SWITCH Youth Outreach Specialist - Memphis Allies

Company Overview

Youth Villages has been a national leader in the implementation of research-based treatment philosophies in the field of children's mental and behavioral health. Our commitment to helping troubled children and their families find success spans 30+ years and includes a comprehensive array of programs and services. 

If you are looking for a positive career move where you are meeting the challenges of life and striving to make a positive difference, then Youth Villages is the place for you. We are looking for people with a strong sense of purpose and focus to continually build confidence in yourself and our organization.

Position Overview 

The Outreach Worker’s main responsibility is to help reduce gun violence in the City. The Memphis Allies outreach worker will identify potential participants for the program. Outreach Workers respond to shooting scenes and to the hospital to provide support to gun violence victims, attend community events in neighborhoods with high rates of violence, canvas neighborhoods as needed to identify candidates. Recruiting potential participants focuses on the most violent individuals and groups. The participants we recruit are often in imminent danger. Outreach Workers will work on building trust with these candidates and build a real bond, learning their individual stories and establishing the trust necessary for dialogue. Mediation happens daily. Our Street Outreach workers must act fast and will be trained to de-escalate the most heated moments. After locating and engaging with individuals identified as being at very high risk of involvement in gun violence, they connect them with a Life Coach.

• Caseload of a minimum of 12 individuals
• Locate individuals identified though the Gun Violence Reduction Strategy as very high risk. Locate them through your networks, relationships, outreach, social media, or other means. Engage them and directly connect them to a Life Coach.
• Respond to shooting scenes after an injury shooting to provide support to victims and their families, ease tension at the scene, offer support to victim’s friends and network, and gather information about the cause of the shooting.
• Go to hospitals to engage recent gunshot victims to offer support and services, discourage retaliation, build relationships with victim, family, and victim’s network.
• Attend community events in neighborhoods with high rates of violence to make a presence and to engage high risk individuals and groups to offer support.
• Attend funerals of people who were members of active gangs/crews/groups to provide support to family as well as build relationships with the family and victim’s network.
• Documentation summarizing each time you respond to a shooting scene, visit the hospital, or attend a community event.
• Visit and occasionally conduct groups and workshops in local juvenile and adult correctional facilities for the purpose of building rapport with individuals who will be released and may be high risk individuals.
• Have an initial sole focus on establishing a positive and trusting relationship with each client. Simply sending in-person time with your client and building a rapport should be the initial focus.
• Defuse immediate tensions and help build long-term peace agreements between all parties, with the aim of creating a safer community for everyone.
• Attend all mandatory and necessary meetings and trainings, including staff meetings, your team meetings, Case Conferences, and all trainings.
• Follow all directions and guidance from your supervisor

Requirements 

• High School Diploma/ or equivalent required
• Credibility and cultural competency. Many members of the team come from the very neighborhoods where they work; they share similar backgrounds with the participants they seek to support. the key is to know the personal dynamics and stakes at play.
• Transformative mentor-ship. Memphis Allies believes that the mentor-ship Outreach Workers will provide is a service.
• And like all services, effective mentor-ship requires diverse skills including motivational interviewing, strengths identification, and basic familiarity with cognitive-behavioral interventions.
• On-Call availability. Outreach Specialists are on call 24/7 to reduce tensions in real time, prevent violence, and preempt retaliations.

Benefits

Affordable access to medical, prescription, dental, and vision insurance plans

Tuition Reimbursement and Licensure Supervision
Priority consideration for leadership openings throughout the organization
Mileage and cell phone reimbursement
Retirement savings pension plan and a 401(k) and FSA
Paid time off: Two weeks for vacation

11 paid holidays

12 sick days annually

Paid Parental Leave
Supportive leadership and coworkers

Youth Villages is an equal opportunity employer and provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

Youth Villages is committed to not only advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace but also in our work with children and young adults. We know that children, families and young people of color can face inequity in child welfare and justice systems, and we train our employees to build the skills they need to work with the communities that we serve, as well as, other employees from different cultures and backgrounds. Youth Villages is opposed to racism in any of its forms and is committed to inclusion, equity, and diversity. We believe that respect for each other is crucial in the work that we do each day.