In This Section

• Welcome
• The Role
• Job Requirements
• Support You Provide
• Avoiding Assumptions
• About EBI
• Training
• Documentation, Communication and Regulations
• Communication
• Advocacy, Empowerment and Self-Determination
• Community Inclusion and Relationships
• Active and Fulfilled Days
• Using Behavior Support Plans
• Supporting People with Health Care Needs
• Work Environment
• Who Makes a Good CLA
• Who Should Avoid this Position
• What CLA's Say
• Is Being a CLA for You?

Welcome to the Realistic Job Preview for the Community Living Assistant Position!

We are so glad that you are interested in the Community Living Assistant position with East Bay Innovations (EBI).

The purpose of this realistic job preview is to give you information that will help you decide if this is the right job for you. It is important that you know about the rewards and the challenges of working as a Community Living Assistant for people with developmental disabilities (such as cerebral palsy and autism) before you accept a position.

In this realistic job preview we will look at:

• What Community Living Assistants do
• What the job requirements are
• Examples of different job tasks in actual work life
• What EBI is like as an employer
• What the difficulties and rewards of being a Community Living Assistant are
• What staff training opportunities are available at EBI
• What current Community Living Assistants say about their jobs

This job preview includes stories of Community Living Assistants and the people they support. These stories are based on situations that you may confront as a Community Living Assistant. The names and places have been changed. These real life examples are in the gray boxed areas throughout this realistic job preview.

By the end of this realistic job preview you should be able to answer the following questions, which will help you decide whether or not this type of work would be a good fit for you.

• What attributes do you think will make you a good candidate for working as a Community Living Assistant?
• What challenges do you think you will face as a Community Living Assistant? What supports will you need to deal with these challenges?
• Which parts of the job do you think you will enjoy the most?
• What about working for EBI appeals to you?

When people accept jobs at EBI and then leave them after a short amount of time, it can be very difficult for the people needing support, because they will again have to get used to a new person assisting them in important and personal parts of their lives. It is also difficult for their families, for your co-workers and for EBI. Because of this, we hope that this realistic job preview provides the information you need to make a good decision about whether or not to work at EBI as a Community Living Assistant.