Resource Specialist

At Youth Guidance, we believe that no matter what challenges a young person faces, they are more likely to succeed when they have caring adults in their lives. Our highly-trained staff guides kids to overcome the life and academic challenges facing Chicago’s youth. We meet kids where they are — physically and emotionally — to help them focus on their education, make positive choices, and remain on the right path toward life success.

Position Summary: The Resource Specialist is responsible for providing support to designated schools and communities by connecting assigned youth and families to community-based resources. The Resource Specialist will use results from program assessments to provide support and connections to resources related to experiences of gender-based violence. They will develop a resource list for the identified family in collaboration with the referring YG staff member.  They will also collaborate with other YG staff within designated schools to provide outreach and identify resources that meet group or school-wide needs and increase the reach and effectiveness of YG services.  The Resource Specialist will participate in strategizing, implementing, and evaluating the success of resource provision to YG students and families.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities

• Develop relationships with community organizations that provide services to youth and families affected by gender-based violence, as well as resources for other urgent needs like homelessness, food insecurity, and access to healthcare.
• Consult with Youth Guidance staff on the needs of youth/families.
• Engage caregivers as needed by phone or in-person to ensure needs are being met.
• In consultation with program leaders, determine the level of youth and family needs through a strengths-based needs assessment.
• Be available to participate in community, family, and youth-focused events and activities within designated schools and communities.
• Research resources and establish professional contacts in the assigned communities.
• Complete assigned documentation and assist with program data tracking to ensure high-quality, effective service provision.
• Attend regular team meetings.
• Participate in community meetings to inform about the program, stay aware of community issues and challenges, and strengthen relationships.

Minimum Qualifications

Education/Experience/Training

• Master’s Degree in Social Work, Psychology or a related field.
• Minimum 1 year of case management or related job experience, including internships and/or experience in work related to DV/gender-based violence.
• Three years of work experience in education, human service, youth development, or social service field.

Skills/Abilities

• Demonstrated passion and dedication to the agency’s mission and the continuous improvement of service quality.

• Succinct and clear verbal and written communication skills.

• Proven accountability of timely documentation and attendance to meetings.

• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build collaborative relationships with individuals in many different settings (schools, families, and other community organizations)

• Works independently and with ownership of one’s work.

• Creative, strategic, and organized thinker who can manage day-to-day tasks with an eye on long-term goals.

• Demonstrates cultural competency, including an understanding of the effects of institutional racism and systemic oppression on marginalized populations.

• Able to creatively engage and connect with youth, caregivers, and families.

• Able to function in a group and team settings with the capacity to be solution-focused, task-driven, and innovative in those settings.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office products (Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).

Core Competencies:

• Communication: Uses effective written and oral communication with internal staff, teams, and community served; demonstrates empathy and listening
• Client orientation: Recognizes needs of diverse stakeholders and approaches relationships with a service orientation, to ultimately maximize the impact
• Equity mindset: Understands and is committed to goals of equity, consistently brings an equity mindset to the organization’s work and workplace
• Growth mindset: Views growth as important for personal and professional development; seeks out opportunities to expand skills, even if the change is required, demonstrates curiosity and eagerness to learn
• Ownership and quality of work: Effectively manages own work, and work of the team to ensure delivery of high-quality work
• Supervisory skills: Effectively manages and develops others
• Mission drive: Demonstrates commitment to the missing of the organization as a whole and alignment with organization values

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to stand for sustained periods of time, frequently talk, hear, use hands and fingers to feel, handle and operate objects or controls, and occasionally stand, bend, stoop, kneel and crouch
• The employee is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures, transcribing, and viewing a computer terminal
• The employee may occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounter while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• The duties performed are primarily in a community setting, COVID-19 vaccination is required.
• Occasional need for local travel.

DEI Statement

At Youth Guidance, we understand that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) are fundamental to realizing our vision of bright and successful futures for all young people. We celebrate the diversity of youth and recognize them as empowered leaders, problem-solvers, and experts of their own experiences. At the same time, we acknowledge that many systems and institutions meant to support youth are inequitable and unjust.

As such, we are committed to advancing DE&I through our words and our actions, both internally and externally, by:

• Strengthening cultural competence as well as policies, practices, and organizational structures that foster belonging and leverage the unique backgrounds and talents of staff;
• Offering youth-centered programs that are accessible and responsive to people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, abilities, sexual identity, gender identity and expression, language, and cultural and religious beliefs and practices;
• Influencing systems that youth, their families, and communities are impacted by, such as schools, organizational networks, governmental bodies, researchers, and the funding community, to apply approaches that embrace DEI in addressing the needs and supporting the aspirations of young people.

Youth Guidance is an equal-opportunity employer and proudly values diversity. Youth Guidance does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law and is committed to creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity along all of these lines. People of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

EOE/M/F/D/V/SO