What are the responsibilities and job description for the Youth Engagement Specialist position at Center for Alternative?
Job Summary:
CASES seeks a youth-focused Engagement Specialist for its Supervised Release Program (SRP) pretrial community case management services. The youth-focused Engagement Specialist will primarily work with justice system involving 16–27 year-old participants (though may be required to carry a small caseload of adult participants as needed). The Youth Engagement Specialist will be expected to practice engagement with new SRP participants-including conducting intake follow up with new SRP participants within 48 hours of a participant release from Manhattan Criminal Court arraignments. During post intake engagement, the Engagement Specialist’s foremost priorities will be to connect their SRP participants to prosocial activities, meet their court obligations, and engage in meaningful relationship development. Working with the young-adult population requires flexibility, creativity, and persistence, and the Engagement Specialist will be expected to engage with their participants (and individuals in their identified support networks) both at the office and in the community to open new opportunities. The safety of our participants and staff is paramount as we continue to see our work make an impact and grow. This position is based in the Harlem office and necessitates field work in the larger NYC community.
Salary: The salary for the role is $50,000 – 55,000 per year.
Shift Hours: This position is full-time
What you will be doing:
- Develop trusting/transformative relationships with Pre Trial-Participants and have contact with youth 2-3 times per day.
- Assess life areas related to housing and other critical, immediate needs by leveraging support services to remove barriers and assist participants with achieving independence and overall self-sufficiency.
- Accompany participants to social support and community-based services, as needed.
- Establish and maintain collaborative relationships with community providers and critical partners in the program’s network. This will require regular direct community engagement in the service area.
- Participate and facilitate in office programming, as well as attend trips and activities with PACC staff and participants.
- Consistently assess and collaborate with participants and program colleagues to determine any goals and/or areas of need that participants require support with.
- Be capable of effectively engaging with high-risk and vulnerable participants who present with mental health symptoms, substance use concerns, complex trauma histories and other challenges.
- In a coordinated manner, prepare participants for their eventual exit from the program by providing structured aftercare services focused on resolving remaining connections prior to discharge.
- Work collaboratively with the team to identify community barriers to returning to court or maintaining agreed upon court mandated supervision schedule.
- Serve as liaison with pretrial court services team to assist with confirming referral made and linked to support mitigation and court advocacy efforts.
- Appropriately and punctually document all direct service activities into the ECM/SalesForce database.
- Engage in individual and group supervision to case conference high-risk participants and complex cases to provide best quality of care and services to participants.
- Any other duties as required by the Program Director and/or Direct Supervisor.
What we are looking for:
- A willingness to adhere to an evolving model with the understanding that PACC is intended to be different from traditional Supervised Release.
- A belief that PACC participants have the ability and capacity for change.
- Strong communication skills.
- An understanding of who PACC serves and the environments they live in.
- Spanish speaking a plus.
- Individuals with lived experience strongly encouraged to apply.
Workplace Flexibility
- CASES offers a flexible work arrangement whenever possible for certain roles. We recognize that each CASES staff member is critical. We are a team strengthened by our diversity of backgrounds, perspectives, and talents and united by a common purpose.
- N/A for this role.
Benefits:
- Visit www.cases.org/careers/ to learn about benefits offered by the CASES, such as health insurance, retirement plan, paid time- off.
Although we would love to learn about the skills of every candidate, only selected candidates that are selected will receive a response. We encourage you to apply for any position(s) you feel you are qualified for.
CASES is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment with CASES is based solely on qualifications and competence for a particular position without regard to race, color, ethnic or national origin, age, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or marital, military, or citizenship status. We also actively recruit individuals with prior involvement in the criminal legal system.
Salary : $50,000
