Youth Employment Counselor for Housing Program

Waking the Village Youth Employment Coach
Overview
Waking the Village's Youth Employment Coach connects youth experiencing homelessness (18 to 24 years old) to meaningful employment and education as they stabilize housing. Youth partner with both a Youth Employment Coach and a Case Manager to pursue career and education goals while also strengthening housing, wellness, and health. The program serves primarily youth experiencing homelessness that identify as LGBTQ and parenting youth, two subpopulations experiencing unique barriers to employment.

Overview of Youth Employment Coach’s Responsibilities
The Youth Employment Coach provides case management around Career and Education so that youth each year receive profound interventions and support to accelerate toward career. Duties include:
1. Provide weekly career counseling to each youth that includes career interest and strength inventories, job shadowing, and engagement in short term work projects that reveal strengths and challenges.
2. Coordinate with WTV case managers to tackle barriers tangential to employment success such as housing, legal concerns, wellness, and childcare.
3 . Design and lead employment cohort meetings where youth address challenges, share successes, and develop community bonds that normalize the hard work of journeying toward careers.
4. Lead a Career Incubator: WTV works to ensure the first step is a thrilling one. Too often job programs center on resume and interview workshops, but never offer opportunities to practice the soft skills of holding down a job or becoming an entrepreneur. We welcome someone who brings a vision for community projects, pop ups, or other practice grounds. In the past, we have had cohorts that develop skills in music recording, peer counseling, preschool teaching, and video work. Lots of possibilities for cohorts.
5. Connect each youth to best fit education opportunities and an exploration of college.
6. Locate long term job opportunities with employers: Employment coaches work with each youth to identify a best fit job opportunity. Opportunities suit the youth’s level of job readiness, but also offer a growth trajectory and match youth’s areas of career interest.
7. Lead high quality, high engagement workshops: Youth do best when they engage with workshops by choice rather than mandate. We hope for an Employment Coach whose workshops pull a crowd by sweetening skill development as we wrap it fun and community.

Essential Duties and Skills
*Facilitate high impact, innovative youth employment support centered on tenets of youth development and trauma informed care.
* Assess: Create a friendly and accessible environment for youth. Determine eligibility and create tools and experienced for youth to assess their skills and abilities. Work together to develop a case plan of training and career support.
* Case Manage: Engage in weekly conversation with active youth to develop skills and secure employment.
*Support youth to be successful at their jobs as you support each in abiding work schedules, work attire, transportation, etc.
*Support youth in meeting education and/or employment goals. Actively problem solve worksite or educational concerns. Connect youth to partners and other support services with a warm hand off.
*Job Coach: Support and train youth in resumes, reference pages, and job applications using creativity and innovation.
* Worksite Development: Reach out to employers to develop work experience opportunities.
* Connect youth to needed resources and support them in using them. Resources include but are not limited to tutoring, health insurance, counseling, childcare, food, housing, financial aid, skill specific training, mentors, leadership development opportunities, etc.
* Support youth with post-secondary education options like campus tours, orientations, academic counseling appointments, financial aid, scholarships. Connect with on campus resources including EOPS, childcare, CalWorks offices, etc.
* Maintain documentation for all youth including case notes.

Essential Qualities
*Creative and Committed Work
*Committed to Creating Safe and Engaging Space for queer youth and to addressing the unique challenges transgender and non-binary youth face in pursuing employment

*Strong Ability to Build Partnerships with Youth, Employers, and Community Partners: Warmth, follow through, and an ability to connect are essential.
*Hard Working
*Able to work independently and see a plan through
*Professional: An ability to establish healthy, clear boundaries and model emotional intelligence is essential
*Brave: Our youth take incredible risks and tackle the challenges of personal growth as they pursue their goals. As a staff, we must model the same courage to grow.
*Joyful: Our youth rely on us for smiles, hearty hellos, and a positive attitude that never quits.
*Unafraid to speak the truth and maintain relationship: We must not tip toe around our youth. They deserve to be engaged in dialog when they are ducking responsibility, making unhealthy choices, or sabotaging their own success. We must have the conversations they need to explore behaviors that undermine their goals and growth.
*Open minded and accepting: We respect the choices our residents make. We respect their cultures, their histories, their religious beliefs or their atheism, their gender identities, their politics, their sexual orientation, and their visions for the future.
*Flexible: Your best laid plans will intersect with the busy, complicated lives of our youth. 104 degree fevers, babies born early, college schedules, weird rashes, Medi-cal appointments, and family emergencies can change your day in no time.
*Desire to be a part of a work environment where every person supports, encourages, problem solves, and envisions growth together.
*Willingness to embrace and address each day’s challenges be they a sick child, a discouraged youth, a troublesome computer, or a dead car battery. We are looking for a person who can solve problems and who addresses needs as they arise, rather than one who simply reports problems.

