[JOB] Outreach Counselor at At The Crossroads

[Tara H]

POSITION
Outreach Counselor

Reports To: Program Manager

Schedule: Full-time, 40 hours/week, including outreach up to four nights a week (M, T, Th & F) in the Downtown/Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. On evenings when outreach occurs, Outreach Counselors can work as late as midnight. Counselors will be required to hold office hours 2-3 times per week, from 2:30-5:30pm, and attend certain required weekly meetings.

Compensation: $50,000/year, comprehensive benefits & generous vacation

MISSION
At The Crossroads reaches out to youth and young adults experiencing homelessness and housing instability at their point of need, and works with them to build healthy and fulfilling lives. Learn more about ATC’s mission at: www.atthecrossroads.org.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Outreach

Outreach Counselors walk the Downtown/Tenderloin neighborhood as a team of two or three staff distributing basic needs supplies, food, and resources, while developing counseling relationships at a pace determined by the young people we aim to serve.

Counseling

At The Crossroads practices a harm-reduction philosophy in our work with clients. Our counselors support clients in generating their own goals and solutions, rather than giving advice or using their own lives to
instruct others. Ongoing supervision, peer support, and mentorship are key to supporting our counseling team and the work of At The Crossroads.

Counselors meet with established clients long term, well into adulthood. These meetings range from simple conversations and accessing basic needs supplies to more complex counseling, creating action plans and providing in-depth personalized referrals. Meetings with clients generally take place on the streets, in public places, at our office, within the San Francisco County jail, and local hospitals. Counselors may also accompany clients to appointments and intakes with other community based organizations.

QUALIFICATIONS

At The Crossroads has a very specific philosophy that guides our work, and having organizational alignment around our philosophy is imperative. Please read this section carefully.

Required:
● Comfort and demonstrated ability to work with youth from diverse ethnic, racial, religious and
socioeconomic backgrounds
● Willing to work at night, and be generally flexible with your time
● Basic proficiency with using Excel, Word, and Google platforms
● Great listening skills, and the ability to think critically and sensitively
● Have strong sense of one’s personal strengths and challenges
● High standards of professionalism
● Ability to work effectively and efficiently in an often busy, sometimes chaotic environment
● Applicants must be 21 or older
● Physical ability to lift and carry a backpack up to 40 lbs.

Preferred:
● Two years relevant professional and/or personal experience with street outreach
● Experience working with incarcerated populations
● Ability to pass a background check in order to obtain San Francisco County jail clearance
● If in recovery, two continuous years of recovery are suggested
● If you have had lived experience within ATC’s population, at least two continuous years of job and
housing stability strongly encouraged
● Fluency or ability to converse in multiple languages an asset

TO APPLY
● Application Deadline: rolling basis
● Applications will only be accepted via email, and only in .doc, .docx, or .pdf formats – no exceptions
● The subject line of your emailed application MUST be: Outreach Counselor – [Your Name]

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS
Please limit your answers to one short, concise paragraph for each question.

1) Why are you applying for the Outreach Counselor position?

2) What will your biggest challenge be in this position, and how will you address it? What will be your biggest strength?

3) Please provide a brief response to the following scenario explaining both your personal thought process, as well as how you feel you would respond to the youth:

There’s a young adult who you’ve seen on outreach a few times. He smokes pot regularly, has snorted speed and has smoked heroin occasionally. He tells you that he’s planning on trying injecting for the first time, but doesn’t really ask for your opinion. What is your initial reaction? How do you feel personally? What would you want to say? What would you say? What about this situation do you feel comfortable and/or uncomfortable with?

References:
Please give us the names and contact information for three people to whom you are not related, whom you have known for at least one year. Please include at least one supervisor from employment and/or volunteer work (two or more is preferable). If you are currently employed and do not want us to contact your present employer, please indicate this and choose an alternate reference.

Please include their:
● Occupation
● Relationship to you
● Email
● Phone number

At The Crossroads is an equal opportunity employer.