Mission: Friends of the Children-Boston creates generational change by engaging children from high-risk communities in twelve years of transformative mentoring relationships.

Organization: Friends of the Children-Boston (Friends-Boston) creates generational change by engaging children from high-risk communities in 12 years of transformative mentoring relationships. We call the children we serve Achievers to demonstrate our belief in their potential for success. Friends-Boston’s long-term goal is that Achievers will graduate from high school and succeed in college. We select children from high-risk communities in first grade and provide them with weekly support every year for 12 years.

Job Description Summary: An Adolescent Youth Advocate is a critical member of a team of support providers for a cohort of approximately 90 Achievers in grades 5 through 12th grade. A Youth Advocate is responsible for being the primary “Friend” to 10-12 male Achievers as well as supporting the supervision of interns who support the overall needs of the cohort. The Youth Advocate ensures that the necessary life, home and school supports are available to help every Achiever graduate high school and attend college. The Youth Advocate works collaboratively with other team members and reports directly to the Assistant Program Director .

Ideal Candidate is someone who is relentless in pursuit of success for his/her Achievers. He/she understands and is comfortable with navigating through complex situations our Achievers live with. He/she believes that all children/teens have the capacity to succeed and will do whatever it takes to support them in doing so. He/she understands that circumstances of poverty are delicate and he/she must be comfortable supporting Achievers despite of barriers that may be in the way. Lastly, he/she believes in outcomes driven methodologies and will use data to track progress towards organizational outcomes.

Job Responsibilities:
Attitude:
Commitment to providing relentless support to Achievers, families and staff
Ready to go above and beyond in time and effort to ensure goals are met
Extreme flexibility and adaptability
Positive, collaborative and resourceful
Must have a team first mind-set

Achiever Support:
As part of the team, ensure that Achievers are receiving at least 16 hours of direct and indirect support a month
Develop positive relationships with Achievers and their Caregivers through frequent communication and home visits
Serve as a primary contact for the caretakers of each Achiever and provide necessary support in direct benefits of the Achievers.
Know the needs and strengths of each Achiever served in your cohort and specifically on your caseload
Develop knowledge of academic performance and social/emotional proficiencies for each Achiever
Utilize knowledge of Achievers’ assets and deficits to set appropriate and realistic goals
Provide “supportive efforts” (community-based resources and services) and referrals to Achievers and their Caregivers to ensure positive outcomes and to work towards prevention
Maintain up to date electronic files for each Achiever
Responsible for conducting social/emotional and needs assessments and collecting academic data from schools
Provide transportation for Achievers as needed
Serve as primary contact with teachers and administrators at each of the schools attended by Achievers

Data/Evaluation Management:
Review Achiever data weekly to drive decision making about what is best for the Achiever
Review data both weekly and monthly to prepare for monthly reporting meetings and to ensure that data is accurate and complete
Use Efforts to Outcomes (ETO), an online evaluation program, to document and maintain all case notes and regularly analyze Achievers progress towards goals to inform and modify service plans
Ensure on-time completion and submission of Achiever assessments, goal reviews, weekly service plan logs (case notes), academic data, and other evaluation materials

Organizational Support:
Advocate for his/her Achievers for opportunities to participate in enrichment activities/events/programs including, but not limited to, Reading Buddies, college trips, job shadow days, sports events, community service days, arts/cultural performances, and community events.
Participate in and supervise participation of Achievers in Friends-Boston events
Attendance at organizational events is required including the Gingerbread Event, Lemonade Day, end of the year celebration, the Friend Raiser and other weekend and evening events

Additional Responsibilities:
Other duties as assigned
Ability to work up to 2 Saturdays/month throughout the year as well as some late nights required
Commit to work hours of 11 am to 7 pm, with flexibility of possible morning and evening meetings as scheduled
Vehicle and good driving record required

Education and experience requirements:
Associate’s Degree required, Bachelor’s degree preferred
A minimum of 2 years of working with children/teens in an urban setting preferred; prior experience in the field of education, social work, youth development and school based programs strongly encouraged to apply

Men of color strongly encouraged to apply
Spanish, Haitian Creole, and or Cape Verdean Creole language skills a plus
Please submit resume and cover letter to hiring@friendsboston.org
Please include salary requirements in cover letter.
Preferred response by September 21, 2016, position open until filled.

Absolutely no phone calls
Friends of the Children-Boston provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics.