What are the responsibilities and job description for the Substance Use Prevention Project Associate II position at Kenneth Young Center?
Substance Use Prevention Project Associate II
Kenneth Young Center is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit dedicated to providing comprehensive outpatient behavioral health services to individuals of all walks of life. Located in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, we offer a wide range of services including outpatient therapeutic care, recovery-oriented support, community prevention, LGBTQ outreach, older adult services, and crisis intervention. Our team welcomes and celebrates unique perspectives and represents the diversity and vitality of our local communities. Join our team to grow in your career while building stronger, healthier communities.
Kenneth Young Center offers a robust benefit package that is highly competitive to the market and offers all full-time employees the following:
- 403(b) plan with organizational matching
- Medical Insurance (Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois - BCBS)
- Dental (BCBS), and Vision Insurance (BCBS) with low employee premiums
- Long Term and Short Term Disability (BCBS), no cost to employee
- Flexible Spending Account (with annual rollover)
- Basic life insurance (50k) paid for by the organization and option for additional voluntary coverage for self, spouse, or dependents (BCBS)
- Incentive program with potential for quarterly bonuses
- Opportunity for annual bonus and salary increase (discretionary based on annual KYC financial audit)
- Eligibility to participate in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)
To further promote an active and healthy work/ life balance, KYC also offers a generous amount of paid time off and staff holidays.
- 4 weeks of Paid Time Off (With increases based on seniority)
- 8 Paid Organization-Wide Holidays
- 3 Personal Floating Holidays annually
Job Scope: KYC’s Community Collaborations Division is looking for an outgoing, energetic individual who enjoys working with community sectors and advocates for culturally relevant LGBTQ , BIPOC-centered youth programs, school-based programming, and youth leadership development projects. Must thrive working in a highly participatory team environment.
The position primarily entails providing training, technical assistance, and implementation of at least three out of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) strategies to decrease youth substance use and increase community collaboration, conducting educational workshops and presentations, assisting with tabling at community health fairs and festivals and overseeing the creation of content and resources for newsletters and social media. The position is grant funded and is subject to the availability of funds.
Program Responsibilities:
The position is not a work from home position. A DCFS background check must be cleared to confirm a job offer for this position. Reliable, insured transportation is necessary for community outreach, presentations, meetings, and community engagement—ability to work in a fast-paced environment where objectives may pivot due to unforeseen circumstances.
- Focus prevention training and technical assistance on positive youth development and SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) evidence-based strategies as assigned by Regional Substance Use Prevention Integration Center (RSUPIC) grant
- Work collaboratively within a team to utilize SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework process to provide training and technical assistance to community sectors according to grant deliverables.
- Work collaboratively with various community sectors, as determined by program requirements and community needs.
- Research, develop and evaluate a service plan.
- Engage and support prevention organizations in the area to integrate substance use prevention into their existing services.
- Facilitate a regional advisory board to advise on the service plan created and implemented.
- Provide consultation related to best practices in prevention to schools and/or community organizations.
- Plan, create, facilitate, and evaluate ongoing prevention activities and youth leadership opportunities with program participants and organizations.
- Promote the Illinois Youth Survey and provide implementation assistance as needed.
- Accurately collect quantitative and qualitative data for reports and other documents required by KYC or the funder.
- Attend mandated training and workshops.
- Meet with a supervisor as scheduled.
- Participate in required and supplemental professional development opportunities.
- Follow best practices as defined by the project’s funder.
- In compliance with grant rules, proactively plan and collaborate in all community efforts with other division projects with shared objectives for greater reach.
- Participate in agency-wide meetings
- Other duties as assigned
Work Environment:
- Travel between offices, meeting outside of Illinois and to other locations in the community will happen on a regular basis.
- At times it will be necessary to attend meetings and events in the evening and on weekends.
Travel Requirements:
- Have a valid driver’s license, own vehicle, and proof of insurance.
- The employee must travel by personal automobile between office locations several times monthly as well as throughout suburban Cook County (the grant’s service area).
- Employee is required to travel to statewide meetings and trainings in Chicago, Springfield, Bloomington, or Joliet (sometimes requiring overnight travel).
- Some out-of-state travel to national training may be required.
- The employee must be able to transport youth or clients safely in their vehicle or a KYC rented vehicle as needed
Minimum Position Requirements:
- Associates or higher degree in a related field (public health, health education, social work, psychology, sociology, communications, education, etc.), Certified Alcohol and Other Drug Counselor (CADC), or equivalent experience in addition to the required experience below(e.g., at least seven years of work experience if your highest level of education is a high school diploma or GED).
- Minimum 5 years’ experience in any of the following (or combination thereof), with at least 2 years of substance use prevention experience: community organizing, coalition building, community outreach, youth services, other prevention fields (e.g., violence, sexual abuse, teen pregnancy, etc.), program development, interviewing/assessment, and/or presenting/facilitating trainings.
- Experience in harm reduction and recovery support services preferred.
- Experience using Microsoft Office and working on grant-funded programs.
Schedule:
- Full–Time, Exempt, 37.5-hour work week in the Schaumburg – Algonquin Road office. Modified workweek (occasional 37.5 hours in 4 days are considered and approved by the Manager based on the division calendar). 7.5-hour workday determined by programming, minimum two evening commitments per week expected.
- Some evening and weekend hours are required based on the annual work plan and division program events; staff will flex their hours to not exceed 37.5 hours, according to the agency’s policy.
Kenneth Young Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer
