Youth Engagement Support Staff; Thurs - Sat

The Youth Engagement Support Staff (YESS) will possess excellent communication and organizational skills and provide support to young people that is strength-based, trauma-informed and harm reduction focused. The YESS will model our mission of providing absolute respect and unconditional love to all young people and will value working within a multi-disciplinary team to create a safe, inclusive environment for all.

The YESS is responsible for continuous youth engagement, activities, and implementation of youth identified success plan goals. Other functions include crisis intervention and de-escalation, documentation in multiple databases, and facilitation of assigned activities.

• Provide unconditional positive regard to young people regardless of their behavior.
• Support Case Management services with the goal of developing positive relationships with young people through the utilization of the case management system, including:
  • Welcome young people to the program, ensure they feel comfortable, safe and understand the program structure, opportunities for engagement, and access to supplies that they might need.
  • Build a supportive relationship with youth that encourages them to find their voice and connects them to opportunities, experiences, and resources that enrich and enhance their lives.
  • Support identified Success Plan goals with each young person.
  • Support the youth’s progress of self-identified goals and coach young people to plan, implement, and follow-through with tasks.
  • Motivate young people to explore and improve wellness, education and employment, financial literacy and social navigation goals and any other areas that will impact their success plan.
  • Monitor youth while taking medication and enter Medication Logs.
  • Engage with youth in daily House Activities. To include assisting in completing chores, dining, joining the gym and other fun activities, bus tickets, and on-going movement throughout the day.
  • Explore and participate with youth in outside activities, which can include trips, walks to parks, visiting college campuses and other experiences that expose and enrich a youth’s time with CHNJ.
  • Provide crisis de‑escalation and intervention as necessary according to training and best practices.
  • Document Intake, Orientation and Transitions into ETO, HMIS and case files.
  • Document regular daily progress notes in young people’s case records (HMIS and ETO).
  • Document pertinent information in Youth Incident Report, Medication Logs and House Activity Logs.
  • Facilitate if assigned youth group activities which support the 5 resiliency objectives:
    Wellness, Social Navigation, Financial Literacy, Education and Employment, on a regular basis.
  • Perform all duties assigned by the supervisor to meet the needs of young people while ensuring adherence to the daily program schedule.
  • Make copies of any forms or documents as assigned.
  • Prepare welcome kits. Sort new donations, organize unit storage closets, replenish youth supplies as requested and/or needed.
  • Do laundry as assigned for youth linens.
  • Clean and prepare vacant residential space to be ready for new intakes.
  • Maintain youth common areas according to cleanliness standards.
  • Count medication nightly and document on medication log, notify supervisor of any inaccuracies.
  • Rotate youth files according to the annual system.
  • Attend supervision with supervisor and meetings as assigned.
  • Attend professional development training as assigned.
  • Read and respond daily to all emails, calendar invites, and any other agency communications.
  • Cover the front desk when required.
  • Cover all areas of the building as assigned.
  • When assigned to transport youth in agency vehicles.
  • Utilizing agency resources for agency use only which include but are not limited to…