POSITION OVERVIEW

The Domus Street Outreach Worker will identify, connect with, and engage young people in the community who are disconnected from community resources such as school, employment and/or housing and are at high risk for criminal activity, gang involvement and incarceration. The Street Outreach Worker will link these young people to resources in the community of which they may be skeptical by building relationships with them to bridge that connection. The Street Outreach Worker will also work with the young people to build their decision-making skills to lower their risk of criminal activity.

The Domus Street Outreach Worker position is not intended to be office-based. The role is to reach out to youth in their environment at community events, on street corners, in parks, in homes of youth, and in other places where youth hang out. For this reason, it is very important for applicants to be comfortable with our target population of disengaged and disconnected youth aged 12-27 and who are comfortable being in these areas without the company of police, probation, or additional staff members. Also, this role works outside in all weather conditions, and extensive walking is required.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Relentless Relationship Building with Young People

• Engage young people directly in the community in 1-1, face to face, positive, life changing relationships and become a trusted, go-to resource.
• Utilize teachable moments to teach/model interpersonal communication skills.
• Provide skills building “on the hoof” (in real time)
• Address young people’s past and current traumas and stressors as they relate to the underlying drivers of current behavioral challenges.
• Utilize Thoughts, Emotions and Behaviors (cognitive behavioral skills) to build young people’s emotion management and resilience.
• Use Domus’ core principles to build relationships, most importantly never giving up and giving many chances.
• Document daily face to face interactions with youth.
• Identify youths’ needs and goals to help the team develop a more comprehensive intervention plan.

Community and Family Mediation and Support

• Coordinate appropriate crisis responses following episodes of violence in the community.
• Help families, ranging from accessing basic services to helping resolve family conflicts.
• Resolve conflicts and/or mediate between young people, their families, other youth, and/or agencies.
• Act as a liaison between young people and service providers/schools to facilitate young person’s access to these services.
• Work with young people who are seeking employment to connect them to Domus’ workforce development programs and other opportunities within the community.
• Collaborate with Domus staff as well as other community providers to update all on ongoing conflicts in the community and ways in which our team can mediate/mitigate the conflicts.
• Document these interventions and mediations with young people and families.

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 in a street outreach type setting.
• Able to work non-traditional hours including evenings, weekends, holidays, and other non-traditional work hours.
• Skilled at building relationships with individuals
• 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
• 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.
• Maintain relationships with outside community support and connections as appropriate for young people.
• Ability to help young people repair relationships, using a variety of methods including a restorative justice model.

Preferred:

• Spanish speaking
• Strong connection to Stamford community

OUR HIRING PROCESS AND TIMELINE:

• We will review applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

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

• This is an hourly position. Hourly rate is $21 per hour.
• Per Diem (as needed basis) non-exempt year-round position, working between 5 - 25 hours varying weekly. Must be available to work starting at 2:00 pm on many school days. Hours range from 2:00 - 8:00 pm.

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 ourselves 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 in our youth.
  • Giving and receiving honest feedback, even if it is uncomfortable to hear or say.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Work will be performed in the Stamford Community or alternative venue as established by the Coordinator.
• Community outreach work will be performed in environments not controlled by Domus.
• The work will be under the supervision of the Coordinator with periodic performance appraisals.

Please note: In this role, you will be outside in all weather conditions and temperatures and there is considerable walking required.