Youth Advocate Specialist, High School

Description Youth Advocate Specialist, High School (YASHS) (40 hours, Full-time) Non-Exempt

BUILD, Inc. (Broader Urban Involvement and Leadership Development) is presently seeking a committed, self‑motivated, and innovative individual to join our team. BUILD is a nationally respected gang intervention, violence prevention, and youth development organization based on Chicago’s West Side. Since 1969, BUILD has worked to save lives and mentor young people who live in the city’s most challenged neighborhoods. When you work at BUILD you make an important difference to the thousands of youth and families we serve.

The Youth Advocate Specialist, High School (YASHS) as part of the BUILD Intervention Team, is responsible for serving youth through advocacy who are off track, street, and gang‑involved as well as youth involved in the juvenile justice system by providing support, advocacy, opportunity, and community resources to prevent entry or return to the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (CCJTDC). The (YASHS) will work closely with other program departments and support staff to ensure that youth are integrated into other programs to dissuade them from entering, recidivating, and/or returning to gangs or destructive activities to themselves and others, thus bringing them in contact with community resources to channel their behavior toward positive and rewarding goals.

The (YASHS) reports directly to the Manager of Youth Advocacy, High School (MYAHS).

• Provides advocacy programs and services in and out of schools for the designated community
• Works collaboratively with school administration and other partners
• Works collaboratively with the team and other program departments
• Informs appropriate BUILD team of program progress and challenges, making recommendations and seeking advice as necessary
• Meets with team weekly to discuss youth engagement and case management services
• Meets with Manager/Coordinator weekly to discuss the youth in case management service
• Interacts with participants by establishing a professional relationship
• Ensures that youth who are off track in school receive the support necessary to improve and maintain academic requirements
• Ensures that youth receive ongoing home and/or school visits upon participant’s enrollment and/or release from the CCJTDC and maintains regular ongoing contacts (individual and group) with participants in his/her caseload for a minimum of one year
• Ensures that youth are involved/encouraged to participate in leadership development opportunities
• Facilitates and provides learning spaces for participants such as peace/talking circles
• Provides informal individual and group counseling
• Ensures completion of needs assessments and refers participants to appropriate services within BUILD and their communities
• Maintain a positive adult mentor/ mentee relationship while reinforcing positive behavior
• Performs other job‑related duties as requested, required, and/or assigned
• Recruits and maintains a required caseload of youth
• Record case notes into internal and external online databases on a weekly basis and record intakes and assessments into the system as needed
• Update caseloads on a monthly basis and submit information on a monthly report
• Collect baseline and year‑end data on academic, interpersonal, and pro‑social behaviors
• Submits statistics and reports on a monthly basis and/or as needed
• Maintains File Compliance as required and compliance with internal and external data collection
• Collaborates with a variety of resources (including judges, probation officers, attorneys, schools, agencies, and potential employers) in order to be an advocate for each participant on his/her caseload
• Identifies positive adult/youth influences to create a stronger support network for the participant
• Models appropriate communication skills and tools matched to the needs of various audiences and purposes
• Represents the agency to various publics to broaden community awareness and support, interpreting the agency’s programs and services in a positive way
• Participate in agency outreach and recruitment…