New

Early Childhood Attachment Intern

D.A. Blodgett

mileage reimbursement

United States, Michigan, Grand Rapids

2172 Dean Lake Avenue Northeast (Show on map)

Apr 01, 2026

Early Childhood Attachment

ECA Intern

Job Summary, Position Details & Job Description

JOB SUMMARY

Job Title: Early Childhood Attachment Intern

Department: Early Childhood Attachment Program (ECA)

Reports To: Program Supervisor/Clinical Team Lead

Beginning Pay Range: N/A

Classification: Temporary

POSTING DETAILS

Display Name:	Early Childhood Attachment Intern	Temporary/Permanent	Temporary
Division:	Family Preservation Services	Class Status:	N./A
Prog./Dept.:	Early Childhood Attachment (ECA)	PTO Level:	N/A
Job Title:	ECA Intern	Salary/Wage Range	N/A
Reports To:	Early Childhood Attachment Supervisor	Pay Grade	N/A
Supervises:	N/A	Branch #	N/A
Campus:	Remote (Dean Lake)	Dept. Code	460

JOB DESCRIPTION

MISSION STATEMENT: To help children and empower families by providing safety, advocacy, and support.

VISION: A safe, nurturing home for every child, a supportive community for every family.

VALUES:

Exceptional Service: Client-focused and teaming at the center of our work.
Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion: All are welcomed, valued, and belong.
Excellence: Ongoing commitment to learning and improvement.
Integrity: Responsibility and ownership of our actions and results.
Creativity: Imagination, innovation, and intelligent risk taking.
Passion: Relentless positive energy toward our mission and vision.

SANCTUARY COMMITMENTS:

Nonviolence: Maintaining safety for all members of the community.
Emotional Intelligence: Managing emotions so we don't hurt ourselves or others.
Social Learning: Together we accomplish more, we care for one another.
Democracy: Everyone has a voice, not necessarily a vote.
Open Communication: Respecting and sharing ideas of our team.
Social Responsibility: Say what you mean, don't be mean when you say it.
Growth & Change: Creating hope for ourselves and the people we serve.

POSITION SUMMARY

Early Childhood Attachment Services is designed to provide home based parent-infant support and clinical intervention services to families and pregnant mothers where the parent's condition and life circumstances, or the characteristics of the infant, threaten the parent-infant attachment and consequent social, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive development of the infant. Services are designed to reduce the incidence and prevalence of abuse, neglect, developmental delays, behavioral issues, and emotional disturbances.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Coordinate with other ECA therapists and ECA supervisor to observe family sessions to help facilitate their own development.

Manage small caseload of families, based on future license expectations and ability, while meeting face-to-face client contact expectations typically over 2 to 3 visits a month. When a client goes between two or more homes or caregivers, the intern will divide their time between those settings based on needs of the child and caregivers

Able to meet clients with their families in non-traditional settings, (i.e. client's home or public place that can accommodate privacy) during hours that meet the family's needs.

Provides direct service to include intake, assessment, individual/family therapy, and crisis interventions to families and on time objective documentation of these services in the client record in the electronic record system.

Utilize the Infant Mental Health model, provide parent-child psychotherapy and play therapy interventions that best fit the family's needs based on your level of training.

Assess the needs of infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and their families. Monitor child development using developmental assessments at intake and as needed to assess progress.

Provide parents with education, resources and training pertaining to child and family development.

Participate in monthly team meetings, monthly reflective supervision and at minimum bi-weekly individual supervision with demonstrated ability to implement feedback from supervisor.

Complete agency required expectations such as mileage reimbursement by required deadlines. Additionally, therapist should keep Outlook calendar up to date with client appointments.
Complete progress notes within 7 days of service delivery.
Coordinate with supervisor to provide data and documentation to meet Ready by 5 contract expectations.
Staff will be accessible, maintaining flexible hours, at least 3 days a week. If staff is unavailable, he/she will arrange for a team member or supervisor to be available for clients.
It is expected that interns will work at least 16 hours per week.
Will complete a minimum of 24 child and family focused training hours per calendar year along with any agency required trainings.
Other responsibilities shall include those set forth in Agency personnel policies as amended.

Supervision Received: Specific Direction - Follows established work procedures. Receives periodic checks for performance. Refers unique questions/conditions to immediate supervisor.

