How to hire a therapeutic support staff

How to hire a therapeutic support staff, step by step

Here's a step-by-step therapeutic support staff hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a therapeutic support staff job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new therapeutic support staff
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the therapeutic support staff you need to hire. Certain therapeutic support staff roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A therapeutic support staff's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, therapeutic support staff from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of therapeutic support staff salaries for various roles:

   Type of Therapeutic Support Staff	Description	Hourly rate
   Therapeutic Support Staff	Social and human service assistants provide client services, including support for families, in a wide variety of fields, such as psychology, rehabilitation, and social work. They assist other workers, such as social workers, and they help clients find benefits or community services.	$12-20
   Clinical Social Worker	A clinical social worker is a professional in social work, which provides help to individuals in need of improving their lives and their well-being. Clinical social workers must work with different individuals to help them address difficulties that they are trying to overcome... Show more	$20-44
   Social Worker	Social workers help their clients get through problems that they may be facing. Social workers help identify individuals or groups of people, usually families, who may need assistance, generally through a set of pre-determined criteria... Show more	$17-32

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Autism
   • Social Work
   • Rehabilitation
   • Emotional Support
   • Mental Health
   • Compassion
   • Mental Health Interventions
   • BSC
   • Behavior Management
   • ABA
   • Autism Spectrum Disorder
   • Behavior Analysis
   • at-Risk Children
   • BHRS

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Earn reputation for working with some of the most trouble adolescents in district using compassion and patience to achieve goals.
   • Observe patients and strategically prepare and manage clinical analysis of individuals and their progress in conjunction with formulate behavior goals.
   • Provide one-on-one interventions, including crisis intervention, behavior management support, emotional support, time-structure activities, and psychological rehabilitation.
   • Implement specific ABA therapeutic interventions that are developed to stabilize and improve the child's behavior.
   • Experience working with children with ADHD, autism, and a variety of other behavioral health disabilities.
   • Provide behavioral interventions within the community and home to children with autism or other emotional support needs

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your therapeutic support staff job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A therapeutic support staff can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, therapeutic support staff' average salary in mississippi is 44% less than in hawaii.
   • Seniority. Entry-level therapeutic support staff 36% less than senior-level therapeutic support staff.
   • Certifications. A therapeutic support staff with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a therapeutic support staff's salary.

   Average therapeutic support staff salary

   $16.39hourly

   $34,086 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level therapeutic support staff salary

   $27,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

4. Writing a therapeutic support staff job description

   A job description for a therapeutic support staff role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a therapeutic support staff job description:

   Therapeutic support staff job description example

   We are currently seeking a part time (16-20 hours per week) Therapeutic Training and Support (TT&S) staff member in our In Home Therapy program. The hours are Monday through Friday, between 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. This schedule will change based on the clinical needs of assigned families.
   *We are offering a $1,000 sign on bonus!*
   
   Therapeutic Training and Support (TT&S) is a service provided by a qualified Therapeutic Training & Support Staff working in collaboration with an In Home Therapy Clinician (IHTC) to support implementation of the licensed clinician's treatment plan to assist the youth and family in achieving the goals of that plan. The Therapeutic Training and Support staff member assists the clinician in implementing the therapeutic objectives of the treatment plan designed to address the youth's mental health, behavioral and emotional needs. This service includes teaching the youth to understand, direct, interpret, manage, and control feelings and emotional responses to situations and to assist the family to address the youth's emotional and mental health needs. Phone contact and consultation are provided as part of the intervention.
   
   The ideal candidate will provide medically necessary services to children with Severe and Emotional Disturbance (SED) in the home and community settings to children referred from the following MassHealth Managed Care Entities (MCEs); Boston Medical Center, Beacon, HealthNet Plan, Fallon Community Health Plan, Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership, Neighborhood Health Plan, and Network Health.
   
   In Home Therapy Services may be provided in any setting where the youth is naturally located. This position is responsible for implementation a care/action plan based upon the child and families voice, choice, and needs under the guidance of an In Home Therapy Clinician and team recommendations. The position requires the ability to work flexible hours, including some evenings (no later than 8:00 p.m.) to meet the clinical needs of the child and family. Also the position requires the ability to engage and work with others from diverse backgrounds and the ability to maintain a non-judgmental attitude with families is required.
   
   Paperwork requirements and timeframes of MBHP, the five Mass Health Managed Care Entities, (MCE's) and the agency must be maintained.
   
   Education and Experience:
   
   A Bachelor's Degree in Social Work, Psychology, Counseling or a related field from an accredited school preferred.
   
   Portuguese and Spanish speaking applicants are encouraged to apply.
   
   All employees must successfully pass a CORI background check.
   
   Family Service Association is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
   
   Family Service Association is a comprehensive private, non-profit social service agency dedicated to the development and implementation of services designed to provide strength and support to individuals and families throughout southeastern Massachusetts. Headquartered in Fall River, Family Service Association strives to increase the capacity of individuals and families to cope with the stresses of family life and interpersonal relationships in a positive, productive and health-improving manner. This agency is a leading provider of professional social services in the South Coast region of Massachusetts, with a 125-year tradition of high quality.
   
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5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find therapeutic support staff for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your therapeutic support staff job on Zippia to find and recruit therapeutic support staff candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit therapeutic support staff, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new therapeutic support staff

   Once you've found the therapeutic support staff candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new therapeutic support staff first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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