Children & Youth Coordinator – Limited Term (2025929)

World Relief • Carol Stream, IL

3d • $23 - $25

About The Position

World Relief seeks a full-time Children & Youth Specialist to help refugee and other immigrant students and their families successfully adjust to life in America. The position serves as a liaison between refugee and immigrant families and local preschool, elementary, middle, and high schools. It serves families with children from birth through high school graduation and helps them access education and other supportive community services.

The position starts as soon as possible and is limited-term through June 30, 2027. World Relief is a global Christian humanitarian organization partnering with churches and communities to address humanitarian and disaster response, community strengthening and resilience, and refugee and immigrant services and advocacy.

Requirements

• Mature personal Christian faith.
• Commitment to World Relief’s mission, vision, and values.
• Desire to serve and empower the Church to impact vulnerable communities.
• Ability to affirm and/or acknowledge World Relief’s Core Beliefs, Statement of Faith, Christian Identity, and the National Association of Evangelicals’ For the Health of The Nation document.
• Valid driver’s license, access to a reliable vehicle, and ability to meet MVR standards.
• Ability and willingness to drive a 15-passenger van.
• Direct-service experience with children and/or youth.

Nice To Haves

• Experience using MS Office, including Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams.
• High self-motivation, strong follow-through, and problem-solving skills.
• Cross-cultural experience.
• Experience working with an interpreter.
• Fluency in Dari, Pashto, Ukrainian, Arabic, Burmese, Swahili, or Spanish.
• Bachelor’s degree in counseling and guidance, rehabilitation counseling, social work, education, vocational counseling, psychology, pastoral counseling, family therapy, or a related human services field.

Responsibilities

• Meet with families of children ages 0–5 to identify assistance needs.
• Assist with initial WIC enrollment and provide ongoing WIC education.
• Educate parents about developmental milestones and support progress toward them.
• Provide early childhood orientation and additional parent education.
• Refer parents to community resources, including Early Intervention and counseling services when applicable.
• Assist with or provide information about preschool and birth-to-three enrollment.
• Collaborate with community partners and schools to build relationships.
• Communicate and collaborate with the Intake Team and other World Relief Chicagoland staff.
• Participate in a weekly parent/child playgroup and advocate for families.
• Support immigrant youth who need school enrollment assistance.
• Assist with fee waivers and free lunch applications.
• Liaise between families and school staff to help resolve issues, arrange parent meetings, and facilitate ongoing communication.
• Orient families to education systems, procedures, and expectations.
• Mediate and advocate for school-aged students in school settings.
• Conduct periodic family information sessions on educational topics.
• Refer families to services that support children’s education and success, including after-school programs, social services, and medical referrals.
• Participate in after-school youth clubs with the Youth Clubs team.
• Administer and record data for various assessments.
• Maintain client and volunteer records in databases and ensure student attendance is recorded and reported accurately each week.
• Facilitate enrollment and participation in clubs for newly arrived immigrant youth.
• Maintain accurate reporting records, case notes, and student files.
• Participate in department meetings, staff development, program trainings, community activities, and organizational events.
• Nurture relationships with program partners, including churches, schools, community agencies, and other service providers.

Benefits

• Competitive benefits package for full-time employees.
• Employee discount program for full-time employees.
• Well-being program recognized with the Gold-level Cigna Healthy Workforce Designation.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Education Level: No Education Listed