OASIS SHELTER YOUTH ADVOCATE

THE SKAGIT VALLEY FAMILY YMCA • Mount Vernon, WA

116d • $19 - $21

About The Position

Youth Advocates provide compassionate, trauma-informed care to youth ages 13 to 17 at the Oasis Teen Shelter in Mount Vernon, WA. The program is licensed as a Group Home through the Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF). In addition to the shelter, YMCA Oasis provides wrap around support for youth in Skagit County through drop-in services and street outreach. Youth Advocates directly contribute to fostering a safe, confidential, and secure environment for youth experiencing homelessness or housing instability and trauma. Youth Advocates model healthy, pro-social behaviors and support youth in activities such as homework help/tutoring, vocational, cooking/nutritional, and social-emotional skills. Youth Advocates are an integral part of the Oasis staff team, regularly collaborating with Oasis administrative staff.

Requirements

• 21 years of age or older
• Associate’s Degree in related field, or equivalent work experience
• Good verbal and written communication skills.
• Knowledge of crisis de-escalation, negotiation and problem solving techniques.
• Ability to model healthy, pro-social behavior and socialization skills for teens.
• Ability to work with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
• Ability to institute positive reinforcements and to work as a team-member in a residential, dynamic, and multi-cultural environment.
• Must have knowledge of, or interest in learning, Harm Reduction, Positive Youth Development, and Housing First best practices.
• Must be able to be cleared by DCYF to work in a shelter facility.
• Completion of a negative TB Test by Mantoux method (required before beginning work).
• Current Food Handler’s Card within 30 days of employment.
• Current state approved certifications in CPR/AED, First Aid & Bloodborne Pathogens within 90 days of hire.
• Completion of 16 hours of new hire training before working shifts with youth on topics such as Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention and Mandatory Reporting.

Nice To Haves

• Bilingual in Spanish, Triqui, Mixtec, Russian, or Ukrainian.

Responsibilities

• Models and executes an unconditional, trauma-informed care approach to working with at-risk youth.
• Maintains awareness of emotional and physical state of youth while on shift.
• Actively listens to and engages with youth each shift, facilitating daily activities and meals.
• Fosters a safe, confidential, and secure environment for youth who are experiencing homelessness or housing instability and may have a history of trauma.
• Works within Oasis staff team and identified community agency partners in supporting interventions as prescribed in the ISP of each youth.
• Monitors youth behavior and maintains appropriate case notes and nightly logs, maintaining clear and concise records of all incidents and service plan progress notes.
• Conducts intake orientation interviews with new youth and completes necessary paperwork in relation to intake procedures.
• Provides conflict resolution and verbal de-escalation in both group and individual crisis situations.
• Responds and reports in a timely fashion to aggressive or violent behavior, suicidal ideation or self-harm, allegations of abuse and neglect, unsafe behaviors or circumstances, and sexual exploitation/commercial sexual abuse of youth.
• Completes intake phone calls to Child Protective Services (CPS) in the event that abuse or neglect is identified against a minor.
• Learns about and maintains awareness of local resources for supporting youth in Skagit County.
• Completes a minimum of 24 hours of annual training and continued education in compliance with DCYF licensing regulations for Group Home licensing.
• Attends regularly scheduled staff meetings and ensures completion of other regularly scheduled duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Free YMCA household membership
• 403(b) Saving Account enrollment
• 8 paid federal holidays a year (full-time benefited employees to be eligible)
• Paid Sick & Vacation Day (accrual begins from day-1, eligible to use after 90-days)
• 2 paid personal days & 1 paid birthday per year
• Medical, vision, and dental insurance (full-time benefited employees to be eligible)
• 403 (b) Retirement Employer Match (after 2 years with 1,000 hours)
• Life insurance, and more! (full-time benefited employees to be eligible)
• Additional bilingual, premium pay of $0.50 for those who are fluent bilingual Spanish, Triqui, Mixtec, Russian and Ukrainian speakers.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Associate degree