What are the responsibilities and job description for the Youth Development Specialist position at Family Support Services of Amarillo?
Job Description
Job Description
Salary : Hourly DOE
Family Support Services
Job Description
Position Title : Youth Development Specialist
Responsible To : Strengthening Families Program Coordinator
Position Status : Full Time Regular, Non-Exempt
This position successfully addresses the needs of youth in our community by creating partnerships with private and public agencies, community groups and individuals, and youth themselves to fund and implement creative, supportive and free programs.
Prevention Specialist General Job Description : The Prevention Specialist position will provide education services for youth enrolled in the Strengthening Families program and on our partnering community and school sites; this position includes the task of leading the Sounds of Success Program which utilizes beat making as an expressive arts intervention strategy to engage youth in a unique way about hard to address issues such as bullying, coping, resiliency, self-worth / esteem and teen dating violence.
This position is also responsible to develop and implement innovative mental health prevention and awareness, suicide prevention, campaigns development, connection to mentors, Alcohol, Tobacco, and other Drugs (ATOD) and violence prevention activities and programs for youth. This will include facilitating small-Medium sized skills groups, community outreach, and the implementation of a summer program.
Position requires broad collaboration and coordination with other service providers throughout Potter and Randall counties with a focus on vulnerable populations and areas most at-risk.
Essential Duties :
- Provide direction for the development and monitoring of a goals and objectives plan in conjunction with the youth and their family.
- Provide advocacy services.
- Refer participant to appropriate community resources.
- Stay up to date on trends affecting youth and families.
- Collaborate and coordinate with other service providers as appropriate.
- Maintain documentation and records as required and in a timely manner.
- The planning and implementation of age-appropriate skills. groups / activities / programs on a regular basis that address youth issues.
- Work as a team member to provide support during all SFP activities (these are typically 2 evenings per week (5pm-8pm) for periods of 8-10 weeks.
- Oversee / be a team member for the Sounds of Success Program.
- Be a team member and lead facilitator for both the Parent Caf program and WOW for youth
- Be a team member to host awareness events during relevant awareness months such as mental health and domestic violence awareness months.
- Be ready to engage with youth and families in prevention efforts using programs such as but not limited to :
Mindfulness for teen depression- learning to energize your mind, body, and soul, quiet your inner bully and connect with others : This book focused on developing positivity skills, short chin-ins and relaxations, muscle relaxation, healthy eating and strategies for coping with social drama.
Beyond the blues- help teens overcome depression, deal with sad feelings, be more assertive, make new friends and to get help when you need it.
The worry workbook : This includes effective CBT strategies to break the cycle of chronic worry and anxiety, toss junk mail thoughts, learn to tolerate uncertainty, and face your fears.
The resilience workbook for teens gave us a lot of activities to help teens gain confidence, manage stress, and cultivate a growth mindset. In these workshops we did several interactive exercises all to help teens to embrace who they are, bounce back from adversity and achieve their full potential.
Real as Me Group with girls and boys : Staff will use the workbooks created by youth communication to help small groups of girls and boys figure out who they are and who they want to be. These groups were designed to challenge the messages from family, friends, and society about who they think they should be. The lessons were self-directed and allowed students to individually and with their group facilitator work through inner thoughts about anger, self-concept, trauma provoking relationships and how to recover and lean on resiliency.
Required Qualifications :
A little more about Strengthening Families :
The Strengthening Families Program is a 10-session, evidence-based parenting skills, childrens social skills, and family life skills training program specifically designed for high-risk families. Parents and children participate in SFP, both separately and together. Group Leader Manuals contain a complete lesson for every session. Parents and childrens Handouts and a meal are also provided for every session.
A little more about SOS :
THE ARTISTRY AND CULTURE OF HIP HOP HAS SIGNIFICANT REAL-WORLD APPLICATIONS, YET ITS POWER TO ENGAGE, UNIFY, HEAL, AND GIVE VOICE HAS OFTEN BEEN OVERLOOKED, PARTICULARLY IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS.
SOUNDS OF SUCCESS (SOS) DIRECTLY ADDRESSES A LACK OF CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE EDUCATIONAL, THERAPEUTIC, AND SOCIAL INTERVENTIONS FOR PEOPLE OF ALL AGES BY BRINGING OUR MOBILE MUSIC PRODUCTION STUDIO TO THEIR DOOR / CLASSROOM.
Desired Skills & Abilities :
Performance Indicators :
