Animal Visitation & Therapy Program Associate

Job Description - Animal Visitation & Therapy Program Associate (250001VD)

Job Description

Animal Visitation & Therapy Program Associate - ( 250001VD )

Description

This is a PRN position that will be covering evening and weekends.

Children's National is seeking an innovative, dynamic and highly organized individual to assist in the expansion, ongoing development and maintenance of Animal Visitation & Therapy programs in the Child Life and Integrative Care department. The Animal Assisted Intervention Specialist will work with the Animal Visitation and Therapy Program Coordinator to maintain, implement, and execute Animal Assisted Intervention services at Children's National, keeping focus on performance standards that achieve departmental goals. The Specialist will be responsible for the daily coordination of volunteer animal visitation while also supporting the expansion of Children's National facility dog initiatives. Will ensure compliance with regulatory standards and Children's National policies, while implementing new strategies to provide a safe, therapeutic and robust Animal Visitation & Therapy program.

Qualifications

Qualifications Minimum Education

Bachelor's Degree Psychology, Behavioral Science and Health, Child Life, Social Work or related field. (Required) Or

Master's Degree Psychology, Behavioral Science and Health, Child Life, Social Work or related field (Preferred)

Minimum Work Experience

1 year Related experience with children and adolescents, preferably in a health care environment. (Required)

Required Skills / Knowledge

Excellent communication, training, and organizational skills required.

Ability to comfortably work with internal and external customers from diverse social, cultural and educational backgrounds.

Ability to listen, be empathetic, motivate and follow-through.

Ability to identify and work collaboratively with diverse teams in a complex environment.

Flexibility and ability to work on weekends and off-hour shifts.

Experience working with children, adolescents and young adults

Current owner of a facility dog trained and evaluated to provide animal assisted interventions in a complex care environment. If not, willing to become an owner of a trained facility dog within first year of hire.

Required Licenses and Certifications

Professionally licensed within chosen field (Preferred) Certified Animal Assisted Intervention Specialist (C-AAIS) 1 Year (Required)

Functional Accountabilities

Animal Visitation Programs

• Responsible for assisting in the daily coordination of the volunteer animal visitation program.
• Orients and trains new animal visitation program volunteers to ensure a robust and healthy animal visitation program.
• Coordinates schedules and adjusts duration of animal visitation to accommodate patient volumes and referral requests.
• Prioritizes patient referrals for animal visitation after ensuring required documentation and physician consents obtained.
• Regularly shadows animal visitation volunteers to ensure compliance with established policies and procedures.
• Clearly communicates program expectations and goals to animal visitation volunteers, providing regular and consistent feedback on individual performance and participation in animal visitation program.
• Models appropriate interactions with various patient populations for animal visitation volunteers to support optimal patient and dog engagement.
• Monitors and maintains daily visitation log for statistics and infection control tracking purposes.
• Ensures adherence to infection control and safety protocols by animal visitation volunteers in compliance with Animal Visitation & Therapy program policies and procedures.

Facility Dog Management

Performance Improvement

Organizational Accountabilities

Organizational Accountabilities (Staff)

Organizational Commitment / Identification

Teamwork / Communication

Performance Improvement / Problem-solving

Cost Management / Financial Responsibility

Safety

Primary Location

Primary Location

: District of Columbia-Washington

Work Locations

Work Locations

: CN Hospital (Main Campus) 111 Michigan Avenue NW Washington 20010

Job

Job

: Non-Clinical Professional

Organization

Position Status : R (Regular) - O - PRN

Shift : Variable

Job Posting

Job Posting

: Jul 10, 2025, 7 : 39 : 58 PM

Full-Time Salary Range

Full-Time Salary Range

: 48588.8 - 80974.4

Childrens National Hospital is an equal opportunity employer that evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, identity, or other characteristics protected by law. The “Know Your Rights” poster is available here : and the pay transparency policy is available here : Know Your Rights Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Poster.

Please note that it is the policy of Children's National Hospital to ensure a “drug-free” work environment : a workplace free from the illegal use, possession or distribution of controlled substances (as defined in the Controlled Substances Act), or the misuse of legal substances, by all staff (management, employees and contractors). Though recreational and medical marijuana are now legal in the District of Columbia, Children's National and its affiliates maintain the right, in accordance with our policy, to enforce a drug-free workplace, including prohibiting recreational or prescribed marijuana.

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