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Directions for Living
Largo, Florida

Counselor Baby Cat

CounselorFull-Time

Listed compensation

$80k

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

Ask the employer about the work setting, call expectations and weekend coverage.

Posted 52m ago · Verified live

Job Description

Job Details: Job Location: Largo Center - Largo, FL, Salary Range: Undisclosed, Salary: $80,000/year We offer: Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Short Term and Long-Term Disability. 5 days of PTO 16 Wellness Days and Holidays - Including the week of Christmas off!

Do you envision working for a dynamic, mission-driven organization which supports the community while fostering an employee culture of appreciation and fun? If your answer is yes, then an employment opportunity at Directions for Living may be a great fit for you!

We offer an excellent salary and benefits package to include employer paid health insurance premiums for all full-time employees, PTO and paid company holidays, 403b retirement, EAP, and year-round employee wellness and appreciation initiatives.

POSITION SUMMARY: This is a professional clinical position providing counseling and services adults and families in the Baby CAT program under the Families First Division.

BabyCAT is a community service program that works in-home with parents that are seeking to understand their children's behaviors, keep their children safe, reduce the potential of incurring child welfare, DJJ, or other involuntary or court system involvement and focuses on parents or caregivers that have at least one child age 0-5.

The Counselor for Baby Children's Action Team is a position providing clinical interventions directed at safety concerns that bring the parent or caregiver to the attention of child welfare, and utilizing natural supports, community supports, and input and resources from other community partners or professional agencies.

The Counselor for Baby Children's Action Team functions as a member of an Integrated Decision Team (IDT) consisting of the Counselor, a Behavioral Health Case Manager, and an IDT facilitator.

In additional to clinical interventions, the Counselor for Baby Children's Action Team is responsible for ensuring the youth and family have an individualized treatment plan that is strength based and built collaboratively with each member of the IDT team during the IDT session.

The treatment plan, risk level, and clinical interventions are developed by the Integrated Decision Team that consists of the family, natural supports, and formal supports that care about and know the youth and family best.

Each IDT member, including the parent and caregiver, contributes valuable knowledge, expertise and perspective that informs the treatment plan and clinical response.

In addition, the Counselor for Baby Children's Action Team is responsible for reporting and discussing at IDT's the youth or families progress/lack of progress, barriers, interventions, safety issues, or any other information important in resolving the safety concerns that bring the youth and family into treatment.

The Counselor for Baby Children's Action Team ensures services are delivered using standards of trauma informed care principles, and that plans and clinical interventions address issues regarding how trauma impacts family functioning, and that plans and interventions use trauma resolution skills.

The Counselor for Baby Children's Action Team ensures that services are Culturally & Linguistically Competent and are tailored to the unique culture of the child and family.

The Counselor for Baby Children's Action Team will ensure that clinical services occur in the community at a place convenient and comfortable for the family. This is a field position. The Counselor for Baby Children's Action Team is responsible for meeting an annual client facing client care number of 1,316 hours.

Achieving the minimum required weekly, monthly and annual client facing client care hours is an essential function of this positon. Directions for Living is an essential services provider.

All Directions for Living employees must be willing and able to provide vital support and essential services to the people that we serve in the event of an emergency, pandemic or other disaster situation.

Qualifications

EDUCATION EXPERIENCE/REQUIREMENTS: Master's degree in counseling, Psychology, Social Work or related field required. CAP certification preferred Must take the Wraparound for Clinicians Training (3-hours) within 30 days of employment.

Preference will be given to individuals who have taken the 3-hour Wraparound for Clinicians training.

Must have sufficient clinical knowledge to provide clinical intervention with adults and children who manifest a range of psychopathology, utilizing various treatment approaches including individual, family, play, and group therapy, individual psychopathology and normal childhood development.

Have sufficient clinical knowledge of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Trauma Focused- CBT and other evidence-based treatments. Must acquire knowledge of community resources. Experience with families and children. Early Childhood Education Experience preferred.

EOE/ADA/DFW Smoke Free Campus info.flclearinghouse.com For the safety of all clients and team members, please remember that Directions for Living is a private business and weapons or firearms are not permitted in any of our facilities. If you carry a weapon, it must remain secured in your vehicle (ref: Fla. Stat. 790.251).

Key Responsibilities

Provide clinical counseling and in-home interventions for families with children aged 0-5 to ensure safety and reduce child welfare involvement. Collaborate within an Integrated Decision Team to develop and implement strength-based treatment plans.

Requirements

Requires a Master's degree in counseling, psychology, social work, or a related field. Must possess clinical knowledge of evidence-based treatments and be willing to perform field-based work.

Qualifications

Education
Master's degree (postgraduate degree)
Experience
2+ years of experience

Key Skills

Family therapyPlay therapyChild developmentCase managementCrisis interventionTreatment planningCommunity resource coordinationWraparound servicesCultural competenceLinguistic competence

Counselor Career Context

Of the 50 active Counselor listings this role was benchmarked against, 40% are remote, 38% have no call, 56% require no weekends.

In Florida, the Counselor weighted monthly median benchmark on WeekdayDoc is ~$71k (118 salary observations; 346 listings), vs ~$74k nationally (2,533 salary observations; 7,212 listings). Monthly aggregates cover 2025-12-01 through 2026-10-01; these are not the modal's selected comparable-job medians.

The cost-of-living index for Florida is 103.4 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$80k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $77k in an average-cost state. 58.1% of Florida clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Directions for Living ranks #6 of 22 employers hiring Counselor on WeekdayDoc by average advertised pay, and holds silver-tier status on the Top Employers work-life index, composite score 72/100, 16 active listings.

Location & Logistics

Florida has no state income tax, which can significantly increase take-home pay compared to high-tax states. At the posted ~$80k midpoint, that is roughly $3k–$6k a year versus a typical 4–7% state rate.

Top Counselor Jobs

41 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution41 jobs · 31 employers

12
<$70k
8
$70k-85k
11
$85k-100k
7
$100k-115k
3
$120k

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks32 jobs · 31 employers

401k / retirement match
94% this job
Loan repayment
34%
CME allowance
31%
Sign-on bonus
25%
PSLF eligible
22%

Share of similar jobs offering each benefit

#1

Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC)

Gotham Enterprises · Boulder City, Nevada

$115k-$120k
#2

Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)

Gotham Enterprises · Hampton, Virginia

$115k-$120k
#3

Virtual IOP Therapist - California (Internal Hire)

$80k-$120k
#4

Licensed Clinical Therapist (LCSW, LPC, LMFT)

$84k-$113k
+ 39 more · ranked by pay

Work-life snapshot

median 6.2this job 3.0
Better work-life than 20% of Counseling listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 13,751 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

Living in Largo

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$401k≈ 5.0× annual pay
Typical market rent
$1,833/mo≈ 27% of gross pay
Residents’ average commute
25 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
100.9
State income tax
None
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Aug 2026), Zillow market rents (Aug 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

BEA 2024 · Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

Ratios use this listing’s gross annual pay. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.

Directions for Living logo

About Directions for Living

Mental Health Care
Clearwater, Florida
201-500 employees

Benefits & Perks

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Short Term and Long-Term Disability
5 days of PTO
16 Wellness Days and Holidays - Including the week of Christmas off
403b retirement
EAP
Year-round employee wellness and appreciation initiatives