Education and Employment Specialist

Position Summary

Education and Employment Specialists (EES) are members of our FAP teams consisting of the Program Director, Supervisor and Therapists/Case Planners. The primary role of the EES is to provide comprehensive educational and vocational supports, advocacy, and technical assistance to school‑age children as well as other members of the family needing supports around employment and/or their vocational interests. In addition, the EES is responsible for supporting the work of the Therapists/Case Planners in performing case management tasks to assist families with concrete needs and services, entitlements, pro‑social activities, and referrals to support services to alleviate barriers to their participation in treatment.

The EES will obtain medical and educational records for all school‑age children, attend all school‑related meetings/hearings, and advocate for the child’s educational and social‑emotional needs in a school setting. The EES will also be trained by the Columbia University Workplace Center in the YA WORC curriculum and implement the YA WORC curriculum in work with young persons, including Career/Education Planning and Career Club.

The EES will perform case management tasks such as conducting home and financial assessments and safe sleep assessments of infants and safety and risk assessments of all children in the home.

• Understand and promote the organization’s Mission, Vision, and Core Values to ensure alignment with organizational policies and procedures.
• Obtain and review copies of education and medical records for all school‑age youth in the home (report cards, IEPs, immunizations, etc.).
• In collaboration with Case Planners, participate in educational planning meetings including IEP/504, disciplinary hearings, Parent Teacher Conferences, suspension hearings and other educational meetings in support of students and their families.
• Advocate for children to receive quality, consistent educational experience through school visits, meetings with pertinent school personnel, dialogue with students and parents, and monitoring school documentation and attendance to ensure appropriate academic interventions, mandated special education supports (as applicable), social‑emotional supports (i.e., bullying), and opportunities to participate in extracurricular programming are provided as mandated or needed.
• Serve as the YA WORC liaison and implement the YA WORC curriculum with eligible youth, including the Career/Education Planning and co‑leading the Career Club.
• Enroll youth in SYEP and provide supports to ensure their success in SYEP job placements.
• Develop resources in the community where youth can receive internship placements and connect eligible youth to these internships.
• Perform case management responsibilities in collaboration with Therapists/Case Planners, including
  • Collaborate with Office of Client Advocacy to assist families with concrete needs such as rent arrears, utility shut‑off, furniture, gift cards, food/formula, PA applications, etc.
  • Make referrals/schedule appointments to agencies/collaterals as needed, researching and identifying appropriate support services for families’ mental health, substance abuse, work readiness, pro‑social activities, etc. if necessary.
  • Gather information regarding home and financial resources for new intakes.
  • Provide families with emergency food, clothing, furniture, school supplies, as needed.
• Engage in outreach activities and cultivate partnerships with other CBOs, schools, support agencies, and businesses to attain required 20% utilization from self‑referrals as required by contract and leverage resources in expanding employment opportunities.
• Document all casework and collateral contacts and data in CONNX, PROMIS, and Prevention shared drive.
• In rare instances, the EES can be assigned a case planner role for cases approaching closure in order to complete case management tasks on the assigned case. In these situations, the EES will be responsible for completing FASPs and/or Plan Amendments in coordination with the previously assigned therapist/case planner.
• Participate in supervision, trainings, YA WORC trainings and technical…