Requirements
*Experience as an employment specialist, teacher, social worker, counselor, or youth professional or intern working with youth, in particular youth coping with trauma and/or homeless youth, transgender youth, queer youth, and teen parents. We place a high value on applicants with experience in serving homeless youth and/or with lived experience.
*Prefer a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, Human Development, Community Development, Sociology, Psychology, Education, Women’s Studies, Child Development or other related field of study.

*Ability to clear a LiveScan background check with the Department of Justice, Child Abuse Central Index, and FBI upon hire. LiveScan cost covered by our agency.

Staff Development and Workplace Opportunities

*Weekly staff meetings for case review, project planning and training. Every Wednesday offers ample opportunity to meet and partner as teams to develop skills, address concerns, and plan for successful work weeks.

*Monthly training and workshops in areas including Youth Development, Trauma Informed Services, and areas relevant to daily work

*Committee meetings where staff can lead decision making in areas including Anti-Racist work, HR, Staff Celebrations, Training, Fundraising, and Youth Policy.

*BIPOC staff are welcomed to join our Change Team meetings that explore the impacts of white supremacy, drive workplace initiatives, and work to reduce the impacts of the daily work of fighting injustice.

*Staff who are white or benefit from proximity to whiteness attend twice a month meetings to reflect and to support the initiative defined by the Change Team.

Additional abilities required by the position

*Ability to lift at least 30 pounds
*Ability to determine own physical limits so that injury does not result when leading service projects, recreation, or program activities.
*Ability to walk up and down stairs or request for an accommodation
*Ability to safely transport self and others in personal or agency vehicles. Must have a clean driving record that will ensure our agency insurance can cover staff to transport.
*Ability to manage stress of multi-tasking, leading youth, and counseling youth
*Ability to establish healthy boundaries and maintain personal wellness while shepherding clients through past and current experiences of trauma.

* Ability to form relationships with landlords in the community and have knowledge of tenants’ rights and responsibilities

Compensation: $21 to $31 an hour depending on years of relevant work experience, length of time with employers, references, and college degrees. Multiple years with the same employer in a relevant field associate with higher pay. See detailed pay scale below.

Employees are eligible for medical, vision, dental, and life insurance benefits on the first of the month after a 60 day welcome period. WTV pays 70% of the premium with a $500 monthly cap.

Full time staff have 80 hours of sick time annually. Vacation time begins with 40 hours a year in year one and increases to 160 hours a year by year five.

Seventeen paid holidays paid annually.

2025 Pay Scale for Youth Services

Experience = Directly relevant experience as a case manager supporting clients overcoming homelessness or youth in securing employment.

Education = Bachelors or Masters in directly relevant major such as Social Work, Child Development, Psychology…

Pay rates below listed as No Bachelors Degree/Bachelors/Masters

If applicant with same employer in relevant field for 2 years, we add $1/hr to pay listed below. If with same employer for 4 years, we add $2/hr to pay listed below.

Over 1 year full time, relevant experience: $21/$23/$24

Over 2 years’ full time, relevant experience: $22/$24/$25

Over 3 years' full time, relevant experience: $23/$25/$26

Over 4 years' full time, relevant experience: $24/$26/$27

Over 5 years' full time, relevant experience: $25-26/27-29/28-29

Over 10 years’ full time, relevant experience: $27-29/$29-30/$30-31

Nonprofit Overview: Waking the Village operates programs for youth (18 to 24 years old) and children overcoming homelessness. Learn more at www.wakingthevillage.org and on our Facebook page athttps://www.facebook.com/Waking-the-Village-Tubman-House-Audres-Doorway-the-Creation-District-340042712682366

Equal Opportunity Employer
Waking the Village is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. WTV believes that all people are entitled to equal opportunity for employment or connection to services provided by our agency. We follow state, local, and federal laws prohibiting discrimination in hiring, employment, and service provision. We do not discriminate against employees, clients, volunteers, or applicants in violation of those laws. We extend this policy to volunteers and interns working for Waking the Village and all clients served by our agency. Waking the Village reaffirms its long-standing policy prohibiting discrimination in employment and the provision of services on the basis of the fact or perception of: Race, Color, Ancestry, National origin, Religion, Sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), Disability, Age, Citizenship status, Genetic information, Marital status, Sexual orientation and identity, Gender Expression and Gender Identity, AIDS/HIV, Medical condition, Political activities or affiliations/ opinion, Military or veteran status, Status as a victim of domestic violence, assault, or stalking.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $21.00 - $31.00 per hour

Expected hours: 40 per week

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift

Education:

• Bachelor's (Preferred)

Experience:

• youth work or job coaching: 1 year (Preferred)

License/Certification:

• Driver's License (Required)

Work Location: Multiple locations

Salary : $21 - $31