Youth Mentor (Life Skills & Resiliency): Schuylkill County

Are you passionate about mentoring at risk youth to overcome life's challenges?

Access Services is hiring a Youth Mentor (Life Skills & Resiliency Coordinator) to join our Rebound program, based out of our Orwigsburg, PA office, and serving pre-teens and teens across Schuylkill County. This job is has an office base in Orwigsburg, PA and community-based activities with youth across Schuylkill County. Rebound encourages youth resiliency to overcome trauma, and reduces the need for youth to be placed outside of their homes.

• We are committed to empowering young adults through a person-centered approach rooted in our core values.

• We believe in meeting individuals where they are, honoring their unique strengths, and working together to create pathways for success.

If you are passionate about making a difference in the lives of at-risk youth, we’d love to hear from you.

Our Youth Mentor, also known as "Life Skills & Resiliency Coordinator", provides services to youth (ages 9 to 17), helping them build life skills and resiliency, and empowering them to find purpose and direction. We support youth who have behavioral needs, are experiencing challenging family dynamics, truancy challenges, and/or pending juvenile charges. We promote positive social interaction, educational growth, life skills and coping skills.

As a Youth Mentor, you will work directly with youth who are referred by various children's services, such as Children & Youth Services (CYS), Juvenile Probation Office (JPO), and mental health providers. Part of your role will be to assist youth face-to-face – you will help with homework, teach household skills, display positive coping skills, etc. The other part of your role will focus on administrative and advocacy tasks such as assisting with intake, reaching out to school staff, and communicating with referral sources and partnering agencies about client progress.

Youth Mentor Work Schedule: 40 hours per week, Monday-Friday, generally 12PM-8 PM.

This schedule will begin with an ongoing office presence, with the expected movement into a hybrid position upon approval from supervisor based on successfully carrying out essential responsibilities.

If you consider yourself a "roadtrip warrior" who loves to have their car as their office, this job could be for you!

The locations of this job include: work in the community with youth, and meeting with youth and team members at the Rebound office in Orwigsburg, PA. The schedule is focused on the needs of youth and will change slightly between the school year and summer months. It will include some flexibility for evenings and occasional weekends to meet the needs of youth.

Key Responsibilities of Youth Mentor:

• Engage youth who are referred and help them identify and achieve goals towards success and independence by building rapport, maintaining appropriate boundaries and providing an environment conducive to learning.

• Develop, implement, and update individual goal plans in collaboration with youth and the team.
• Maintain case notes, files, releases, and progress reports.
• Participate in the referral process by initiating the intake process and completing assessments.
• Connect youth to resources and activities in the community.
• Develop and facilitate life skills lessons for individual and group interactions

• Provide testimony at all hearings deemed necessary by collaborative agencies.
• Obtain and review academic records related to attendance, grades, discipline, and missing assignments.
• Provide regular case updates to referring agency.
• Collaborate and coordinate services to meet client needs with external providers and partners.
• This role qualifies for hybrid remote work, subject to our agency Hybrid Remote Work Policy and supervisor approval. Decisions regarding hybrid remote work will be based on individual performance, program requirements, and the overall needs of Access Services. Access Services retains the right to change and/or rescind the hybrid remote work schedule at any time. 

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university preferably in human services, social work, psychology, education, criminal justice, or related field AND one year of work experience working directly with youth is required  

OR

• Associate degree from an accredited college or university preferably in human services, social work, psychology, education, criminal justice, or related field AND a minimum of two years of work experience working directly with youth is required.

Experience:

• Lived experience will be taken into consideration as a additional benefit to the candidate.
• Proficiency in additional languages (ex: Spanish) is a benefit to any candidate who applies, and may negotiate for higher pay rates.

Transportation:

• Valid driver’s license with 2+ years of driving experience, no suspensions, reliable vehicle, and car insurance (required)
• Willingness to drive throughout Schuylkill County during the workday to meet with clients (required - mileage reimbursement provided)
• Willingness to transport young adults in your vehicle as needed (required)

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to communicate well.
• Ability to develop positive, creative and programmatic goals.
• Ability to direct and prioritize own work and be adaptable.
• Ability to work as part of a team.
• Flexibility with working evenings and weekends. Knowledge of juvenile justice and child welfare systems.
• Knowledge of behavioral and mental illness.
• Proficiency in, or ability to learn and use, workplace applications, platforms and technologies.

Essential Working Conditions/Physical Demands: 

• Work in program sites and the community routinely providing direct care and/or support with client(s).
• Stand, sit or run by self, or to provide proper care and supervision with a client.
• Able to move and stay with a client to keep him/her safe, both in home environment and community, even when client may be difficult or uncooperative, both at near and far distances.
• Able to assist a client who has fallen, regardless of weight or size.
• Walk, climb stairs by self, or to provide direct care and/or support.
• Work in a standard office environment. Utilize desktop computer equipment on a daily basis.
• Able to lift or move items associated with sedentary work and light work (exert up to 20 lbs.)
• Travel to offsite locations and regional office locations if necessary.  

Pay:

• Starting pay is $20/hourly, negotiable based on education, bilingual skills, and experience in the field
• Reimbursement for youth activities/food/meals when serving with youth
• Mileage reimbursement for work related travel

Our full-time comprehensive benefits package includes:

• Health, Vision, Rx, & Dental insurances, HSA/FSA, 401k program.
• Tuition Reimbursement Program.
• 20 days PTO (vacation/sick), 7 agency holidays, 2 floating holidays.
• Mileage/Toll Reimbursement, paid travel time between worksites.
• Life Insurance, Short/Long Term Disability, Catastrophic Sick Leave, Paid Parental Leave.
• Employee Assistance Program (telehealth/in person).
• Referral Bonuses up to $750 per hire.
• College tuition discounts, Credit Union perks, retail discounts.

Access Services is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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