SWITCH Youth Outreach Specialist - Memphis Allies
Company: Youth Villages
Location: Memphis
Posted on: May 4, 2024
Job Description:
Company OverviewYouth Villages has been a national leader in the
implementation of research-based treatment philosophies in the
field of children's mental and behavioral health. Our commitment to
helping troubled children and their families find success spans 30+
years and includes a comprehensive array of programs and services.
If you are looking for a positive career move where you are meeting
the challenges of life and striving to make a positive difference,
then Youth Villages is the place for you. We are looking for people
with a strong sense of purpose and focus to continually build
confidence in yourself and our organization. Responsibilities
Position Overview The Outreach Worker's main responsibility is to
help reduce gun violence in the City. The Memphis Allies outreach
worker will identify potential participants for the program.
Outreach Workers respond to shooting scenes and to the hospital to
provide support to gun violence victims, attend community events in
neighborhoods with high rates of violence, canvas neighborhoods as
needed to identify candidates. Recruiting potential participants
focuses on the most violent individuals and groups. The
participants we recruit are often in imminent danger. Outreach
Workers will work on building trust with these candidates and build
a real bond, learning their individual stories and establishing the
trust necessary for dialogue. Mediation happens daily. Our Street
Outreach workers must act fast and will be trained to de-escalate
the most heated moments. After locating and engaging with
individuals identified as being at very high risk of involvement in
gun violence, they connect them with a Life Coach.
- Caseload of a minimum of 12 individuals
- Locate individuals identified though the Gun Violence Reduction
Strategy as very high risk. Locate them through your networks,
relationships, outreach, social media, or other means. Engage them
and directly connect them to a Life Coach.
- Respond to shooting scenes after an injury shooting to provide
support to victims and their families, ease tension at the scene,
offer support to victim's friends and network, and gather
information about the cause of the shooting.
- Go to hospitals to engage recent gunshot victims to offer
support and services, discourage retaliation, build relationships
with victim, family, and victim's network.
- Attend community events in neighborhoods with high rates of
violence to make a presence and to engage high risk individuals and
groups to offer support.
- Attend funerals of people who were members of active
gangs/crews/groups to provide support to family as well as build
relationships with the family and victim's network.
- Documentation summarizing each time you respond to a shooting
scene, visit the hospital, or attend a community event.
- Visit and occasionally conduct groups and workshops in local
juvenile and adult correctional facilities for the purpose of
building rapport with individuals who will be released and may be
high risk individuals.
- Have an initial sole focus on establishing a positive and
trusting relationship with each client. Simply sending in-person
time with your client and building a rapport should be the initial
focus.
- Defuse immediate tensions and help build long-term peace
agreements between all parties, with the aim of creating a safer
community for everyone.
- Attend all mandatory and necessary meetings and trainings,
including staff meetings, your team meetings, Case Conferences, and
all trainings.
- Follow all directions and guidance from your supervisor
Qualifications Requirements
- High School Diploma/ or equivalent required
- Credibility and cultural competency. Many members of the team
come from the very neighborhoods where they work; they share
similar backgrounds with the participants they seek to support. the
key is to know the personal dynamics and stakes at play.
- Transformative mentor-ship. Memphis Allies believes that the
mentor-ship Outreach Workers will provide is a service.
- And like all services, effective mentor-ship requires diverse
skills including motivational interviewing, strengths
identification, and basic familiarity with cognitive-behavioral
interventions.
- On-Call availability. Outreach Specialists are on call 24/7 to
reduce tensions in real time, prevent violence, and preempt
retaliations.BenefitsAffordable access to medical, prescription,
dental, and vision insurance plansTuition Reimbursement and
Licensure SupervisionPriority consideration for leadership openings
throughout the organizationMileage and cell phone
reimbursementRetirement savings pension plan and a 401(k) and
FSAPaid time off: Two weeks for vacation 11 paid holidays12 sick
days annuallyPaid Parental LeaveSupportive leadership and
coworkersYouth Villages is an equal opportunity employer and
provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and
applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and
harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion,
age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected
veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression,
or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local
laws. Youth Villages is committed to not only advancing diversity,
equity, and inclusion in the workplace but also in our work with
children and young adults. We know that children, families and
young people of color can face inequity in child welfare and
justice systems, and we train our employees to build the skills
they need to work with the communities that we serve, as well as,
other employees from different cultures and backgrounds. Youth
Villages is opposed to racism in any of its forms and is committed
to inclusion, equity, and diversity. We believe that respect for
each other is crucial in the work that we do each day.
Keywords: Youth Villages, Jonesboro , SWITCH Youth Outreach Specialist - Memphis Allies, IT / Software / Systems , Memphis, Arkansas
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