Youth Stabilization Specialist

Exalt•New York, NY

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Youth Stabilization Specialist provides intensive, individualized, coordinated support to young people facing significant barriers to stability, educational engagement, and participation in exalt’s programming. The role focuses particularly on young people transitioning from detention who may need assistance with housing, identification documents, school enrollment, family relationships, court obligations, behavioral health referrals, and other essential needs. The specialist serves as a consistent point of support throughout each young person’s engagement with exalt, including classroom programming, paid internships, and transition to alumni services. Working with exalt staff and external partners, the specialist coordinates individualized stabilization plans that address immediate needs while supporting longer-term educational, professional, and personal development. The role addresses barriers to participation in other services and involves direct work with young people in courts, schools, community settings, internship sites, and exalt offices. This is a full-time, primarily in-person and community-based position requiring regular travel throughout New York City. The schedule is 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; flexibility may be required to respond to time-sensitive needs, consistent with organizational policies. Annual salary is $75,000, with benefits provided in accordance with exalt’s organizational policies.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in social work, psychology, education, criminal justice, human services, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
At least three years of experience working directly with justice-involved youth or young adults experiencing significant barriers.
Experience in intensive case management, youth reentry, crisis intervention, educational advocacy, or community-based services.
Familiarity with New York City youth justice, education, housing, and social service systems.
Experience collaborating with courts, schools, families, and community organizations.
Strong relationship-building, communication, crisis response, and problem-solving skills.
Ability to work independently in community settings while coordinating closely with internal teams.
Commitment to trauma-informed, culturally responsive, strength-based, and youth-centered practice.
Strong organizational skills and ability to maintain accurate, confidential case documentation.
Ability to work with young people facing complex circumstances while maintaining high expectations, appropriate boundaries, and belief in their capacity for growth and success.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in social work, counseling, education, or a related field.
Experience working with young people transitioning from detention or other institutional settings.
Knowledge of New York City Family Court, Criminal Court, school reentry, and youth housing resources.
Training in mediation, restorative practices, or conflict resolution.
Bilingual proficiency in English and Spanish.

Responsibilities

Establish trusting, consistent relationships with young people experiencing personal, educational, and justice-system challenges.
Assess young people’s immediate needs, strengths, barriers, and support systems, and develop, implement, and update individualized stabilization plans in collaboration with the young people and relevant exalt staff.
Provide intensive case management and regular follow-up, adjusting services as circumstances change.
Help young people obtain identification documents and coordinate access to housing, food, transportation, healthcare, and other essential resources.
Identify emerging concerns at home, school, court, or internship and coordinate timely responses to prevent disruptions in program participation.
Attend court appearances with young people when appropriate and coordinate with the Court Advocate team, defense attorneys, probation, and other authorized stakeholders.
Help young people understand, prepare for, and meet court-related obligations without duplicating court staff’s formal advocacy.
Conduct school visits and participate in school meetings and educational planning as appropriate.
Support school reentry following detention, including enrollment, transfers, and access to academic records; collaborate with exalt’s Education Liaison and instructional staff to support attendance and educational progress.
Support connections to high school equivalency programs, alternative education, vocational training, and postsecondary pathways when appropriate.
Work with internship and program staff to identify and address barriers to placement, participation, attendance, and completion.
Maintain regular contact with young people during internships, provide coaching and problem-solving, and support transition to alumni services, education, or employment.
Build relationships with families and caregivers, identify safe and supportive living arrangements, and facilitate communication, problem-solving, and conflict resolution when appropriate, voluntary, and safe.
Support young people in developing self-advocacy, communication, and conflict-resolution skills.
Identify and respond to urgent needs affecting safety, stability, or program engagement; provide trauma-informed support and de-escalation within organizational protocols.
Develop and maintain a current network of agencies and organizations providing essential and specialized youth services, and evaluate their quality, accessibility, eligibility requirements, capacity, and responsiveness.
Coordinate referrals to housing, food, transportation, healthcare, mental health and crisis intervention, substance use treatment, family support, mediation, and restorative justice services; follow up to confirm connections and assess whether services meet needs.
Collaborate with professionals and community partners, participate in safety planning when necessary, maintain professional boundaries, and refer clinical matters to qualified providers.
Participate in case conferences and interdisciplinary meetings with Court Advocacy, Education, Program, and Internship staff, and attend school and internship partner meetings as appropriate and coordinated with responsible staff.
Communicate youth needs, progress, challenges, and follow-up needs to the Court Advocacy team while maintaining appropriate confidentiality and professional boundaries.
Maintain continuity of services across program phases, document services, referrals, interventions, and progress in organizational case management systems, and collaborate with the Alumni team on continued support.
Identify recurring barriers and service gaps and contribute to improvements in program coordination.