Youth Specialist

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.

Position Summary

Becoming A Man (BAM) Youth Specialists are responsible for guiding young men in grades 7 – 12 to learn, internalize, and practice social skills, make responsible decisions for their future, and become positive members of their school and community. BAM Youth Specialists do this by providing the young men with the mindsets, values, and abilities they need to develop into healthy, responsible young men and thrive.

School site location: Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. Middle School, 4066 Johnnie Cochran Vista, Los Angeles, CA 90019

Essential Duties/Responsibilities:

• Responsible for working in an individual capacity at their respective site as the primary point of contact and representative for BAM Los Angeles.
• Work in collaboration with BAM Program Supervisor and school administration to recruit and build relationships with up to 60 school-based youth to participate in the BAM program.
• Lead and facilitate 4 – 5 weekly BAM groups during the school-day, utilizing youth engagement, clinical counseling, and men’s rites of passages skills.
• Provide individualized support to all BAM participants, and provide individual, family and crisis counseling sessions to students on an as needed basis.
• Responsible for navigating spaces and establishing key relationships while sharing challenges and information with their program supervisor and team at large.
• Participate in monthly staff development training and team meetings on the evidence-based BAM curriculum and other topics relevant to working with youth.
• Participate in supervision and coaching to ensure fidelity of program delivery.
• Document all interactions with youth, including group and individual case notes, clinical assessments, brief encounters, special events, program consents, pre/post surveys and monthly program narratives based on program protocol.
• Work jointly with the Program Supervisor to manage an annual program budget to plan and execute field trips and special events for students throughout school year and summer.
• Collaborate with school administration, teachers, and other Youth Guidance programs to provide, and participate in professional development sessions.
• Collaborate and/or coordinate services with the Local School Council, Youth Guidance Parent Family Engagement team and school parent engagement team.
• Responsible for working in an individual capacity at their respective site as the
• Other duties as needed.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education/Experience/Training

• Bachelor’s degree from an approved accredited university and a minimum of two years of youth engagement experience.
• Master’s Degree in social work, counseling, or a related human service field from an approved accredited university and one year of youth engagement experience preferred.
• Minimum of two years’ experience providing supervised group counseling.

Skills/Abilities

• Completion of BAM curriculum training.
• Ability to commit to the continuous improvement of service quality and the organization’s mission.
• Ability to maintain positive relationships with various stakeholders.
• Succinct written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to function well in group and team settings.
• Ability to demonstrate interpersonal skills that excel in cultural sensitivity and respect for differences.
• Ability to pass criminal background and sex offender checks.
• Willingness to occasionally participate in youth sports activities.
• Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office products (Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint).
• Knowledge of advanced psychological concepts (e.g. CBT, Clinical Processing, Group Development) 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 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

What Youth Guidance offers

We offer a robust package for eligible candidates including:

• Hiring Range of $54,000-$66,500
• A competitive benefit package. Even though healthcare costs have gone up, we have not passed along those increases to our staff.
• If you are pursuing your social services licensure, we can help you by providing licensure test study support. Licensing test reimbursement. Assistance in attaining licensure supervision hours.

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.

• 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, equity, inclusivity, and belonging. Youth Guidance does not discriminate based on 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.