DC - Director of Behavioral Services

## Description
TCGDC’s mission is to prepare general education and special needs students for college, career readiness, and citizenship in their community by providing:

• Personalized, supportive educational plans
• A reassuring constructive learning environment
• Nurturing accountability and fostering academic achievement
• Safe transportation hubs across the city
• A true sense of community

At TCG DC, we aim to give each child the foundation they need to become well-rounded, healthy individuals, equipped with a solid education and important life skills. We prioritize the full scope of each child’s developmental needs, including physical, mental, speech, and social-emotional, to ensure that they reach their fullest potential. To do this, TCG DC employs on-site social workers, teacher’s aides and assistants, occupational and speech therapists, as well as special education teachers.

**What This Role Does**

The Director of Behavioral Services leads the behavior motivation model that keeps students safe, regulated, and ready to learn. This leader supervises and mentors the behavior team, keeps daily practice compliant with COMAR, MSDE, and OSSE requirements, and trains staff across the school. The Director partners with the IEP coordinator, student LEAs, families, and community providers—and serves as the school's go-to behavioral resource.

**Key Responsibilities**

Behavior Support and Intervention

• Champions proactive behavior management strategies that create emotionally and physically safe spaces for students.
• Develops replacement behaviors and identifies alternate behaviors aligned with each student's IEP and Behavior Intervention Plan.
• Actively monitors and supervises interventions with physically aggressive or self-injurious students for safety.
• Helps staff understand the root causes of challenging behaviors and coaches effective, strength-based interventions.
• Assists with FBA/BIP development, monitors implementation, and participates in IEP meetings as requested.
• Keeps practice aligned with the school's Positive Behavior Intervention Model and PBIS, with parent input built in.
• Uses continuous data collection and analysis to guide decisions.

Supervision and Team Leadership

• Provides direct supervision, modeling, and mentoring to the Behavior Coordinator, Behavior Specialists, and therapeutic behavior aides, in coordination with the principal or designee.
• Facilitates behavioral meetings and case study reviews with the behavior team.
• Reviews classroom management programs as part of an interdisciplinary team and coaches classroom staff on effective techniques.
• Supervises data collection, entry into the school-wide Information System, and completion of Student Intervention Reports.
• Assists team members in crisis intervention and provides in-class support for students who need it.

Regulatory Compliance

• Aligns daily practice with COMAR, MSDE, and District of Columbia/OSSE regulations.
• Builds and monitors systems that keep resource instructors and therapeutic behavior aides compliant with required notifications and documentation.
• Works with the IEP coordinator and student LEAs so service delivery meets the standards of every jurisdiction the school serves.

Training and Professional Development

• Identifies training needs and develops learning experiences for teachers, teaching assistants, therapeutic behavior aides, social workers, resource instructors, and related service providers.
• Serves as an instructor in The Children's Guild College of Transformation Education and the school's weekly professional development.
• Completes the Pre-Service Training Program, demonstrates competency in the prescribed behavior management program, and participates in campus and agency in-service training.
• Maintains licensing and continuing education requirements.

Family and Community Partnership

• Makes sure parents, families, and providers receive timely, relevant information about their students.
• Offers parents the opportunity to work with the BCBA on home behavioral programs that align with the student's educational plan.
• Serves as a behavioral resource to parents, community providers, and the greater school community.
• Integrates the Transformation Education philosophy into the school's behavioral practices, including staff and student culture card meetings.
• Attends evening meetings as requested and takes on other duties that support students and the school.

## Qualifications
**What You Bring**

Required

• Master's degree or higher from a behavior analysis program or a similar program. Additional relevant experience may be considered in lieu of degree requirements.
• Certification—or eligibility for certification—in crisis management and CPR/First Aid.
• Significant knowledge and experience with behaviors associated with emotional disabilities and autism in children in grades K–12.
• Leadership skills, sound judgment, and the stamina to work with children in a dynamic environment.
• A commitment to developing the potential of others—and the interpersonal skills to do it.

Preferred

• Experience supervising behavior staff in a nonpublic special education or therapeutic school setting.
• Experience with PBIS implementation, trauma-informed care, and data systems such as SWIS. Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA or BCBA-D), or eligibility to achieve certification.

**Position Details**

• Supervises the Behavior Coordinator and Behavior Specialists, and aids in coordination with the principal or designee.
• Reports to the assigned work location outlined in the offer letter or based on organizational need.
• Physical demands: frequently stands, walks, sits, reaches, climbs or balances, stoops, kneels, crouches, or crawls, and talks or hears; frequently lifts and/or moves more than 75 pounds. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

**Compensation and Benefits**

The salary range for this role is $95,000–$115,000, based on experience and qualifications. The Children's Guild offers a full benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, retirement plan options, generous paid time off, and professional development support.

**Competencies**

To perform the job successfully, an individual will retain accountability for the following Key Result Areas (KRAs).

Note: The KRAs are the measurable outcomes tied to the specific responsibilities outlined in the JD. Only designate a responsibility as a KRA if you are consistently measuring it.

Key Result Area #1: Responding to Mindset in Behavior

1. Demonstrates pro-active use of behavior management strategies that provide emotionally and physically safe spaces for students to regulate their behavior.
2. Identifies alternate behaviors to be taught to the students that align with Individual Educational Plans and Behavioral Intervention Plans.
3. Actively monitors and supervises interventions with physically aggressive or self-injurious students for safety.
4. Analyzes the therapeutic impact of interventions for students in distress. Facilitates case reviews/studies with therapeutic behavior aides regarding behavioral interventions.
5. Develops replacement behaviors to meet the emotional and physical needs of children in distress.
6. Assists staff with understanding the root cause of aberrant behaviors and effective interventions to reduce/eliminate these behaviors.
7. Assures the methodology of practice aligns with the school's Positive Behavior Intervention Model.
8. Assures the therapeutic focus is strength-based to maximize academic performance.
9. Utilizes continuous data collection and analysis to make decisions.

Key Result Area #2: Management of Behavioral Services in the School

1. Assures that parents, families, and providers are contacted in a timely manner with information relevant to their students.
2. Provides behavioral supervision to all therapeutic behavioral aides in a timely and effective way.
3. Facilitates behavioral meetings.