Supervising Children's Residential Care Counselor

Salary : $105,336.95 - $128,023.94 Annually
Location : Santa Rosa, CA
Job Type: Full-Time
Job Number: 26/10-3024-O
Department: Human Services Department (HSD)
Opening Date: 10/07/2026
Closing Date: 10/19/2026 11:59 PM Pacific
Bargaining Unit: 70

Position Information
Advance your career while supporting the health and wellbeing of our community's youth.Become a Supervising Children's Residential Care Counselor!

Starting salary up to $61.34/hour ($128,023/year) plus a competitive total compensation package!*

The Supervising Children's Residential Care Counselor (SCRCC) serves as an integral member of the Valley of the Moon Children's Center's (VMCC) interdisciplinary team and is responsible for promoting and modeling the VMCCs mission, vision, and values while providing direction, leadership, and supervision to residential staff. They will also provide training, coaching, and oversight to Children's Residential Care Counselors (CRCC) who oversee the provision of daily needs for youth and implement trauma-informed care practices and policies. Additional responsibilities include:

• Supervising and managing line staff who provide for the needs of children who may be dependent, complexly traumatized, aggressive, abused, or neglected
• Evaluating the performance of subordinate staff and providing feedback, training, and performance management
• Supporting youth in understanding and implementing natural and logical consequences, setting limits for behavior, and developing new, healthier coping mechanisms
• Overseeing and providing support for positive youth development, including improving social skills and self-care practices, maintaining proper living standards, and caring for personal hygiene
• Passing medication to individual youth according to written instructions from the prescribing medical professional
• Overseeing staff who plan and implement small and large group activities, including life and coping skill development, recreational activities, play, study activities, and field trips
• Supervising and engaging children with care, curiosity, and compassion
• Observing the emotional and physiological conditions of youth, assisting in the development of resources, and making referrals to the appropriate community agencies
• Reviewing and updating client data in various databases systems
• Restraining youth, when appropriate, for the safety and protection of themselves and others, using established protocols
• Ensuring that safety plans and the Individual Crisis Management Plan (ICMP) are developed, updated, understood by staff, and in practice
• Participating in crisis de-escalation and containment, and mediating disputes among youth
• Documenting ongoing service delivery in accordance with program requirements, including quality youth progress, youth activity, and shift notes

The ideal candidate will possess many of the following:

• Multiple years of experience working in a residential program or other environment that required highly organized client supervision
• A degree in child development, child psychology, behavioral and social psychology, sociology, social casework, social welfare, or counseling and guidance
• Experience leading staff in a fast-paced and ever-changing work environment
• The proven ability to monitor and intervene in high-risk behaviors and handle crisis
• Experience in supervising staff, and coaching and implementing trauma informed practices with youth in the workplace
• An understanding of the impact trauma has on a child's mental health as well as the physiology of the brain and development
• The ability to document incidents and staff issues clearly and concisely
• Experience working with youth who have sustained significant trauma
• An understanding of cultural competence and diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Experience, education, and knowledge with Trauma Informed Care Practice and secondary trauma in the workplace
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Basic computer skills including Outlook, Word, and Excel

Please Note: VMCC operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, therefore the ability to work evenings, weekends, and holidays is required. Applicants must be willing to undergo a thorough background investigation, psychological evaluation, fingerprinting, criminal history, and a medical and physical abilities examination prior to employment.

This recruitment is currently being conducted to fill a full-time Supervising Children's Residential Care Counselor position in the Human Services Department. This employment list may also be used to fill future full-time, part-time, or extra-help (temporary) positions as they occur during the active status of the list. Qualified candidates who wish to be considered for future positions should consider applying to this recruitment.
Application submissions require the Supplemental Questionnaire to be completed.

Minimum Qualifications

Experience: Completion of one year of full-time experience at the level of Care Counselor II with Sonoma County.

Education: Completion of sixty semester units at an accredited college with at least nine semester units in child development, sociology, behavioral and social psychology, social casework, social welfare, counseling and guidance, child psychology or a closely related field in behavioral science would provide an opportunity to acquire the knowledge and abilities listed.

Two years of full-time experience equivalent to the level of Care Counselor I with Sonoma County may be substituted for thirty semester units of coursework.

License: Possession of a valid California driver's license at the appropriate level, including necessary special endorsements, as required by the State of California to perform the essential job functions of the position.

The position advertised on this announcement requires possession of a valid California Driver's License.

Additional Requirements: Candidates certified for employment must be willing to undergo and successfully complete an in-depth background investigation, including a psychological evaluation, finger printing, a criminal history check, and a medical examination.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Knowledge of: sociology, behavioral and social psychology; social casework, social welfare, counseling and guidance, child development, behavioral and related sciences; relationship to personality development, behavior patterns, motivation and group and family dynamics; psychological, behavioral, cultural factors and child development as they relate to dealing with dependent, abused or neglected children; typical child and youth behavior patterns and methods of guidance, counseling and modification of behavioral patterns; management and supervisory techniques that motivate and encourage the staff and Home assignees; apply the techniques of effective supervision.

Ability to: communicate orally and in writing, listen actively; relate to a wide variety of individuals from different socio-economic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds; make and record detailed observations; oversee the completion of essential reports; establish and maintain effective working relationships with subordinates, Resident children, supervisors, health and social services providers, families, volunteers, foster parents, law enforcement agencies, other departments and the public. Exercise good judgment and adopt effective courses of action in emergency situations; direct the activities of Care Counselors I and II in emergency situations; apply First Aid to children and staff; train and coach staff in all aspects of their job responsibilities.

Supervise the effective control of the home population; the bathing, dressing, feeding and provision of recreation to the children; work different shifts and on weekends and holidays; restrain children for the safety and protection of themselves and others.
Selection Procedure & Some Helpful Tips When Applying

• Your application information and your responses to the supplemental questions are evaluated and taken into consideration throughout the entire selection process.
• You should list all employers and positions held within the last ten years in the work history section of your application. Be as thorough as possible when responding to the supplemental questions.
• You may include history beyond ten years if related to the position for which you are applying. If you held multiple positions with one employer, list out each position separately.
• Failure to follow these instructions may impact your competitiveness in this process or may result in disqualification.

Please visit to review more detailed information about the hiring process, including the application process, examination steps, and department selection process.

Application submissions require the Supplemental Questionnaire to be completed.

Responses to supplemental questions will be scored using position-specific criteria. Please provide specific and detailed responses of a reasonable length to allow for a thorough assessment of your qualifications. Responses that state, "See Resume" or "See Application" may be considered insufficient and therefore may not be scored.

The selection procedure will consist of the following examination:

An Application and Supplemental Questionnaire Appraisal Examination (weight 100%) will be conducted to evaluate each applicant's application and supplemental questionnaire for satisfaction of minimum qualifications (pass/not pass); and for educational coursework, training, experience, knowledge, and abilities which relate to this position. Personally identifiable information (PII) is removed from the standard application fields and applicable attachments. This PII blind screening practice redacts a candidate's personal information that could potentially influe