Youth and Family Counselor (Therapist)

Description

Youth & Opportunity United (Y.O.U.) seeks a Therapist to join a dynamic youth development organization. Reporting to the Director of Clinical and Outreach Services, the Youth and Family Counselor is responsible for the direct delivery of counseling, case management, and housing crisis services to youth and families in school- and community-based settings.

Summary Of Role

• Provide ongoing counseling services to individuals, families, and youth in Y.O.U.'s out-of-school time programs and community referrals.
• Lead site-specific psycho-educational groups supporting designated 2-3 out-of-school time sites.
• Facilitate individual therapy at assigned schools during school hours.
• Assist in strengthening family and community engagement strategies at Y.O.U.
• Participate in clinically-focused trainings for staff and intern supervision.
  
  

Core Functional Responsibilities

Direct Service:

• Provide ongoing counseling services, including housing crisis response, advocacy, respite negotiations, and individual/family counseling in a variety of community settings.
• Participate with other staff, to be on-call and be available to respond or provide back-up support to housing crisis calls on self-designated night/weekend hours for youth ages 11-17.
• Design and lead psychosocial/psychoeducational groups with youth at the out-of-school time programs.
• Observe and intervene with youth at the program sites as needed during program time, consulting with site staff to best support individual youth needs, and mediate with youth-youth as well as youth-staff.
• Provide individual and/or family counseling through community referrals and school assignments.
• Provide individual therapy to youth during the school day.
• Work with school social workers to identify youth for individual therapy.
• Communicate with guardians regarding individual sessions as well as the school social worker as needed.
  
  

Staff Development

• Serve as a clinical consultant to after-school program staff, consulting with site teams, school representatives, community providers, and families as appropriate.
• Provide Clinical Supervision to Masters-level interns as Field or Task Supervisor as appropriate with licensure.
  
  

Family And Community Engagement

• Attend site Family Nights, parent workshops, and relevant community events, including planning activities with site teams as appropriate.
• Develop and maintain collaborative relationships with local schools, other youth service organizations, mental health providers, state agencies, police, clergy, community leaders, foster homes, and other partners in Evanston and surrounding communities.
• With site staff, create and implement a plan for site-specific family engagement.
• Attend and present to stakeholder and community meetings, as requested.
  
  

Administrative

• Maintain accurate, complete, and up-to-date client records in Apricot 360 and eCornerstone weekly.
• Participate actively in all-staff meetings.
• Participate in team meetings and individual supervision.
• Perform other duties as assigned.
  
  

Program Site-Team Responsibilities

• Supervises and facilitates enrichment activities with groups of 1 or more students in a safe, developmentally-appropriate, and structured environment.
• Gathers supplies to execute programs, including setting up the space for readiness, and cleans up the space.
• Troubleshoots in real-time during afterschool program, including but not limited to receiving feedback, relaying information to OST and Clinical leadership, and follow-up interventions.
  
  

Requirements

Qualifications and Education Requirements

• Master's in social work, psychology, counseling, or other equivalent.
• Experience providing counseling in a youth-centered work setting (minimum of 2 years of supervised experience in a relevant setting).
• Outstanding counseling and casework skills.
• Experience in and passion for youth services.
• Excellent communication skills, ability to build relationships of mutual trust and respect with youth, colleagues, school professionals, and community members.
• Experience with data collection and proficiency in using technology as a management reporting tool.
• Highly collaborative, entrepreneurial, and energetic personality.
• Personal qualities of integrity, credibility, and a commitment to and passion for Y.O.U.'s mission.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• LCSW or similar certification
• Experience in counseling elementary and/or middle school-aged youth, play therapy, etc.
• Fluency in another language such as Spanish, Assyrian, Arabic, Urdu or Tagalog, including the
  
  

Preferred Skills

• Punctuality
• Flexibility
• Time Management
• Problem Solving
• Decision Making
• Relationship-Building
• Attention to detail
• Strong Communication (verbal and written)
  
  

The Organization

Founded in 1971, Y.O.U. is an Evanston-based non-profit that partners with families, schools, and the community to provide academic, social, and emotional support to close the opportunity gap and prepare all youth for post-secondary and life success. Each year, Y.O.U. serves 800+ youth across 9 school sites with free, holistic, out-of-school-time programming, including afterschool and summer, along with community-based mental health services. This is an exciting time for the organization, which completed a successful $16.4M capital campaign in 2017 that expanded programs, launched an endowment, and funded a new headquarters facility. The organization is implementing a new strategic plan focused on serving as a community hub and leader, measuring and communicating our powerful impact, creating a sustainable infrastructure, and building a culture of inclusion and transparency. Our staff are a diverse collection of 40+ passionate individuals, committed to social justice, to a trauma-informed approach, to equity, and to helping youth realize their full potential.

Y.O.U. is committed to creating an inclusive environment and is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.