YOC Youth Advocate

Responsibilities

YSS is looking for a motivated, detail oriented, approachable YOC Youth Advocate to join our Youth Opportunity Center (YOC) team! During assigned, you will supervise, provide support, and establish rapport with Youth Opportunity Center participants including those in Emergency Bed, Drop-In, and Rapid Rehousing, while providing an atmosphere of safety and mutual respect. Participants will be young adults 16-24 who are experiencing homelessness, at risk of becoming homeless and/or recently housed. The Youth Advocate will work to ensure all basic needs of the participants are met, and that they are provided with a safe, stable environment in which to work towards stability. Additional responsibilities include:

• Conducting intakes with new youth and orienting them to the YOC.
• Providing program information to potential clients, referral sources, and other groups, both in person and over the phone, as needed. Maintain potential client waitlist documentation.
• Building a rapport with all youth that access the YOC
• Overseeing client activities such as chores, laundry, wake-up, and personal hygiene and being aware of clients' presence and behavior at all times.
• Assisting clients with basic needs such as food, clothing, bedding, personal care products, laundry, and safety.
• Assisting and tracking inventory of household supplies, personal care products, and food items.
• Cleaning out vacated rooms: bagging and labeling personal items, washing bedding, sweep/mop/sanitize entire room.
• Entering daily data into Service Point, including intakes, services and case notes.
• Communicating with Primary Health Care about program vacancies.
• Working at least one shift on the weekend.
• Providing pro-active follow-up home visits for Rapid participants, at least twice monthly, to ensure continued stability and progress towards self-sufficiency; this includes support, advocacy, reducing isolation, problem solving, and identifying resources to help participants reintegrate into the community.
• Teaching skills around independent living, i.e. thermostat, setting up utilities, grocery shopping, cooking, use of kitchen appliances, cleaning best practices, what does and does not go in a toilet, setting up mail service, cable/internet, being a good neighbor, how to follow a lease.
  
  

Please note that this description is not intended to be a complete list of the responsibilities required for this position. Duties may change at any time, with or without notice.

For more about Homeless Youth Services at YSS, please visit https://www.yss.org/program/homeless-youth-services/.

What you can expect in return...

In addition to having the opportunity to do meaningful, mission-driven work, YSS also offers the following:

Benefits Provided To ALL YSS Staff

• An exciting, welcoming workplace
• Bright, collaborative, supportive, colleagues
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Employee recognition/years of service program
• Training opportunities
• Personal wellness programs
• Pet insurance discounts
• Qualification for the PSLF
  
  

Benefits Provided To FULL TIME Staff Include

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance
• Supplemental accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity insurance
• Accrued PTO, plus paid time off for holidays, your birthday, and volunteering
• Retirement options (terms apply)
  
  

MUST HAVES - Required Qualifications

We want to create a world where youth are valued and empowered to stand strong. To do this, we ask our staff to embrace YSS core values - Commitment, Collaboration, Compassion, Innovation, Integrity, and a “Can Do” Spirit. Additionally, we ask for the following:

• A High School diploma or higher.
• Two (2) or more years of full-time experience in the human services field. Experience may include:
• First Aid and CPR certification,
• Crisis intervention,
• Child and adolescent development,
• Individual or group counseling,
• Motivational interviewing,
• Trauma informed care and harm reduction.
• Knowledge of the needs of youth who are unhoused or precariously housed and the ability to implement intervention strategies.
• Travel, including transporting clients, is required for this position. For YSS insurance purposes, you must:
• be 21 years of age,
• have a valid, state-issued, driver’s license,
• have a clean driving record, and
• have adequate insurance coverage per YSS policy.
  

SHOULD HAVES - Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in a human services field can substitute for years of experience.
• Collaborative and able to work effectively with others regardless of backgrounds, identities, and goals.
• Able to convey information effectively, regardless of setting or audience; able to initiate conversation; experience with public speaking.
  
  

The IDEAL Candidate

• Is patient and calm under pressure and able to deal with challenging situations with a good attitude.
• Is customer/client focused and understands the basic principles of providing quality service.
• Can establish and maintain positive and effective working relationships.
• Speaks a language(s) in addition to English.
• Has the ability to draw on their own lived experience to support others on the journey to stability, recovery, and healing.
  
  

About YSS...

One of Iowa's oldest and largest, youth-serving, nonprofit organizations, YSS's mission is to create hope and opportunity by putting kids first. Our programs impact tens of thousands of youths and families each year. We offer education to build healthy minds and bodies; counseling to overcome life’s challenges; and stability to focus on the future. Our diverse leadership team brings together a wide range of specialties and expertise, all dedicated to our mission.

Headquartered in Ames and located across Iowa, our sites are not cookie-cutter models—we tailor our services to fit the highest needs of each community. And we are still growing. YSS is constructing Ember, a 50-acre recovery campus in Central Iowa that will offer shelter, crisis stabilization, and residential addiction treatment for youth and young adults.

Our goal is to create a continuum of care—together, with programs give youth the tools they need to succeed their entire lives. Work for YSS and you too can have a positive impact in the lives of young people.

Helpful to Know

YSS is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. We believe that our strength lies in the unique perspectives and backgrounds of our employees. We strive to create an environment where all individuals are treated with respect and have equal opportunities to succeed. Our ongoing efforts to promote diversity and inclusion are central to our mission, and we are dedicated to continuous improvement in these areas.

YSS is a nicotine-free workplace.

The YSS Hiring Process

Communication with applicants is done primarily via email from our Paycom system. Please check your messages regularly. If you don’t see messages in your inbox, please check your spam/junk folder. If you have questions about your application, please email recruitment@yss.org.

• Application - All applicants are required to complete an online application. The application is considered complete when all questions have been answered, all required documents (resume, waivers) have been submitted, and the application has been electronically signed.
• Assessment – As they are received, applications are reviewed for education, experience, and licensure (if required). If the required qualifications are not met, the application will be declined.
• Interview – Depending on the number of applications received, we may choose to do initial phone interviews. Otherwise, we will move directly to in-person or Zoom interviews.
• References – Applicants moving forward after their interview are asked to submit three references, which YSS then contacts.
• Pre-employment Screening – Applicants are required to submit background check waiver forms at the time they apply. YSS conducts a Single Contact Repository (SING) background check on all final candidates. All offers of employment at YSS are contingent upon clear results of the SING. The SING provides authorized organizations online access to Iowa Criminal History and Sex Offender Registry information held by the Department of Public Safety/Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Department of Human Services (DHS) Central Abuse Registry for Child Abuse (CA) and Dependent Adult Abuse (DAA), as well as Professional License information. YSS also requires a clean driving record for positions that provide transport. Verification will be done through the records of the state that issued the current license.
• Offer – Applicants selected for hire will receive a formal offer of employment via email with instructions of how to reply.
• New Hire Meeting - The offer email will provide details on how to set up this meeting. You must schedule and attend this meeting before you can begin working or getting paid.