Direct Service Internship

About Our Organization

Youth Guidance creates and implements school-based programs that enable children to overcome obstacles, focus on their education, and ultimately, to succeed in school and in life.  We believe that no matter what challenges a young person faces, they are more likely to succeed when they have caring adults in their lives. Our highly trained staff guides kids to overcome the life and academic challenges facing the youth. We meet kids where they are — physically and emotionally — to help them focus on their education, make positive choices, and remain on the right path toward life success.

Founded in 1924 and celebrating 100 years of impact this year, Youth Guidance is a leading provider of outcomes-driven programs serving more than 18,000 youth around the country.  For more information, visit www.youth-guidance.org. 

The Youth Guidance Internship is a career development program that empowers interns to pursue meaningful careers in non-profit, administration, counseling, and social work fields. Interns will be equipped with the skills and experiences to make a significant impact in their communities and beyond. 

Position Summary: Youth Guidance Direct Service Internships are designed to meet school requirements for “Internship”, “Practicum”, “Capstone” or related classes that include onsite learning with regular supervision and direct, face-to-face client interaction. Our internships meet the requirements of most Social Work, Counseling, Psychology, and related degree programs.  Youth Guidance clinical interns participate in weekly supervision and monthly team meetings and may run individual and group counseling sessions depending on proficiency and skill level. Clinical internships occur in school-based settings for most Youth Guidance programs but may also include virtual and/or community-based service provision. 

 Essential Duties/Responsibilities:

• Observe, co-facilitate, or facilitate group and individual sessions in school settings (level of involvement depends on intern skill level and requirements)
• Conduct assessments on youth engaged in YG programs
• Provide family and crisis intervention as needed
• Perform weekly required documentation and special administrative assignments
• Participate in program staff development and required training
• Participate in YG committees (may be either required or by choice, depending on department and internship assignment)
• Other duties as assigned

 Minimum Qualifications:

Education/Experience/Training

• Currently pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree
• Currently seeking school credit through an internship

Skills/Abilities

• Demonstrates effective written and verbal communication skills
• Capable of collaborating in team settings and working independently
• Demonstrates cultural competency, including an understanding of the effects of institutional racism and systemic oppression on marginalized populations
• Demonstrates creativity in engaging youth
• Exhibits a positive team-based approach to treatment and care working with clients
• Fluent in Spanish and English highly preferred

Core Competencies:

• Communication: Uses effective written and oral communication with internal staff, teams, and community served; demonstrates empathy and listening
• Client orientation: Recognizes needs of diverse stakeholders and approaches relationships with a service orientation, to ultimately maximize the impact
• Equity mindset: Understands and is committed to goals of equity, consistently brings an equity mindset to the organization’s work and workplace
• Growth mindset: Views growth as important for personal and professional development; seeks out opportunities to expand skills, even if the change is required, demonstrates curiosity and eagerness to learn
• Ownership and quality of work: Effectively manages own work, and work of the team to ensure delivery of high-quality work
• Supervisory skills: Effectively manages and develops others
• Mission drive: Demonstrates commitment to the missing of the organization as a whole and alignment with organization values

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to sit and stand for sustained periods of time, frequently talk, hear, use hands and fingers to feel, handle and operate objects or controls, and occasionally stand, bend, stoop, kneel, and crouch.
• The employee is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures, transcribing, and viewing a computer terminal.
• The employee may occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Occasional local and national travel

DEIB Statement

At Youth Guidance, we understand that Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEI&B) are fundamental to realizing our vision of bright and successful futures for all young people. We celebrate the diversity of youth and staff and recognize them as empowered leaders, problem-solvers, and experts of their own experiences. At the same time, we acknowledge that many systems and institutions meant to support youth and staff are inequitable and unjust.

As such, we are committed to advancing DEIB through our words and our actions, both internally and externally, by:

• Strengthening cultural competence as well as policies, practices, and organizational structures that foster belonging and leverage the unique backgrounds and talents of staff;
• Offering youth-centered programs that are accessible and responsive to people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, abilities, sexual identity, gender identity and expression, language, and cultural and religious beliefs and practices;
• Influencing systems that youth, their families, staff, and communities are impacted by, such as schools, organizational networks, governmental bodies, researchers, and the funding community, to apply approaches that embrace DEIB in addressing the needs and supporting the aspirations of young people and those around them.

Youth Guidance is an equal-opportunity employer and proudly values diversity. Youth Guidance does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law and is committed to creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity along all of these lines. People of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.