Youth Advocate

PURPOSE:
Youth Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) services are focused on improving or ameliorating the significant functional impairments and sever symptomatology experienced by youth due to mental illness or serious emotional disturbance. Clinical and rehabilitative interventions are also focused on enhancing family functioning to foster health/wellbeing, stability and re-integration for youth who are returning home after residential treatment or in-patient hospitalization. The Youth ACT Team is a multi-disciplinary team and works together to provide family-driven, youth-guided and developmentally appropriate services to comprehensively address the needs of youth within the family, school, medical, behavioral, psychosocial and community domains.

Position Overview:
The Youth ACT Family Peer Advocate (Youth) works as part of a multi-disciplinary team to provide treatment and support services to families and children, ages 10 to 21, who have significant behavioral health needs and who are at risk of entering, or returning home from high end services, such as inpatient settings or residential services. The role involves providing highly individualized services focused on clinical treatment, family psychoeducation, and skills development. The Family Peer Advocate (Youth) provides services primarily to the youth and their families in their homes and communities and collaborates closely with other service providers and systems with which the Youth interact. The role will require some evening availability.

KEY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS include but not limited to:

• Be willing to use personal experience within the youth peer advocacy interventions with family served.
• Provide advocacy with providers across the child serving system to raise awareness, reduce stigma, engage families in and coordinate services.
• Educate youth about self-help techniques and self-help group processes.
• Provide psychoeducation to youth in treatment.
• Providing individual skill development to youth related to the behavioral health needs of the child/youth.
• Teach effective coping strategies based on personal experience and assist in the development of community support systems and networks
• Support Youth in developing skills to effectively manage their behaviors and assist them to navigate the multiple systems involved
• Work to identify formal services and informal resources for Youth that are culturally affirming who are experiencing social-emotional, behavioral, or mental health challenges.
• Assist Youth with identifying the challenges they face, their strengths and areas of improvement/goals
• Monitor and document the Youth progress, to track progress in accordance with agency and regulatory bodies' policies.
• Collaborate with care providers and community supports to help Youth track their progress towards meeting their goals.
• Participate in multi-disciplinary team meetings, staff meetings, training, and supervision as required.
• Maintain all documentation according to the standards and time frames established by the Jewish Board, regulatory agencies and/or funding sources
• Maintain professional behaviors and ethical standards as established by licensing board, relevant professional association and the Jewish Board policies and procedures.
• Using an electronic database, document demographic data on all individuals seen, document and track family’s goals, and all services provided to parent/caregiver; participates in quality improvement activities.
• Perform these services in the family’s home, youth’s home, community, office space.
• Since this is an evolving program, other tasks and duties may be assigned.

CORE COMPETENCIES for the position include:

• Excellent engagement skills
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Attention to detail
• Ability to work independently as well as with a team
• Ability to work with diverse social, cultural, and economic groups.

EDUCATIONAL & TRAINING REQUIREMENTS:

• High School Diploma or Equivalency.
• Specialty credentialing in advocacy (Provisional) can be obtained during the probationary period.
• Certification must be obtained within one year

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED/LANGUAGE PREFERENCE:

• Lived experience of mental health challenges.
• Background in advocating mental health and/or in the educational system.
• Bilingual Spanish/English Preferred

COMPUTER SKILLS REQUIRED:

• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office, ability to learn electronic health records and other software as required

VISUAL AND MANUAL DEXTERITY:

• The candidate is able to read paper and electronic documents and perform significant data entry into various computer programs.
• Manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination to travel independently using public transportation.

WORK ENVIRONMENT/PHYSICAL EFFORT

• Frequent travel throughout the assigned borough (Bronx, Queens, Staten Island); infrequent travel throughout NYC
• The work environment varies from office-based interaction with co-workers and members (20-40% of the time).
• Serving members in their homes and in other community settings (e.g. hospitals, clinics, benefit offices) 80% of the time. While the offices of the Jewish Board are accessible in accordance with the ADA, the sites to which staff may need to travel may or may not be.
• Performing the essential functions of this job, the candidate must be able to travel within New York City carrying equipment such as a laptop, and cell phone weighing up to approximately 10 pounds.
• Perform the essential functions of this job; the candidate is routinely required to sit (30% of the time), stand (35% of the time), and travel to and from appointments using varied public and private transportation options (35% of the time).
• Risks/hazards associated with the position are those which may be encountered when traveling around New York City. Frequent travel throughout Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island.
• The position is currently hybrid, with a minimum of three office days and a minimum of two hybrid days, (subject to change) and may transition to 100% in-person based on program needs.

We are an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.