Supervisory Responsibilities: No supervisory responsibilities.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Candidates must be enrolled in a master's social work, counseling, or marriage and family therapy program at a university.
Candidates should have or be willing to work toward a level II MI-AIMH Endorsement by starting on an IMH Waiver.
Acceptance of supervision in order to improve assessment, psychoeducation and treatment skills.
Must possess a knowledge of early child development and the common diagnoses and treatments for children. Knowledge of clinical issues related to foster and adopted children and families is preferred.
Candidate must demonstrate competencies in the following areas: observation of parent/child interaction, developmental assessment, child management and understanding of the parallel process in therapeutic work.
The ability to provide effective individual & family therapy skills and possess a knowledge of community resources and supports for young children and families, and the skills necessary to facilitate and encourage positive change towards treatment goals.
The ability to assess, implement crisis intervention skills and safety plan.

Page Break

Valid driver's license, good driving record and adequate insurance with a car available at all times.
Basic computer skills with knowledge of Microsoft Outlook and other software programs.
The ability to articulate ideas and prepare written reports and correspondence that are of a high professional standard, are grammatically correct and are timely according to program procedures.
Ability to collaborate with daycare, school, Department of Health & Human Services, behavioral health and medical health personnel.
Become familiar with and follow the code of ethics for your profession and agree to abide by the related agency policies.
Ability to be self-directed and autonomous while also operating as an interdisciplinary team.
Ability to work in a high stress and unpredictable environment.
The ability to work with a variety of clients, families and staff of differing socio- economic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds.
Personal qualities of warmth, sensitivity, and ability to establish meaningful therapeutic relationships.
Personal qualities of organizational skills, assertiveness, good judgment, conscientiousness, attention to detail, and timeliness.
A personal commitment to the Agency's mission and values as demonstrated in service delivery

CORE COMPETENCIES

Working Under Pressure: Ability to maintain composure when exposed to stress.

Communication: Ability to effectively receive and express ideas, both written and verbal; using clear and concise vocabulary and active listening skills. Ability to communicate with small and large groups and ability to communicate with a wide variety o

Integrity: Ability to adhere to organization policies and procedures, acting in a fair and just manner while maintaing confidentiality.

Decision Making: Ability to select and commit to an effective course of action by understanding issues, comparing solutions and drawing conclusions to resolve problems.

Reliability: Ability to be dependable , trustworthy , and committed to doing the best job possible and completyin work in a timely and consistent manner.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

Average Daily Physical Requirements	None	Less than 2 hours	2 to 5 hours	5+ hours
Work in stationary position
Move about work area
Use hands/fingers to handle or feel
Reach with hands and arms
Ascend/Descend (stairs/ladder/etc.)
Bend, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl
Communicate with various parties
Detect flavors or smells
Move containers up to [x] pounds
Visual acuity
Read and understand written word
Drive/Travel
Operate computer and general office machines
Operate machines or material handling equipment
Other:

Environmental Conditions:

Average Daily Environmental Conditions	None	Less than 2 hours	2 to 5 hours	5+ hours
Office Environment: No exposure to extreme heat, cold, noise, chemicals or hazardous equipment.
Manufacturing Environment: Exposure to dust, oil, various chemicals, solvents, or fumes.
Medical Environment: Exposure to body fluids, radiation, medical equipment, solvents or chemicals.
Noise: Exposure to constant or intermittent extreme sounds.
Temperature: Exposure to extreme heat or cold either indoors or outside.
Other:

DABSJ strives to be a fully inclusive organization as we support a diverse group of children and families. We are building a diverse team that represents our customers and our community and recognize that each of us brings a unique perspective to the organization. We welcome differing thoughts, faiths, beliefs, groups, and lived experiences. The diversity and differences of each team member, foster parent, adoptive parent, child, and family make us #DABSJstrongertogether for children and families.

DABSJ is an equal opportunity, at-will employer, and will not discriminate against employees or applicants for employment. DABSJ does not discriminate on the basis of race, including but not limited to hair texture and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks and twists; culture, ethnicity, religion, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, height, weight, marital status, veteran status, socio-economic status, disability, or other legally-protected characteristics as required by law.

This job description does not list all duties of the job. Employees may be asked by management to perform other duties as needed. The Company reserves the right to revise this job description at any time. This job description is not a contract for employment and does not infringe upon the Company's at will employment status.