STRIVE Counselor

About Our Organization:

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 the  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.

Founded in 1924  today Youth Guidance is a leading provider of outcomes-driven programs serving more than 8,500 youth while touching the lives of more than 14,000 youth, parents, teachers, and community members.

Position Summary: The STRIVE Counselor provides school-based individual, counseling and academic coaching to students who are in DCFS care. The Counselor is responsible for rendering direct counseling and/or support services to clients within agency policies and programs and coordinates with school and DCFS employees for service provision. The Counselor participates within a team, helps formulate team programs, and works with school administration to ensure cohesive collaboration.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities:

• Provides STRIVE services to students and families directly within school districts #299 (CPS), #205 (Thornton Township), and #209 (Proviso Township). These services will include counseling, case management, home visits, student and staff training seminars, resource development, mentoring, tutoring, college and career readiness, and/or other services, as needed.
• Interacts effectively with DCFS, the Public School System and other relevant personnel on issues related both to the STRIVE Program and to all Youth Guidance programming.
• Assures effective coordination and communication of information between DCFS, the Public Schools system and other community partners on matters regarding the STRIVE Program.
• Performs routine administrative functions including monthly/quarterly/yearly reports, client record keeping, progress notes, case reviews and research evaluation and meets all program deliverables.
• Provides training as requested by agency administration.
• Engage in operational and technical planning of team goals/objective to achieve performance metrics.
• Collaborates with team to create and develop small/large scale events for the STRIVE program.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

Education/Experience/Training

• Master’s Degree in social work preferred, counseling or a related human service field from an approved accredited university is preferred. Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university is required.
• Illinois social work or counseling license is preferred, but not required.
• Spanish language fluency strongly preferred.
• Must have at least two years of experience providing direct counseling or related services to youth. Case management experience or experience in schools is a plus.

Skills/Abilities

• Effectively communicates in verbal and written form
• Collaborates in team settings
• Works independently and with ownership of one’s work
• Demonstrates knowledge of trauma-informed care and advanced counseling/psychology concepts
• Demonstrates cultural competency, including understanding of effects of institutional racism and systemic oppression on marginalized populations
• Demonstrates understanding of challenges facing youth and families involved in DCFS care
• Able to creatively engage youth in school and community settings
• Provides a positive, team-based approach to treatment and care of clients

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 the 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 encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• This job operates in a professional office environment, school setting and working with the public, all Youth Guidance employees must be fully vaccinated or approved for a medical or religious exemption
• Occasional local and national 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