SCLife Coach

About the SC2 Collaborative Scaling Community Violence Intervention for a Safer Chicago (SC2) is an innovative public-private initiative uniting practitioners, philanthropy, business and government to implement and test new approaches to addressing violence in seven Chicago communities experiencing high levels of violence. Through collaborative coalitions, SC2 strengthens access to five integrated and evidence-based services in full-implementation communities:
Street Outreach, Case Management, Behavioral Health, Education and Employment. The Institute is serving as the hub for the SC2 initiative in the Austin community. The SC2 Austin Collaborative came together under SC2’s hypothesis that if at least 75% of individuals in the Austin community at highest risk of violence are reached, then there will be fewer shootings and homicides and, through spill-over effects, the overall environment of physical safety will change.

This unprecedented level of coordination, alignment, and investment in direct service provision to the highest risk individuals in Austin is a five-year initiative which started in 2024.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

Reporting to the Manager of Support Services, the SC2 Life Coach works directly with high-risk individuals in the community and accompanies them as they navigate the challenges associated to current or past involvement with the criminal justice system, work to establish a healthy and stable lifestyle, and overcome barriers to accomplishing their professional goals. This position not only provides services and resources to help achieve established goals, but also uses first-hand knowledge of the community to develop and maintain meaningful and effective relationships with participants, responds in the community as crises arise and draws out participant motivation to reach his/her potential.

The SC2 Life Coach models prosocial behaviors and successful interpersonal relationships, provides the accountability necessary to achieving established goals, and mentors participants as they receive supportive services and attend court dates. As such, this role is a critical component of the long-term success of the SC2 Austin Collaborative. This position may also be a member of a Violence Prevention-Community Support Team (VP-CST), an innovative effort to provide trauma-informed therapeutic interventions to individuals who have experienced chronic exposure to firearm violence.

VP-CST teams are comprised of an outreach worker, life coach and clinician.

• Utilize first-hand knowledge of the community and street conflicts to develop and maintain supportive and effective relationships with participants
• Using a trauma-informed approach, provide support, resources and accountability to a caseload of 20 participants at minimum
• Coordinate and complete intake process for every participant on caseload
• Establish and monitor participant goals
• Conduct and document in database a minimum of one in-person one-on-one support sessions each week with every participant on caseload
• Document in database the progress of each participant, including significant contacts, events attended (such as court dates) and feedback shared by external partners
• Assist participants with transportation to community supports, court, social service agencies, etc.
• Respond to crises in the community that impact participant safety and/or stability
• Provide linkages to needed supports, such as safe and stable housing or other community resources
• Create coordinated care, addressing gaps in information and services for each participant through regular communication with internal team members, participant family, and other service providers
• Work closely with referring partners and our community-based…