Life Skills Coach - THPP

About Bill Wilson Center:
Bill Wilson Center provides services to children, youth, young adults, and families in Santa Clara County. Additionally, we reach clients through our street outreach and crisis line programs. Bill Wilson Center programs focus on housing, mental health care, supportive services, and advocacy. Bill Wilson Center is committed to working with the community to ensure that every youth has access to the range of services needed to grow to be healthy and self-sufficient adults. A key component of Bill Wilson Center's philosophy encompasses a strength-based approach to improving the lives of the youth and young families in our communities. Bill Wilson Center has been providing services to runaway and homeless youth since 1973. Join us and become a difference maker at Bill Wilson Center!  

Job Summary: 
Under the supervision of the Program Manager, the Transitional Housing Placement Program (THPP) Life Skills Coach plays a crucial role in supporting youth in residential transitional housing programs by providing guidance, encouragement, and practical instruction to help them achieve self-sufficiency and stability. This role involves working closely with and engaging foster youth to develop essential life skills, set personal goals, and navigate the challenges of transitioning to independent living. This role will primarily be supporting up to 6 male foster youth in the assigned transitional house for the overnight shift.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities:

• Assist in orientation of youth in the home and program.
• Assess for life skills, and plan and develop youth progress plans.
• Provide ongoing consultation and feedback to youth’s life skills development progress, and adjust progress plans as needed.
• Provide life skills coaching, supervision, and care for youth in THPP.
• Provide resources, handouts, flyers, educational pamphlets to youth based on need.
• Serve as an appropriate role model for youth.
• Build rapport with clients, practice trauma informed care and remain culturally competent.
• Provide individual and group support to residents as needed, as well as group activities such as cooking classes, employment support and prep, education navigation, conflict management, budgeting, self-advocacy, and developing other life skills.
• Complete daily documentation in AWARDS of youth interactions, 1:1 sessions, and client issues/progress.
• Ensure safety of youth clients in the house.
• Conduct room searches and confiscate unauthorized items as needed
• Maintain and dispense appropriate medications, and document on the Medication Administration Records.
• Prompt youth for attending school, work, and other appointments/activities as scheduled.
• Promote youth bonding by planning and leading recreational activities.
• Facilitate conflict mediations amongst residents as needed.
• Must be able to communicate effectively (oral and written), get along with coworkers, clients, and community partners, and deal effectively and professionally under pressure.
• Collaborates with other staff and stakeholders to support clients by designing relevant life skills support and education that will allow clients to address current issues or challenges.
• Prepare bedrooms for new youth intakes.
• Manage organization of the home and shared spaces (kitchen, living room, dining area, etc.)
• If on duty, conduct curfew checks and house security checks each night, and document each client’s whereabouts.
• Enforce and monitor for house rule violations and take action as necessary per program protocols.
• Gives instructions to clients regarding desirable health and personal habits.
• Support program structure, communicate with clients if structure is not being followed, follow-up with consistency and as appropriate.
• Assist the youth in maintaining the house by encouraging youth’s chore completion, notifying supervisor or Facilities Manager of any facility maintenance needs immediately, and ensuring the home is in good living condition.
• Attend agency and program meetings as appropriate.
• Promote safety and conduct regularly scheduled disaster drills with clients.
• Communicate and collaborate with case managers, house monitors, other support staff, and supervisors in regards to each youth’s progress, challenge areas, program compliance, house dynamics, and any other notable happenings with the youth. 
• Input client data into computer system.
• Arrive to the shift on time prepared to engage youth in life skills development.
• Participate in agency Performance Quality Improvement (PQI) activities and initiatives.
• Attend and complete required and assigned trainings.
• Other duties as assigned.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's Degree from a four-year college or university plus two years related experience and/or training or equivalent combination of education and experience. Experience working with culturally diverse youth required.  
• Current CPR and First Aid Certification required (or complete within 30 days of hire).  Valid California driver’s license with access to a personal vehicle with current insurance that can be used for company business. Fingerprinting/background check as required by the Department of Justice and/or Title XXII regulations. TB test required.
• Computer Skills: To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of Internet software; Spreadsheet software and Word Processing software. Internet research skills are a plus.

Required Skills/Abilities:

• Language skills: Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals.  Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.  Must be able to communicate effectively in English. Bilingual fluency in Spanish and English highly desired. 
• Mathematical Skills:  Ability to work with basic mathematical concepts as required for reporting.
• •    Reasoning Ability: Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.

Physical Demands:

• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; stand, use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms and talk or hear. The employee is required to stand and walk. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision and ability to adjust focus. The employee may be required to clean or help the youth clean their space including laundry, vacuuming, and using cleaning chemicals to clean kitchen and bathroom surfaces. 

Work Environment:

• Work environment consists of office work, working in the THPP home, and traveling between sites. 
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. 

Salary Range:
$24.00-$26.00 per hr.

Employee Benefits & Perks:
We offer a generous compensation package for full-time employees that includes the following:

• 4 Weeks Accrued PTO
• 14 Paid Holidays Per Year
• Paid Health, Dental, Vision & Voluntary Life Insurance Plans
• Flexible Spending Plans for Medical, Dependent Care, Parking and Transit
• 401 (K) Retirement Plan
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Program
• Upward Career Mobility 
• Discounts and Savings through Tickets At Work and LifeMart  

EEO:
Bill Wilson Center is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

This position description intends to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. It is not intended to include all duties and responsibilities. The order in which duties and responsibilities are listed is not significant. Because of a need to remain responsive to the needs of our clients and our Agency’s operations, responsibilities may be modified at any time.

Salary : $24 - $26