AAP YOUTH PARTNER (SB WRAP)

About the role

South Coast Community Services takes pride in providing staff with competitive compensation, opportunities for professional growth, access to diverse client populations, clinical autonomy, and a strong support system of seasoned employees.

Youth Partners have a unique perspective on the needs of current system-involved youth, focusing on ensuring each youth is afforded their own voice, choice, and preferences separately from parents and caregivers. They directly support youth to imagine and describe their own personal vision and hope for a better future. Youth Partners prioritize emotional support, peer connection, and advocacy. Throughout the Wraparound process, the Youth Partner advocates to ensure the youth’s lived experience is recognized, their voice is heard, and their autonomy is respected.

Program Description

The Adoption Assistance Program serves adopted children/youth and their families. This program provides a collaborative and highly individualized process for developing specific resources and services for the referred child and their families. The goal is to utilize an adoption-competent, strength-based approach to maximize the capacity of each family to meet the child’s needs and maintain permanency outcomes and well-being. The program uses the CA High-Fidelity Wraparound (HFW) model, a team-based evidence-based practice that includes an “anything necessary” approach to care for youth and families with the most intensive mental or behavioral health challenges.

Pay

• Tier I: Bachelor’s Degree in human services or a related field from an accredited college or university AND one (1) year of experience working with the target population. Rate: $23.00 – $23.99 hourly
• Tier II: Bachelor’s Degree in human services or a related field from an accredited college or university AND 2 years of experience as a Youth Partner or equivalent. Rate: $24.00 – $24.99 hourly
• Tier III: Bachelor’s Degree in human services or a related field from an accredited college or university AND 4 years of experience as a Youth Partner or equivalent. Rate: $25.00 – $25.49 hourly
• Tier IV: Bachelor’s Degree in human services or a related field from an accredited college or university AND 6 years of experience as a Youth Partner or equivalent or Master's degree & 1 year of experience working with the target population. Rate: $25.50 – $26.00 hourly

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in human services or a related field from an accredited college or university.
• One (1) year of experience working with the target population.
• Lived experience in child-serving systems as a minor/youth.
• Experience working with youth and/or Non-Minor Dependent (NMD) in an employment or volunteer capacity is desirable.
• Valid CA driver’s license and proof of automobile insurance.
• Completion of CPR/First Aid/ProACT certification within the first thirty (30) days of employment.

Responsibilities

• Provide a consistent, supportive environment in which the client can learn and practice pro-social behaviors, problem-solving, coping skills, and other independent and transitional living skills.
• Ensure sensitivity to family culture, values and beliefs, and operate from an adoption-competent, trauma-informed, strength-based perspective.
• Maintain proficient and accurate documentation adhering to all program and contract standards.
• Teach, model, and reinforce social skills for the development of ongoing relationships within the client’s family and community.
• Provide transportation to the youth for academic, social, recreational, and/or employment activities.
• Work in coordination with the client’s multidisciplinary team, including schools or other child-serving systems, etc. Attend all required meetings.
• Develop and utilize knowledge of community resources to serve children and their families.
• Possess knowledge of behavioral support principles and Wraparound principles and fidelity standards.

Job-Specific Competencies

• Service Delivery: Identify and recommend appropriate service types that align with the needs of clients while staying within the bounds of training, expertise, and professional role. Match available services to the specific needs and preferences of clients.
• Crisis Intervention and Safety Planning: Handle crisis situations effectively, including suicidal ideation, self-harm, and acute psychiatric symptoms, by adhering to established safety protocols and accessing appropriate resources. Participate in the implementation of safety plans in collaboration with clients, their support systems, and the treatment team.
• Productivity & Service Billing: Meet program productivity expectations on a monthly basis.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to drive a motor vehicle without restrictions, often in heavy traffic and frequently long distances (one hour or more) to ensure safe transport to client settings and to safely transport clients to appointments as needed.
• Senses of vision, hearing, and smell sufficient to regularly operate a motor vehicle, visualize threats in the environment or risks to clients, and operate safely in the field.
• Required to occasionally lift and carry 10-20 pounds.
• Regularly required to sit, stand, climb stairs (1 or more flights), and walk while in route to and during family visits.
• Regularly required to sit and use a computer in office settings.