Director of Youth Services

JOB POSTING – DIRECTOR OF YOUTH SERVICES
 
Position Summary: The Hillcrest Transitional Housing team is committed to moving individuals, youth, and families from homelessness to self-sufficiency. Our employees are committed to service and embodying the organization's mission and values in all activities. All resources are leveraged in a manner that is strategic and cost effective to achieve our mission and goals. The Director of Youth Services must be a community advocate for our organization, our residents, and those in need of our services. 
 
The Director of Youth Services administers the Hillcrest youth transitional housing program by addressing the needs of resident youth to ensure they have the ability and resources to become self-sufficient and obtain independent living through an up to 24-month program. The Director of Youth Services establishes long-term stability for Hillcrest program graduates and provides appropriate supportive services to current and graduate program clients.    
 
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
The essential functions include, but are not limited to the following:

• Manages client selection by reviewing applications and coordinating and facilitating client interviews.
• Coordinates clients move-in dates with apartment sponsors and conducts formal orientation to residential facilities upon client arrival.
• Ensures individual basic needs are met by providing referrals and distributing donated products.  Acts as central resource person for all inquiries from clients.
• Schedules and oversees weekly budget meetings.  Collaborates with volunteer budget counselors to ensure residents will earn and save enough resources to provide for future housing needs and begin independent living. Provides budget counseling if a volunteer is unavailable.
• Monitors youth compliance with program expectations and guidelines for participation in budget sessions, Life Skills/Community Living classes and case management meetings while maintaining full-time school attendance/educational goal compliance and obtaining part-time employment.
• Maintains accurate written records of resident activities including an evaluation of each youth's progress at 1-month intervals while in the residential program; evaluates client's post-residential completion at 30 days, 90 days, and annually. Also maintains web based HMIS data on each applicant and client of the program.
• Encourages the youth’s success in the program by meeting with and counseling them on a weekly basis, taking care to illustrate the reasons behind the rules of the program, as well as instilling the hope of success via this program. 
• Coordinates necessary youth services with local school districts, mental health services, health services, and substance abuse services.
• Delegates tasks (sorting pantry, thrift store errands, furniture pickups, storage, questionnaires, form letters, etc.) to volunteers by recruiting, training and nurturing them in their designated tasks to meet Hillcrest high standards.
• Manages and delegates tasks to live-in Resident Managers, including coordinating client move-ins, facility upkeep, and weekly apartment checks.
• Facilitates client transition to self-sufficiency by scheduling a visit to their new home and initiating regular personal contacts with graduate youth to offer advice and encouragement through the Aftercare Program.
• Develops and implements programs that benefit youths’ transition to self-sufficiency, e.g., tutoring, educational field trips, GED training, aftercare, youth group, etc. 
• Manage programs that benefit youth such as the Back-to-School program and Christmas Adoption Program.
• Represents Hillcrest with clients, donors, and community partners.  
• Serve in other duties, roles, responsibilities as needed by the organization to fulfill its mission.

 Minimum Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)

• A valid driver’s license and ability to travel within the Kansas City Metro area is required.
• A bachelor’s degree with coursework in social work, sociology, or psychology is preferred.
• Background working in a therapeutic and/or trauma-informed care environment.
• Work experience or transferrable experience from an internship with a social service agency, school, mental and/or health care environment. 
• Ability to complete work in a timely, accurate, confidential, and thorough manner.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills with superiors, colleagues, and individuals inside and outside the Hillcrest.
• Ability to exhibit a professional manner in dealing with others and works to maintain constructive working relationships.
• Strong attention to detail and experience balancing ongoing projects with one-time requests.
• Comfortable in networking and public speaking.
• Working knowledge and experience with Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, and Teams), databases (HMIS), and telephones.
• Ability to work a non-traditional schedule to include some evenings and weekends as needed to serve client needs.

Additional Details & How to Apply: This is a full-time position serving youth residents in Kansas City, Kansas and Independence, Missouri. Candidates must be willing to work in our offices daily. Typical hours for this role are 9am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. There will be after-hours events and activities that will require additional hours on evenings and weekends. In addition, the Director of Youth Services will be on-call for any resident emergencies that may occur.

Salary range for this position is $50,000 - $70,000 based on experience and credentials.

To apply, please submit this application -or- please send cover letter and resume Lu Ann Ross, Vice President of Programs via email at lross@hillcrestkc.org. 

Hillcrest Ministries of MidAmerica, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer, drug free workplace, and complies with ADA regulations as applicable.