Youth Empowerment Specialist, Communicare, Elizabethtown region (8 counties)

POSITION TITLE:    Specialist- Prevention Youth Empowerment  at Communicare

   Communicare has a newly funded position. Positions will be based out of our Elizabethtown office and cover all 8 of Communicare’ s counties.  The youth empowerment specialist will work with the schools to develop and facilitate youth groups that will be a youth voice to the community for drug prevention.   .

ADMINISTRATIVE SUPERVISOR:  Supervisor – Prevention                                            FLSA STATUS:  E

POSITION SUMMARY:  Primarily responsible for empowerment of youth to support the completion of the Regional Prevention Center work plan and meet goals of the State Opioid response (SOR) project

QUALIFICATIONS:  Bachelors Degree in human services field or be within 1 year of completing Bachelors Degree. Must provide own transportation.

SKILL SETS: Requires ability and desire to directly work with and  relate to youth; able to work collaboratively and self initiate contact; strong verbal and written communication skills; public speaking skills; dependable;  interact effectively with the public and staff; develop talking points and reports and prepare presentations; strong sense of commitment; demonstrated organizational skills and conflict resolution skills; strong facilitation skills; proven ability to build relationships, trust and deepen connections with diverse people and groups; ability to follow through on assignments with minimal oversight

 PHYSICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEMANDS:  Must be able to move boxes weighing up to 20 lbs. of informational material from Regional Prevention Center to other sites. Frequent verbal communication by phone and face to face with individuals and groups in the community which requires hearing and speaking. Subject to many interruptions.  Manual dexterity required for written communications and computer data entry. Frequent travel to provide services to eight county service area. Visual acuity necessary for preparation of handouts and materials. Must be able to stand for long periods of time in order to provide trainings. Must be able to work inconsistent hours on weekends and nights as needed.

 JOB SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS:

1. Work with regional youth to build critical awareness around the issues of substance use and related consequences
2. Plan, coordinate and implement delivery of training of youth and  adults to support youth engagement across the region
3. Provide technical assistance to and collaborate with prevention service providers for sustainability of efforts
4. Conduct surveys of  youth groups in the communities to determine those currently engaged in prevention efforts and those that are not and conduct surveys of needs of technical assistance needs of youth groups in the region
5. Work collaboratively with other staff members of Regional Prevention Center and provide support to ensure alignment of  youth led efforts with needs-assessment driven work plan
6. Develop and implement region-wide strategies that promote youth empowerment and encourage partnerships between RPC’s and youth service agencies
7. Support collection of  youth level needs assessment data through evaluation activities such as focus groups, interviews and environmental scans
8. Enter all service data into the Prevention Data System
9. Support RPC staff as needed to integrate youth into activities
10. Work collaboratively with other prevention specialists and SOR team members across the state to leverage resources
11. Participate in agency continuing quality improvement (CQI) activities.
12. Perform other duties as assigned.

MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS:

1. Adheres to Communicare Services, Inc. policies and procedures.
2. Attends mandatory in-services and other training/educational programs as required.
3. Must apply for prevention specialist certification within two years of employment.