Family Outreach Worker – Full Time

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Domus Family Outreach Worker works alongside middle and high school staff to connect with families whose students have become disengaged or disconnected from school due to the pandemic or other circumstances. Family Outreach Workers help students and families in the short term (2 week to 8 week engagement) by identifying reasons for disengagement in school, connecting students and families with school personnel, and connecting students and families with resources in the community.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Outreach to families

• Make initial connection with families and/or students by phone or text
• Communicate with families and/or students to understand what obstacles have prevented school attendance
• Arrange for meeting with family, Domus Family Outreach Worker, student, and school personnel to create a plan to re-engage in school
• Provide logistical support for family and/or student to come to school to meet with school staff
• Plan home visit or other in-person meeting with family, student, and school personnel, including purpose for the meeting, time, and location
• Document all interactions with students and/or families

Collaborating with School Staff

• Conference with school staff to identify and prioritize families for outreach
• Work with school staff to plan for successful student/family outreach
• Attend re-engagement meetings and provide logistical support for families to attend
• Document key interactions with school staff in support of outreach efforts

Collaborating with Families

• Provide referrals to resources as necessary
• Communicate consistently with families during engagement period to problem solve re-engagement
• Document family collaboration efforts

NOTE: This list is a guide. You will also be responsible for other tasks and projects as may be assigned by your supervisor.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience working with target population, including experience working with families.
• Able to work some evening, weekend, and other non-traditional work hours.
• A great sense of humor!
• Willingness to work within systems, with a nuanced understanding of the balance of building relationships and advocating within an institution that is not operated by Domus.
• Commitment to the Domus mission, values and core principles.
• Valid driver’s license.

SKILLS

Required:

• A strong work ethic
• High emotional intelligence, able to easily develop deep, trusting relationships with diverse individuals from many different backgrounds
• General computer literacy, prior experience with Word, Excel and Outlook
• Ability to receive and respond to constructive feedback
• Ability to collect required data
• Flexibility and adaptability, able to shift styles to fit the needs of a wide range of cultures, people and organizations
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Ability to help young people repair relationships, using a variety of methods including a restorative justice model
• Maintain relationships with outside community supports and connections as appropriate for students

Preferred:

• Spanish speaking

OUR HIRING PROCESS AND TIMELINE:

• We will review applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
• To apply, you must submit a resume and a brief cover letter.

Domus is an equal opportunity employer. Domus is committed to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment. Domus does not discriminate based on race, sex, color, religion, age, national origin, marital status, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other reason prohibited by law in provision of employment opportunities and benefits.

COMPENSATION

• Salary range is $50,000 - $54,000 per year based on education and experience plus an additional $4,000 for those who speak Spanish.
• Full-time, non-exempt year-round position, working a minimum of 40.0 hours per week. We believe in work-life balance, and there will be times when the balance tips to work and when the balance tips toward life.
• Competitive medical benefits, 403b plan and paid time off provided

CORE PROGRAM BELIEFS

• We believe that within each of us is a desire to move towards health and achievement, under the right conditions. It is our job to provide young people with those conditions.
• We believe that every young person wants to love and be loved. It is our job to love these young people, and to help them learn to love themselves and others.
• We believe in the power of belonging. It is a core human condition to want to be missed when we are gone. We will miss young people when they are absent, and we will express that: “We didn’t see you yesterday. We missed you. We are glad you are back”. We will make sure every young person belongs in our community. No matter what. “She drew a circle to shut me out. Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win. We drew a circle that took her in” (Edwin Markham)
• We accept young people for who they are. Right here. Right now. They do not have to change to be respected and loved and valued and be a member of our community. Behavior is not a condition of their worth as human beings.
• We believe that every young person wants to be in charge of their own life. To that end, we will give young people a voice in this program, and choices of how to best accomplish their goals.
• We are hungry to understand if our interventions are having the intended impact. We will be meticulous in our data entry, and ruthless in our hunt to understand the data and learn from it. If what we are doing is not working, we will set aside our egos, intentions and preconceived notions and we will change what we are doing.
• We believe that the young people with whom we work deserve our full attention and our best selves. Therefore, we will: NOT allow our personal beliefs or baggage to interfere with our work; we will commit to doing excellent work all the time on behalf of our young people; we will be honest and transparent with ourselves, our colleagues and our partners. To be very clear, by working in this program we are committing to:
  • Engaging in self-care outside of work so that our personal issues don’t interfere with our ability to focus on our young people;
  • Open communication - Bringing all issues directly back to the person OR to the group session in a way that fosters a healthy team;
  • Learning our craft before practicing on our youth;
  • Giving and receiving honest feedback, even if it is uncomfortable to hear or say

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Work will be performed inside of a Stamford Public Schools middle school or alternative venue as established by the Director
• Home visits and community outreach work will be performed in environments not controlled by Domus.
• Expect to work a school day/year as established by the Director and at times a non-standard workday. This is a 12-month position.
• Work will be under the supervision of the Director with periodic performance appraisals
• Will be working with faculty, staff, and administrators in a collaborative approach as well as at school organized or sponsored events