Employment Specialist

Title: Employment Specialist
Department: Family Matters Shelter and Oakland Together for Vets Collaborative (OTVC)
Reports To: Director of Transitional Housing Services and OTVC Rapid Rehousing Manager
FLSA: Exempt
Directly Leads: None
Budgetary Line Responsibility: None

SUMMARY

The Employment Specialist is proactive and comprehensive in their approach to assisting heads of household acquire job training/education so they can secure gainful employment. This position is

responsible for coordinating workforce development services for an assigned caseload of homeless families living at the Family Matters Shelter and Veterans enrolled in the Oakland Together for Vets

Collaborative (OTVC). Workforce development services include support for families and Vets in the areas of career development (e.g. education and employment), life skills and enrichment activities.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

General Operations

• Attend and participate in all required staff meetings, weekly supervision meetings and in-service trainings
• Must be knowledgeable of the Family Matters Shelter and OTVC program guidelines to ensure consistency of approach in holding families and Veterans accountable for program-related activities
• Write progress reports and maintain statistics on client activities
• Coordinate with other staff to ensure adequate facility coverage
• Coordinate with other staff to identify facility and program issues and exercise problem­ solving skills to resolve them.

Client Support

• Maintain confidentiality in all matters pertaining to clients and their families
• Provide job readiness and employment placements services to families living at the Family Matters shelter and OTVC clients on a weekly or semi-weekly basis
• Participate in monthly client case review meetings
• Complete educational and vocational assessments for new clients within two weeks of admission into the program
• Evaluate individuals using assessments, interviews, counseling sessions, aptitude and achievement tests and other tools; assists individual adults to understand their abilities, talents, skills, interests and personality characteristics as a pre-cursor to creating realistic educational and employment plans
• Assist families and Veterans in identifying and prioritizing needs in education and employment. Produce a comprehensive individual service plan for every adult client on caseload with realistic goals and objectives and an appropriate timeline
• Assist clients with career development activities as well as identifying and applying for jobs, including writing resumes, job search and improving job interviewing techniques
• Set up and maintain well-organized client case files that include all the appropriate paperwork in designated sections. Ensure that the case management file is linked to the client's employment case file by including assessment, case notes and other important documentation in a separate section
• Maintain up-to-date case notes
• Coordinate information and services with the staff of both programs to ensure a comprehensive approach to client needs
• Write incident reports, warnings and write-ups for program violations
• Escort clients to various career and educational related appointments, as needed
• Comply with EOCP policy regarding reporting incidents of child abuse, verbal and physical assault, suicide and homicide to the proper authorities
• Provide aftercare services for clients who have been in good standing subsequent to leaving the program
• Perform other duties, as assigned.

Program Activities

• Develop and implement a job readiness, money management and related topics program
• Establish and maintain program files that include educational and employment resources, curriculums, and other important program materials

Community Outreach

• Compile and review local, state and national occupational, educational and economic information to assist clients in creating realistic educational and employment goals
• Establish working relationships with vocational/career counselors and administrators in the local adult education, junior college and university systems to monitor academic and social progress of clients
• Conduct presentations of the Family Matters _Shelter and OTVC programs to other vocational nonprofit or related organizations for development of possible collaboration/ partnerships or client referral
• Coordinate and/or participate in career fairs and similar activities to facilitate job placement, internships, apprenticeships and volunteer opportunities for clients
• Recruit mentors to assist clients with their career and educational goals

Service Delivery

• Provide services and follow-up in a timely fashion to clients
• Create and maintain a client case file system to ensure adequate documentation of services provided
• Maintain the job/educational library, computers, community bulletin board(s), storage for program supplies, etc.
• Provide computer support to ensure all adult clients are computer literate

QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor of Arts degree in career counseling, public health, social work, psychology or related field required, masters preferred
• 3-5 years’ experience working as a vocational counselor with high risk, low income families
• Knowledge of career counseling principles and practices
• Demonstrated capacity to provide job counseling and job readiness skills at an individual and group level
• Experience working with individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds
• Knowledge of basic counseling and interviewing techniques
• Excellent organizational and time management skills
• Assessment and referral skills
• Demonstrated ability to maintain organized client files
• Ability to produce well-written reports, memos and other correspondence in a timely fashion
• Ability to work effectively with a team of other professionals and coordinate services/activities with each member, as needed
• Demonstrated ability to maintain a calm demeanor and communicate effectively with clients (verbal and written)

LANGUAGE SKILLS

• Ability to speak clear, concise English

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

• Strong basic math skills required at least at the high school level
• Must be able to perform mathematical calculations with a high degree of accuracy

REASONING ABILITY

• Must be able to exercise good judgment while addressing behavioral and other types of barriers that prevent clients from clarifying their educational/employment goals
• Must exhibit good critical thinking skills to be used to solve problems
• Ability to utilize multiple sources of information to create comprehensive individual service plans relating to education and employment for clients

COMPUTER SKILLS

• Proficiency in using computer software to carry out tasks. Ability to use Microsoft Word and the internet/e-mail to perform key job duties is required
• Ability to tutor individuals in basic computer literacy including but not limited to MS Word, file management, using e-mail and the internet

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS

• Must have current CPR and Basic First Aid certificates
• Valid California driver's license, insurance and access to an automobile. Proof of insurance and auto registration required

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Must be able to dress neatly with a professional appearance when reporting to work
• Must be able to model positive behavior, good manners, appropriate dress, social interactions and appropriate language
• This position requires an annual tuberculosis test
• Must be able to work under stressful conditions

WORK ENVIRONMENT: The position requires an ability to work in a diverse and stressful environment with families that have multiple issues. Work schedules are flexible according to facility and client needs and can include night and weekend hours.

To Apply:

• Send a resume and cover letter in PDF format to jobs@eocp.net.
• Use subject line: FName, LName for Employment Specialist (yourfirst name and last name).
• In the cover letter, answer these questions:
  • What kind of experience do you have working with the homeless community?

How well do you perform in a pressured, fast-paced environment and, in consultation with supervisor