The Connect Center
Position Description
Position: Youth and Family Advocate
Position Summary:
The Connect Center Youth and Family Advocate will work with TCC colleagues to build community awareness about The Connect Center services for youth with unstable housing and low-income families and will collaborate with community partners to maintain and strengthen a shared network of current and new services. The Youth and Family Advocate will provide intensive case management for youth with high barriers to finding and maintaining housing stability and with homeless youth that have significant mental health and substance abuse issues through the Youth Connections Program. The Youth and Family Advocate will provide intensive case management with low-income families that have significant mental and/or physical health issues and have high barriers for finding and maintaining housing stability. For all clients, the Youth and Family Advocate will help them to secure and maintain financial and housing stability and help them to build healthy community. The Youth and Family Advocate will develop and lead classes and activities for clients to help them achieve their goals. The Youth and Family Advocate will work with TCC Volunteer Coordinator in the recruitment, training, supervision, and recognition of volunteers for TCC programs. The Youth and Family Advocate will assist Connect Center colleagues and volunteers to lead the Kids Connection After School and Summer Programs.
In addition to providing intensive case management, the Youth and Family Advocate will work as a team member in developing and evaluating client programs and services, tracking program data and showing program impact.
Minimum Entry Level Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in human services or social work field
- Knowledge of available community resources
- Understanding of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
- Ability to work with diverse populations
- Sensitive to the needs of low-income populations
- Ability to work with and advocate for parents with children of all ages
- Knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel
- Ability to network with community partners, collaborate with other agencies and positively represent the agency
- Ability to work independently as well as work as an effective team player
- Ability to plan and implement program services to provide the best possible services for clients
- Ability to plan and implement classes and events for volunteers
- Ability to work with and manage volunteers and provide volunteer training
- Demonstrated capacity for leadership and community relationship building
- Must have driver’s license and own transportation
Responsibilities:
Youth and Family Advocate providing services for youth ages 13-24 with housing instability:
- Build community awareness of youth homelessness and housing instability
- Engage community to be actively involved in serving youth with housing instability
- Collaborate with community partners to help prevent youth homelessness and to better serve youth with housing instability
- Develop resources for new services for unhoused and at-risk youth
- Assist with outreach services for youth that have unstable housing or are unhoused
- Assist with supervision of volunteers that are mentors for TCC youth clients
- Provide professional services to youth coming to the Drop-In Centers establishing trusting relationships with them
- Assess immediate needs of each youth as they access the agency through phone calls, referrals, walk-ins. Provide for immediate needs as able with resources available to staff
- Organize, coordinate and provide classes, activities and events to strengthen positive youth and community interactions.
- Provide an assessment by evaluating a variety of areas including but not limited to basic skills (educational), vocational skills (employment), personal development (emotional, social, physical and spiritual), basic needs (housing, transportation, food, clothing, childcare and safety) and parenting skills if youth are parents
- Develop a plan with each youth based on the assessment. The plan will be an individualized goal-based plan with the ability to track progress toward success.
- Conduct Coordinated Entry Assessments with youth as needed and enter data in HMIS
- Maintain all youth files
- Enter youth information and outcome data into a data base system
- Track and report statistics for youth served monthly
Youth and Family Advocate providing services for low-income families:
- Provide a continuum of case management services for low-income families including intensive long-term case management, short and long-term limited case management
- Assess immediate needs of families that reach out to the agency through phone call, walk-in or referral. Provide for immediate needs as able with resources available to staff
- Provide an assessment by evaluating a variety of areas including but not limited to basic skills (educational), vocational skills (employment), personal development (emotional, social, physical and spiritual), basic needs (housing, transportation, food, clothing, childcare and safety), and parenting skills.
- Develop a plan with clients based on the assessment. The plan will be an individualized goal-based plan with the ability to track success. Each plan will include needs and goals of the individual(s) as requested.
- Conduct a Coordinated Entry Assessment with clients as needed and enter data in HMIS
- Work to establish trusting relationships with clients
- Connect clients to community resources and other agencies to further their individual goals and strengthen healthy community building
- Organize, coordinate and provide classes, activities and events to strengthen positive family and/or community interactions
- Distribute donated items to clients as available in an equitable manner
- Assist with the Kids Connections After-School and Summer Program including the supervision of volunteers that help with these programs as needed
- Assist the TCC Volunteer Coordinator in the recruitment and management of volunteers.
Documentation, development and evaluation of programs and program participants:
- Maintain necessary case records
- Provide all requested information to track progress
- Enter client information and outcome data into data base system
- Solicit feedback as appropriate from participants and volunteers
- Track and report statistics for participants and volunteers monthly
- Work with Executive Director and TCC Team to improve programs for efficiency and effectiveness as well as developing new programs and services
- Work with Executive Director and TCC Team to evaluate programs and services
- Work with Executive Director and TCC Team to develop improved methods for demonstrating program impact
Communication and Teamwork:
- Meet on a regular basis with Executive Director and TCC Team
- Attend regular staff meetings
- Attend small group staff meetings for individual programs that pertain to position
- Work in partnership with other agencies, faith communities, and organizations as applicable to provide service and collaboration to meet the needs of the participants in the program.
- Assist with Connect Center communications and office management.
- Supervise interns
- Work to maintain and strengthen a culture of teamwork and positive work culture
Self-Development:
- Establish and carry out plans for professional development
- Evaluate accomplishments and areas for improvement for professional growth with supervisor
- Attend and participate in training opportunities
Other duties may be assigned as required by the needs of the agency, program or supervisor
Salary range:
41K to 44K for 1 FTE
To Apply: Send resume and cover letter to cindyparsons@theconnectcenter.org
The Connect Center provides help for a more secure and connected life for youth with unstable housing and for low-income families through programs of long-term relationship based social services.
Company Name: Job Category: Position Type:
The Connect Center Human Services Full-time
609 5th Street S.
Stillwater, MN 55082
651-231-7807
www.theconnectcenter.org