Mental Health and Wellness InternAt — Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast

Students will assist in creating and supporting the mental health and social emotional programming at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast.  Students will participate in behavior observations, and will provide direct support to individual members in the group setting at the club. Students will work with Director of Mental Health and Wellness and other club staff to create and implement behavior plans for members demonstrating challenging behaviors.  Students will collaborate with non-profit partners in programming and will support mental health and wellness workshops in the after school program and teen center.  Interns will create and implement social emotional curriculum in after school programming.   Interns will support staff in implementing trauma-informed practices to support members during after school programs.  

Tasks:
The intern will build positive relationships with members, understand and implement behavior plans, and creation of SEL lessons for after-school and tween programs.

Training

Lead intern through volunteer orientation, reviewing safety standards, confidentiality policies, and child abuse prevention policies

Provide opportunities for student to shadow different staff at different clubs to see how universal behavior interventions can be implemented

Meet with intern weekly to review their work from previous week and to identify goals for following week

Provide opportunities for student to engage in professional development opportunities and community workshops on mental health

Provide training and support in areas of lesson development and delivery of social emotional learning

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the internship, the student will be able to...

Implement universal interventions to support positive behavior in group settings

Demonstrate an understanding of ways members communicate through behavior

Create and implement social emotional programming

Use trauma-informed practices when interacting with youth in group settings