Program Coordinator

Program Coordinator - Youth and Family Peer Advocate Workforce Expansion Program

Location: BCS “Greater Heights” Clubhouse - 980 Halsey Street | Brooklyn, NY 11207

Reports to: Division Director for Services for People Living with Disabilities

Hours: Full time - 35 hours per week, aligned with program operation hours,

M-F 9:00am-5:00pm Contract is scheduled to run from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026

Salary Range: $70,000 - $73,000

Program Summary

Founded in 1866, Brooklyn Community Services (BCS) is one of New York City’s largest and oldest poverty-fighting nonprofits. We partner with people of all ages to overcome obstacles on their paths to self-determination, through our afterschool, food, housing, literacy, ESOL, psychiatric rehabilitation, work readiness, and workforce development programs across more than 25 sites in Brooklyn. BCS serves approximately 20,000 individuals a year.

The Youth and Family Peer Advocate Workforce Expansion Program, a new program at BCS funded by the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), will unite a variety of BCS programs that have already employed and/or helped train Peer Advocates (such as the BCS Clubhouse, Youth Stand United, CHAMP Suicide Prevention, Sea Rise Shelter, Cortelyou Housing, and the East New York Family Enrichment Center) to work together to further champion, train, and expand the peer sector of the social services workforce. Peer Advocates are workers who bring specific lived experience to their work with program participants, to provide deeper cultural competency to service provision within programs.

Position Summary

The position of Program Director for the Youth and Family Peer Advocate Workforce Expansion Program is a leadership role which requires previous experience with training and managing Youth and/or Family Peer Advocates, and willingness to champion the value of their contributions to social and human services. Experience working with government contracts and the New York State and City Peer Advocate credentialing systems is also required, along with skill in cultivating strong partnerships with other peer-advocate-oriented, workforce development nonprofits.

The Program Director will work to unite a range of other BCS programs that already train or employ Peer Advocates (such as the BCS “Greater Heights” Clubhouse, Youth Stand United, CHAMP Suicide Prevention, the Sea Rise shelter, Cortelyou Housing, and the East New York Family Enrichment Center) to work together and collaborate with up to six external community partners to get the word out about what Peer Advocates do and how they get trained (the Peer Advocacy Credentialing Campaign). The Program Director will review candidates’ responses to this campaign and recruit a minimum of 48 candidates for Peer Advocate certification, shepherding these candidates through Peer Advocate training programs in New York City and State. The Director will also oversee the disbursement of stipends to Peer Advocates in training, to incentivize their ongoing progress through credentialing coursework, to graduation and full certification. At least 30 of the minimum of 48 recruits will start the peer training process, and at least 15 of these are required to finish the training within the contract term, which may be extended up to 3 years to complete these goals.

Responsibilities:

• Provides supervision and coverage for one part-time direct report, a credentialed Youth or Family Peer Advocate, whose office will be housed along with the Program Director’s, within the BCS Greater Heights Clubhouse building
• Oversee the day-to-day activities/events that are part of the outreach and required Scope of Work of this program, including but not limited to public presentations, marketing campaigns, and Town Hall / Orientation Day type events to introduce general public to Peer Advocate work and credentialing
• Ensure programming activities are designed to achieve, and are achieving, measurable goals in line with BCS mission and OMH contractual obligations;
• Attend and/or facilitate regular meetings with BCS Division Director, partner agency leaders, Peer Advocate candidates, and workforce development stakeholders
• Oversee and monitor BCS Apricot 360 database to ensure program is meeting contract compliance reporting, enrollment numbers and rates of participation, including pulling weekly ROP/ADA and enrollment reports to review in supervision with program staff and Division Director;
• Oversee the recruitment, training, scheduling, performance evaluations, and stipend distributions for all Peer Advocate candidates, including those trained on site at participating community partner agencies’ work sites;
• Participate in cross agency working groups and committees to achieve agency goals; attend training seminars, division staff meetings, and community meetings as needed.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Social Work (MSW) or equivalent Master’s Degree preferred; Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, Social Work, Education, or other relevant field with Peer Advocate supervisory experience (3 years or more) required.
• Proficient in typing; responding to emails, and phone calls
• Computer skills: Microsoft Office; Google Docs; Spreadsheets; and Calendar Development
• Excellent leadership, communication, supervisory and team-building skills, including the ability to motivate, set goals, delegate responsibilities, and manage staff performance so as to ensure effective service delivery in accordance with organizational goals and program contracts.
• Must undergo pre-employment screenings such as the Criminal Background Check required by OCFS/DOH

BCS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.

Salary : $70,000 - $73,000