Street Outreach Worker - Gun Violence Prevention

Old Colony YMCA; Brockton (MA); On-site; USD 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

Old Colony YMCA is seeking a Peace Advocate to work with the street outreach team, fostering nonviolent solutions to potential violence by extensive networking within the community and direct work with identified at-risk youth and gang members.

Responsibilities include organizing outreach efforts, mediating conflicts, linking youth to services, and advocating for social and educational opportunities while collaborating in Violence Prevention initiatives in the city.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED required.
• Valid driver’s license and car insurance by date of hire preferred.
• Familiarity with the community and the ethnic culture of the target population.
• Knowledge of local agencies’ programs and services (school, social services, law enforcement, courts/corrections).
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills; ability to work with diverse stakeholders including gang members and their families.
• Flexible schedule, including nights and weekends.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to relate to participants from diverse backgrounds.
• Experience working with high-risk, gang-involved populations.
• Ability to operate a computer to enter data, maintain records, and generate reports.
• Ability to network with government and community organizations.
• Ability to work with community residents and youth, and to prioritize tasks independently.

Responsibilities

• Identify appropriate youth to participate in the project based on target characteristics.
• Develop networks and collaborative efforts to identify at-risk youth and offer services (schools, police, grant providers, and other providers).
• Organize street outreach efforts with Gun Violence Prevention initiatives in the city.
• Mediate potential street violence and gang violence situations.
• Recruit and retain project youth by providing access to job skills training, information, resources, pro-social role modeling, and encouragement.
• Advocate for project youth in securing social services, education, and job opportunities; provide information about services; assess needs.
• Assess the needs of family members related to youths’ gang involvement and refer to appropriate services.
• Provide information on available services for participants’ family members.
• Provide referrals and follow-up to ensure awareness and access to services.
• Plan and attend social and recreational activities for target youth.
• Maintain records of contacts with youth, enter data in real time, and write reports on client status.
• Identify community resources to support project implementation.
• Work with victims of gang-related crime within the community.
• Attend internal/external meetings and trainings as required by supervisor.
• Other duties as assigned.

Skills

Networking

Community outreach

Mediation

Advocacy

Interpersonal skills

Education

High School Diploma or GED

Job description

Job Summary

The Peace Advocate has the primary responsibility to work with the street outreach team to foster a community that addresses potentially violence situations with nonviolent solutions by extensive networking and collaborating within the community and reaching out to identified and at-risk gang members and working directly with them to mediate potentially violent situations. He/she will model and teach nonviolence in the street while also seeking to link gang involved and at-risk youth to services and resources in the community; and will work to reduce attachment of project youth to gangs and gang activities, and assisting in community mobilization in the target area. The Peace Advocate will be a member of and participate in all intervention Team meetings and violence prevention initiatives within the city. He/she will reflect and display the values of Character Development which are caring, honesty, respect and responsibility.

Job Functions

• Identify appropriate youth to participate in the project based on target characteristics
• Work extensively in the communicate to develop networks and collaborative efforts to both identify at-risk youth and offer services, especially with schools, police, grant providers, and other providers
• Organize the street outreach efforts with the overall efforts of the Gun Violence Prevention initiative in the city
• Mediate potential street violence and gang violence situations
• Recruit and retain project youth by providing access to job skills training, information, resources, pro‑social role modeling, and encouragement
• Serve as an advocate for project youth in securing social services, education, and job‑related opportunities; provide information about services; and assess needs.
• Assess the needs of family members as related to the target youths’ gang involvement, identify gang‑affected siblings of target participants, and make referrals to appropriate services
• Provide information on available services for participants’ family members
• Provide appropriate referral and follow‑up to ensure that target youth are aware and able to access services
• Plan and attend social and recreational activities for the target youth
• Maintain records of contacts with youth, enter data in real time and write reports on status of clients
• Identify community resources to assist in implementation of the project
• Work with victims of gang related crime within the community
• Attend all internal/external meetings and trainings as required by supervisor
• Other duties as assigned

Requirements

• High School Diploma or GED required
• Valid driver’s license and car insurance by date of hire is preferred
• Familiarity with the community
• Familiarity with the ethnic culture of the target population
• Knowledge of local agencies’ programs and services (school, social services, law enforcement, courts/corrections), local units of government, and grassroots organizations
• Possess strong communication and interpersonal skills and work effectively with agency staff and service providers and with gang members and their family members
• Work a flexible schedule, including nights and weekends
• Clearly communicate ideas in both written and verbal form
• Understand and relate to the needs of project participants of diverse ethnic, cultural, educational and socioeconomic backgrounds
• Work effectively with high‑risk, gang‑involved populations
• Operate a computer to enter data, maintain records, and generate reports
• Network effectively with various types of organizations, including government agencies, law enforcement agencies, schools, social service agencies, courts/probation/corrections, and grassroots organizations
• Work effectively with community residents, diverse population groups, and youth
• Prioritize tasks and work independently in the absence of supervision