OVERVIEW OF PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITES:
Youth Resilience, Education, and Advocacy for Children’s Health (REACH) is looking for a Bilingual Community Engagement Specialist to provide services to youth and young adults ages 15-24, with an emphasis on those who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community and their allies. The Community Engagement Specialist will work with the team to connect youth/young adults with mental health and treatment adjacent services, host drop-in center activities on-site in Newburgh, NY, and provide education on suicide prevention throughout Dutchess, Orange, Rockland, Sullivan, and Ulster Counties.
PRIMARY FUNCTIONS:
The Youth REACH Bilingual Community Engagement Specialist will be responsible for:
- Providing community, family, and youth outreach and engagement
- Facilitating Question, Persuade, Refer Gatekeeper Suicide Prevention, Youth &Teen Mental Health First Aid, and Naloxone trainings throughout catchment area
- Connecting youth/young adults and their families/support systems to mental health and treatment adjacent services
- Provide youth/young adult supervision and co-facilitation for drop in center events for coverage purposes.
ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONAL / ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT:
- Assist youth/young adults and their families/caregivers with completing intake and referral documents
- Provide live interpretation services when linking youth/young adults behavioral health programs, as appropriate and necessary
QUALIFICATIONS AND ATTRIBUTES:
- Excellent communication skills, including public speaking
- Experience facing life challenges while coping with a mental health diagnosis or raising a child who has a mental health diagnosis
- Able to demonstrate flexibility in adjusting work plan for the day to best meet the needs of the program.
- Strong organization skills with accurate attention to detail
- The ideal candidate will identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community or have at least one year of relevant experience working with LGBTQIA+ youth/young adults and families.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
- Must Have a High School Diploma or GED
- Must have a driver’s license and reliable transportation
- Must have Credentialed Peer Certification (Family Peer Advocate or Certified Recovery Peer Advocate) or meet qualifications for becoming credentialed. We will consider candidates that are unable to qualify for peer credentialing, but have at least 3 years working with LGBTQIA+ youth/young adults and/or families if peers are unavailable for hire.
- Must be bilingual (English/Spanish) and pass a language proficiency exam within 3 months of hire.
- Must be willing to obtain and maintain trainer status in Question, Persuade, Refer Gatekeeper training, Teen/Youth Mental Health First Aid, and Naloxone training and provide the community with training in both languages.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
These physical demands are representative of the physical requirements necessary for an employee to perform the job's essential functions successfully. Reasonable accommodation can be made to enable people with disabilities to perform the described essential functions of the position, which are reviewed in each case.
- Must be capable to access all rooms in a 2-story home
- Able to work in open space floor plan
- Must be capable to move throughout work day
- Occasional lifting of > _25+ pounds