, etc.
  • Rules and Regulations: Familiar with and complies with all state rules and regulations that govern developmental disability agencies and participates in the review of GSDC policies and procedures on a periodical basis.
  • Record Keeping: Ensures that necessary program documentation is completed in a timely and accurate manner in keeping with GSDC policy.

Communication

Appropriate Use of Logs/Written Documentation: Trains staff, and appropriately uses, communication logs. Records messages for other staff, initials all posted inter–staff communications after reading the material, reads residential log books and relays necessary messages back and forth.

Personnel

  • Staff Supervision: Supervises all developmental specialists and developmental therapy technicians.
  • Developmental Program Training: Demonstrates specific therapy techniques related to the long and short term objectives, participates in staff training procedures, makes special needs known to administration.
  • Skill Development: Attends workshops or inservice training sessions designed to increase knowledge/skills as a supervisor.
  • Meetings: Attends a variety of meetings as directed by administration.

Minimal Qualifications

  • Experience: At least two years of delivering developmental disability services and three years of supervisory experience.
  • Knowledge: The purpose and administration of developmental and standardized assessment instruments; human growth, and developmental patterns; developmental disabilities such as intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and autism; learning theories and principles, various remediation and treatment programs; individual and group developmental therapy and habilitative intervention techniques, methods of maximizing development through habilitative and rehabilitative techniques; the functions and contributions of allied health fields such as medicine, psychology, social work, speech and hearing, occupational therapy, physical therapy; and the principles and practices of supervision.
  • Skills: Strong interpersonal, organizational and time–management skills, including the ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously. Administer and score standardized and non–standardized developmental assessment instruments; elicit information from individuals with developmental disabilities and/or delays and their families; analyze and interpret the results of instruments; develop measurable objectives and make recommendations for treatment; develop and/or adapt prescriptive treatment programs to meet individual’s needs; determine effectiveness of various developmental programs and evaluate progress toward treatment goals; select appropriate resource materials to facilitate multidisciplinary team; conduct individual and group therapy sessions; read and interpret complex materials; establish and maintain effective working relationships with individuals, their families, and department personnel; prepare and maintain required reports and documents.