Working Iowa: 40 full-time, part-time positions open at Four Oaks in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - The focus at Four Oaks is on children and their families. They help clients work through behavior management, skill-building and other concerns in life. It has locations all across Iowa with more than 600 employees. Each of them has a passion for working with kids and helping them succeed.

Right now, there are about 40 part-time and full-time positions open in the Cedar Rapids area. That includes youth counselors and caseworkers.

“The youth counselor, I would say is more of a direct care type of position. So they’re going to be working directly, of course with those clients, on behavioral management, skill-building, right there with them, so they can identify problems and work through those problems,” said Tom Blankenheim, a hiring manager with Four Oaks. “The caseworkers, family support specialists, they’re probably out working those cases, maybe visiting with the homes and the parents, doing everything that they can to make the situation work.”

Youth Counselors are considered entry-level positions. While you’ll need at least a high school diploma of GED, you’d get most of the training on-site. Some of the higher-level positions would require a bachelor’s degree.

“As you get into some of those higher-level positions, that’s when the state’s probably going to want you to have some prior experience that’s relative, perhaps a Bachelor’s degree or something of that nature relate to this specific line of work,” he said.

But no matter the education, tolerance and patience are attributes you must have. You’ll be guiding a child on a path to success. Something that’ll be rewarding for you and that child in the future.

“That individual comes up and says ‘just wanted to let you know that you really helped me...you got me on the right path and here I am today because of all the hard work and efforts that you put in,” Blankenheim said.

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