Individual Development Specialist

POSITION TITLE:

Individual Development Specialist

The objective of Together We Grow is to empower targeted individuals to begin to change their lives from food insecure to food secure by setting and achieving personal and professional goals to improve household and employment stability. The Individual Development Specialist will support the case management services for individuals who participate in Together We Grow by identifying and addressing barriers to household and employment stability.

The Individual Development Specialist will contribute to the Brazos Valley Food Bank’s work of building a hunger‑free Brazos Valley through minimizing barriers creatively, analyzing client needs, and collaborating to benefit clients.

• Conduct follow‑up phone calls from referral forms received through the Brazos Valley Food Bank’s website, direct referrals from social service providers, or through individuals interested in the program applying for Together We Grow
• Schedule and conduct intake interviews for individuals interested in participating in Together We Grow
• Assess client readiness for program’s services based on needs, ability, readiness, and willingness to participate in the program
• Maintain clear communication with program clients around Together We Grow expectations, policies, parameters of services provided by the program, including utilizing best practices when holding individual clients accountable
• Provide one‑on‑one case management services – proactively meet with clients to assess barriers to household and employment stability and develop mutually agreed‑upon action‑steps to address these barriers using Together We Grow’s strengths‑based case management processes
• Create case plans for clients with short and long‑term personal and professional goals and the steps to achieve those goals
• Proactively follow‑up with and regularly coach clients during the post‑training phase to identify and address any ongoing barriers to accomplishing goals that support household and employment stability
• Maintain ongoing communication with employer partners following a student hire to collect structured feedback on performance, and coach clients on identified growth areas to support job retention and continued employment success
• Maintain client confidentiality and ensure proper information releases are maintained and current on active clients
• Work closely with other community‑based organizations to ensure individual and familial needs are addressed, met, and maintained through referral and advocacy services and providing warm transfers to clients who may need supportive services that fall outside of the scope of TWG’s services
• Follow up with referrals to ensure that clients receive and access necessary services in a timely manner

• Network with other agencies to learn of available resources that can support clients’ goals of household and employment stability as assigned by the Program Manager
• Notes potential connections and opportunities in existing and new relationships that will promote Together We Grow outreach efforts in collaboration with the Program Manager
• Maintain and build relationships with social service providers to increase inter‑agency collaboration to benefit clients in collaboration with the Program Manager
• With the Program Outreach and Training Specialist, assist with conducing presentations about the program’s services to service providers

• Research and create a workplan for proposed implementation of a mentorship program to foster connections with program clients and create a community of support using a data‑driven approach as approved by the Program Manager
• With the Program Manager, build and implement mentorship program using a data‑driven approach
• With the Program Manager, develop evaluation plan and monitor outcomes for mentorship program to ensure goals and targets are being met

• Administer program evaluations and assessments and track collected data used to ensure…