Life Coach

About the role

Forestdale is a NYC child welfare agency working to prevent child abuse/neglect through parenting, prevention, and foster care services, focusing on low-income and immigrant communities in NYC. Forestdale operates out of three offices to better serve the families of Brooklyn and Queens. We help thousands of families work through complex trauma, parents raise the next amazing generation of children, and youth successfully launch into adulthood. Forestdale’s mission is “to ensure that children and families have the fundamental assets they need to thrive and live independently.” Care Management is a service model whereby all of an individual's caregivers communicate and interface so that the patient's needs are addressed in a comprehensive manner. This is done primarily through a "care manager" who oversees and provides access to all of the services an individual needs to assure that they receive everything necessary to prevent hospitalizations, stay healthy, and maintain stability. This is a six-month contracted position. Location: 6735 112th St, Forest Hills, NY 11375.

Responsibilities

• Build relationships with up to 20 young people.
• Provide ongoing social/emotional support.
• Work 1:1 with young people to develop individualized academic and career development goals based on their interests and strengths and take measurable steps towards their goals.
• Connect young people to quality schools, programs, resources, and opportunities in line with their goals.
• Help young people persist in these settings, navigate any challenges that arise, celebrate successes, and plan/prepare for the next step on their journey.
• Visit the young people’s school to build relationships with the school personnel and to obtain report cards.
• Should a youth not be successful in any particular school/program setting, Coaches help young people reflect on the experience and work with them to set new goals and transition to the next opportunity.
• Collaborate with Case Planners, Tutors, Specialists, and foster/birth parents, as needed, to help youth achieve their goals and ensure their overall well-being.
• Connect young people to peer group supports and build positive relationships.
• Ensure young people who are aging out can access and maintain stable, affordable housing and build independent living skills.
• Participating in multidisciplinary clinical team meetings, as needed.
• Accompanying youth to appointment as necessary.
• Participating in case conferences, as scheduled and needed.
• Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

A Bachelor’s degree and at least two years of experience working with at-risk or system-involved young people; or an Associate’s or accredited vocational degree, and 3+ years of working with at-risk or system-involved young people.

Skills

• Oral and written communication, and interpersonal engagement with a child/youth focus.
• Open to learning how to use and interpret data to inform decision-making.
• Ability to effectively collaborate in team settings and build relationships with external partners.
• Ability to use Motivational Interviewing techniques.
• Ability to facilitate therapeutic peer groups.
• Ability to work from a strength-based, trauma-informed, youth development lens.
• Compassionate, patient, and empathetic.
• A love for working with young people.
• Strong ability to relate to young people, engage them in conversation, and provide support and encouragement.
• Values and promotes diversity.
• A belief that change is possible.
• Able to maintain healthy boundaries.
• Ability to accommodate a flexible work schedule, including evenings and some weekends as well as the ability to be reached outside of a 9-5 office schedule.
• Ability to travel in and around the metropolitan New York City region.
• Ability to maintain composure and function well under stress.
• Compliance with required background checks.
• Bilingual French Preferred

Benefits

• Four weeks’ vacation
• Medical/dental/vision/life/disability insurance
• 401(k), 7% employer contribution + 2% match
• Tax-deferred health care/dependent care/commuter plans
• Flexible Schedule
• Opportunities for educational scholarships

Pay

Salary Range:
Bachelors - $27.477/hr - $28.57/hr
Bachelors (Bilingual)- $28.57/hr - $29.67/hr
Masters - $28.02/hr - $31.59/hr
Masters (Bilingual) - $29.12/hr - $32.69/hr
Masters