Shelter Youth Mentor Skills Coach

Description

Youth Futures is seeking Youth Engagement Specialists (YES staff) to encourage and mentor youth who are experiencing

homelessness at the shelter. YES staff are responsible to create a supportive environment, to help youth make healthy connections,

build life skills, and pursue their goals within a safe and stable environment. YES staff are part of the core floor-staff team in the

shelter, and will help youth to meet immediate needs, find stability, connect with resources, and make plans for their future. They are

responsible for the 24/7 supervision and support of up to 16 runaway and homeless youth in shelter, with ages ranging from 12-18.

YES staff provide basic caregiving, including preparing meals, providing clothing and other necessities, maintaining the cleanliness of

the shelter, processing incoming donations, and monitoring the safety of the youth and facility. In addition to essential and basic

caregiving, Youth Engagements Specialists will work to build rapport with youth to help them to build a sense of connection,

belonging, and purpose, as they identify and pursue their goals and plan for their next steps after shelter.

Each of these pillars outlines the essential functions and primary goals of the role of the Youth Engagement Specialist. The Youth

Engagement Specialist provides critical guidance for youth in crisis with these primary goals:

• Building report and engaging youth in supportive conversations and activities to help youth stay focused on goal planning for
• their futures
• Facilitating workshops and activities to build life skills, encourage healthy connections and processing, and to meet youth goals,
• in coordination with case management
• Communicating youth progress, needs and risk levels to case managers and other staff
• Advocating for and assisting youth with ongoing goals
• Assist with managing conflict between residents; de-escalate and help residents reach compromise, and provide crisis intervention
• as needed

• Assisting new residents into shelter by using trauma-informed interview skills, with meticulous, detailed note-taking and
• documentation while providing for immediate needs for shelter, provided 24/7
• Maintaining a safe and clean environment for youth in crisis to rest, regroup and relaunch, including performing janitorial duties
• (i.e., sweep, mop, vacuum, dust, deep cleaning bathrooms and kitchen, taking-out trash, restock supplies, etc)
• Identify and communicate maintenance needs
• Safely and efficiently carry out emergency procedures in the case of fire, illness, accident, drug overdose, self-harm,
• administering CPR/ first aid if necessary, coordinating with medical or emergency personnel, and documenting incidents

• Provide constant supervision of resident youth at all times, and assisting with morning and bedtime routines
• Perform security checks in and outside of the building to adequately maintain supervision of the house
• Using the computer to track youth in and out of the shelter, tracking services received by each youth, tracking critical monitoring
• checks, performing searches and documenting incidents

• Providing clothing, bedding, hygiene supplies, or anything else a youth needs at intake or during stay
• Ensuring access to nutritious food, serving and document meals throughout the day as set out in the weekly menu and managed
• by the shelter Cook
• Monitoring and reporting healthcare needs or concerns, and ensuring compliance with daily medication regimen
• Organizing donations and inventory

• Communicating with new staff for a smooth shift transition, through discussion, completing paperwork, and entering documentation into the computer to make sure that all staff are up to date on needs and next steps
• Participating in regular supervision, training, and staff meetings
• Keep all required clearances and certifications up to date to have the skills and knowledge to best serve youth
• Ensuring that all information is correctly consistently and accurately so that we can show needs, efforts and results to funders, donors and licensing agencies and support future services
• Other duties as assigned