Bilingual Life Skills Coach

Overview

About Rising Ground

Founded as an orphanage in 1831, Rising Ground has been at the forefront of evolving community needs. Driven by the belief that each of us can thrive when life has hope and opportunity, Rising Ground provides caring support and proven paths to positive change, helping children, adults, and families rise above adversity, and each year, Rising Ground is a positive force in the lives of more than 72,000 individuals annually. We do this through 101 programs across 138 sites, throughout New York City and Westchester. Our strong belief and commitment to diversity is shown not just through our work with supported persons but is integral to the building of a strong staff that reflects the communities we serve. Rising Ground is headquartered in New York City.

The Unaccompanied Children Program offers long-term and transitional residential care, along with various supportive services, for Unaccompanied Children (UC) who are under the legal custody of the federal government. In collaboration with the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), our program creates a safe and nurturing environment for youth through a Basic Shelter program at our licensed residential facility in New York and a Transitional Foster Care program in foster homes located in the Bronx and Westchester. In all programs, we provide therapeutic and educational services, along with additional support, to help young people succeed.

Responsibilities

About the Role:

The Life Skills Trainer plays a pivotal role in implementing, instructing, and coordinating comprehensive Life Skills Training for all youth in the POH program. This position requires intensive individual and group training for unaccompanied children aged 5 to 17 in both the Basic Shelter Program and the Transitional Foster Care Program. The Life Skills Trainer is equipped to effectively teach a range of essential life skills, including daily living skills, self-care, career planning, community engagement, communication skills, housing and money management, job readiness, and post-18 planning, ensuring that each youth is prepared for a successful future.

What You’ll Do:

1. Facilitate individual and group Life Skills training for all youth in the POH program, tailored to meet each youth’s needs and current abilities.
2. Complete a Life Skill Assessment for each youth within 30 days of admission.
3. Create and update a comprehensive Independent Living/Life Skills program curriculum as needed.
4. Ensure that all materials are available for the execution of each Independent Living training session.
5. Incorporate community involvement activities into the program curriculum.
6. Provide tutoring and mentorship to youth as needed.
7. Network with community-based organizations to offer supplementary services and experiences for the youth in the POH program.
8. Track the results of IL skills and compare them with the current scores from each child’s Life Skills Assessment.
9. Attend Treatment Team Meetings as requested.
10. Facilitate and attend all Family Team Conference (FTC) meetings as requested.
11. Work effectively with children who have developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, and emotional disturbances.
12. Document all services provided on a monthly basis.
13. Conduct weekly IL groups with all children in the Treatment Foster Care (TFC) program.
14. Be prepared to travel extensively throughout the Tri-State area to ensure services are provided to all youth in the program (Basic Shelter and TFC).
15. Be flexible with work hours, including weekends, as needed.

Qualifications

Your Qualifications:

1. Bachelor’s degree in Education, Social Work, Human services or related field.
2. Two years’ experience in a related program for adolescent population.
3. Must complete Therapeutic Crises Intervention Training (TCI).
4. Ability to transport youth and travel.
5. Bilingual (Spanish/English) a must.
6. Possession of a valid vehicle operator’s license and clean driving record.
7. Understanding of practice models such as FTC, PBIS, Trauma-Informed care and evidence-based models a plus.
8. Driven by strong ethics and able to support the integrity and standards of Agency and Program.
9. Passion for and exposure to our most vulnerable populations.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Supervisory Responsibility: N/A

Work Environment:

Life Skills Coaches will be based in our community with the expectation of meeting clients in our community-based programs - Day Programs, Residential Settings, Community facilities, etc.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work:

This is a full-time position with an annual salary of $54,600. The position operates for 5 days from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM with flexibility for after-hours, weekends, and holiday support as needed.

Additional Requirements:

1. Authorized to work in the U.S.
2. Ability to travel to other Rising Ground sites (if required).
3. Ability to travel extensively throughout the Tri-State area to ensure services are provided to all youth in the program.
4. Be flexible with work hours, including weekends, as needed.
5. Capability to establish and maintain working relationships with staff, community groups, and community-based organizations.
6. Excellent writing and communication skills.
7. Proficient in Microsoft Office software.
8. Ability and willingness to work overtime and on weekends, as required.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Fairness, and Belonging

Rising Ground is comprised of unique and valued individuals who together make the organization effective in assisting the children, adults and families who come to us for support. We believe that only when all employees contribute fully as their true selves can Rising Ground's true strength, vision, and values come to fruition. We recognize the ubiquitous social biases and structures that impact and shape the experiences of all people, including our own staff and people supported. Among the many biases present in our society that shape our personal and professional experiences race, gender, sexual orientation, and gender expression are all factors that can present hurdles. As such, Rising Ground is committed to being an anti-racist and inclusive organization that will actively strive to overcome both systemic and interpersonal biases that perpetuate oppression.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

It is the policy of Rising Ground that the Agency wholly complies with equal treatment of all employees and applicants for employment without unlawful discrimination as to an individual’s perceived or actual race, creed, color, national origin, alienate, citizenship status, gender, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, partnership status, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, or veteran status in all employment decisions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, compensation, training and apprenticeship, promotion, upgrading, demotion, downgrading, transfer, layoff and termination and all other terms and conditions of employment.