Bilingual (Spanish/English) Professional Mentor "Friend"

About the role

Friends of the Children – Utah is a nonprofit organization with more than 30 years of evidence showing that our innovative model works. Our mission is to impact generational change by empowering youth who face the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors called "Friends." A Friend works intensively with eight children as a positive adult role model to develop a caring, trusting, and sustained relationship with each child. This position requires fluency in both Spanish and English to communicate directly with youth and their families in both languages.

A Friend will set positive expectations; nurture and promote each child’s strengths, talents, and abilities; help assure physical and emotional well-being; teach life and academic skills; provide enrichment activities; and model responsible behavior. Friends will work primarily one-on-one with their children and must know, understand, honor, and support the organization’s mission, vision, values, principles, and policies.

Responsibilities

• Develop and sustain a long-term, caring, protective, and loving relationship with each child.
• Spend 3-4 hours each week with each of the 8 youth on your roster in home, school, and in the community.
• In collaboration with youth and caregivers, set goals and develop plans to meet those goals to ensure the development of each child’s strengths, talents, abilities, and needs.
• Teach life skills and help develop a talent/skill/area of interest with each child along with healthy habits to contribute to basic development and learning, and to build positive self-esteem.
• Provide enrichment resources and activities that include opportunities for cultural awareness.
• Support child’s development of behavioral management skills, emotional regulation, and prosocial behavior.
• Model and promote good problem solving and decision-making skills.
• Develop positive relationships with families, teachers, and others involved in each child’s life.
• Advocate to secure additional resources, opportunities, and services for youth as appropriate.
• Assist with systems navigation in schools to secure conditions for optimal academic success.
• Participate in programming and resources available through the organization, effectively utilizing program resources to meet the needs of each child.
• Reinforce basic academic skills and learning.
• Work a full-time non-traditional schedule, including afternoons, evenings, and some weekends, adjusting hours as needed to meet the needs of youth and families.
• Manage allocated budget.
• Complete, distribute, and collect interaction summaries, expense reports, assessments, and evaluation materials accurately and in a timely manner.
• Attend and actively participate in team meetings and staff functions.
• Provide information and support to the development and executive team on related activities.
• Fulfill other responsibilities as required.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree preferred. A combination of relevant education and professional experience will be considered.
• At least 2 years of experience working with children and families. Mentoring experience with children preferred.
• Willingness to commit for a minimum of three years.
• Ability to pass a full criminal background investigation and Motor Vehicle Record check.
• Maintain current driver’s license, good driving record, and vehicle insurance.
• Have a safe and reliable personal vehicle for driving to work locations and transporting youth.
• Proficiency in Microsoft applications; familiarity with databases, office functions, and data reporting.
• Maintain First Aid/CPR certification.

Skills

• Ability to cultivate trusting relationships with children, parents, teachers, and community members.
• Bilingual English/Spanish required to communicate with Spanish-speaking youth and families.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work with children in varied capacities and settings.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and communicate appropriately within the workplace.
• Ability to use creativity and initiative in planning activities to continually develop children.
• Ability to work independently in diverse environments with limited supervision.
• Ability to work as a team player.
• Ability to manage several concurrent issues and solve problems effectively exercising appropriate discretion and judgment.
• Partner with parents/caregivers to provide concrete and social-emotional supports for the family.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Ability to complete administrative tasks accurately and on time.
• Attention to detail and accuracy.
• Ability to handle high mobility and driving demands safely and with good judgment.
• A sense of humor is a plus.

Schedule

This is a full-time, exempt position. Due to the nature of a Friend’s role, the work hours are somewhat nontraditional and include late afternoon and evening work. During the school year, the general workweek is Tuesday through Saturday, with Sunday and Monday off. During summer, spring, and winter breaks, Friends may work a standard Monday through Friday workweek. Friends are required to spend three to four hours each week with each assigned child, engaging with them both in and outside of home, school, and the community.

Benefits

• 95% Employer-paid medical & 100% Employer-paid dental and vision.
• 100% Employer-paid Long Term Disability, AD&D, and Life Insurance.
• Three weeks paid vacation, two weeks paid sick leave, 12 paid holidays, with progressive increases for longevity.
• 401(k) with 3% employer match (immediately 100% vested).
• 8 weeks of paid parental leave (birth, adoption, foster).
• Cell Phone Stipend.
• Employee Assistance Program for staff and their families to support in times of crisis and mental health needs.
• Flexible scheduling with partial remote work.

Pay

$50,000 - $56,000 Annually, DOE.