Education & Workforce Readiness Instructor-Young Mothers Program chez Roca

Education and Workforce Readiness Instructor

Location: Roca Hartford Young Mothers

FLSA Classification: Non-Exempt 

Organizational Overview

Roca is a fast-paced, data-driven, and relentless organization that serves nearly 2,000 high-risk young people every year. Founded just outside of Boston in 1988, Roca operates a nationally acclaimed Intervention Model with five sites in Massachusetts and one in Baltimore, Maryland, and Hartford, CT.

Roca's mission is to relentlessly disrupt violence by engaging young people, police, and systems to heal trauma, find hope, and drive change.

Over 37 years, Roca has learned that to impact urban violence, we must work directly with the young people and systems at the center of it. Roca’s Intervention Model engages young people at the center of urban violence in an intensive four-year program to address trauma, teach life-saving cognitive-behavioral skills, and break the cycle of incarceration and poverty that traditional youth programs alone can’t break. And, because it takes all of us, Roca also helps institutions like police and state agencies change the way they work with young people who are traumatized and living at the intersection of gangs, drugs, poverty, violence, immigration challenges, and involvement with multiple public systems.

Position Overview 

The Education and Workforce Readiness Instructor (Educator) reports to the Program Manager.  The Educator will work intensively to support and motivate the target population to re-engage in education and workforce programming to enable participants to enter the workforce.  The Educator will implement educational assessments and deliver educational and workforce readiness programming in support of the organization benchmarks for successful educational gains with each participant. 

Responsibilities

Outreach        

• Provide weekly attendance and participant target lists for educational classes to youth workers in team check-ins and meetings. 
• Conduct general and targeted outreach to young people to increase participation in programming
• Go on outreach with Youth Workers to meet and find participants who may require off site programming 

Transformational Relationships      

• Engage and build relationships with young people for the purpose of supporting change and skill development
• Engage in intentional CBT based contacts with participants to help them identify and learn skills to shift negative behavioral cycles
• Communicate with youth worker regarding participant barriers (substance abuse, street, domestic violence, etc.) and skills needed to be job ready
• Follow-up daily with young people and youth workers regarding participation and progress in educational programming. 
• Assess student level of engagement readiness (i.e. can they sit through a class, do they have substance abuse barriers, do they have street issues with other participants, etc.)
• Actively participate in the safety of the space for all participants through building coverage and communication across the organization 

Stage Based Programming   

• Responsible for administering educational assessments/tests for baseline and follow up intervals to determine educational levels and monitor educational gains
• Design and deliver programming for young people at various levels of readiness to engage in learning (i.e. engagement, drop in, semi-structured; formal-structured)
• Responsible for implementing high quality group and individual skill building programming including but not limited to:
  1. HiSET
  2. ESL
  3. Workforce Readiness
  4. Digital Literacy
  5. Financial Literacy
  6. Driver’s Education
  7. CBT 

Management, Learning, & Continuous Improvement      

• Manage and oversee assessment testing and tracking for participants in educational programming
• Ensure evidenced based assessments are implemented to determine baseline levels and track gains
• Track participant scores and testing cycles in Performance Management System
• Support the development of appropriate individualized learning plans and coordinated educational supports for participants based on assessment scores 

Partners/Networks

• Maintain relationships with key partners as determined (i.e. testing centers, career one stops, etc..)
• Stay current and connected to networks or learning communities that inform best practices in HSE, WFR, Financial Lit, etc.. 

General Responsibilities       

• Maintain Efforts to Outcomes (ETO) data base through daily data entry of all work with participants, completion of assessments and all other tools as required for evaluation purposes
• Utilize ETO reports and data to track participant progress and own performance in moving young people through change process and achieving expected performance indicator targets
• Demonstrate mindfulness for resources and actively work to maintain their functioning
• Participation in team meetings, participant reviews, program planning, trainings, etc.
• Participate in curriculum development and improvements as instructed
• Understand, practice and promote the vision, mission, and values of the organization. 
• Cover a Transitional Employment Program Work Crew as needed.
• Other tasks as assigned. 

Qualifications

The very nature of Roca’s work requires an individual of great commitment and energy to the mission.  Roca seeks a highly driven individual who is a good fit both personally and professionally for the culture of Roca.  In addition, the ideal candidate for this position will be a trustworthy decision-maker.  He/she will have a sense of humor, feel passionate and committed to direct work with high-risk youth, and demonstrate interest in coaching and supporting coworkers.   

Roca expects candidates to have the following skills:

• Bachelor’s Degree 
• Some teaching experience - Post-collegiate experience teaching or working with a disenfranchised population is preferred
• Experience teaching ESL preferred but not required
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Excellent group management and behavior modification skills
• Desire to work with street involved high risk young people
• Ability to outreach to, engage and motivate young people to increase attendance in educational programming
• Capacity to think and act  intentionally and strategically to help young people change behaviors
• Creative and flexible problem-solving and thinking
• Excellent at organizing, managing and completing multiple complex projects and tasks simultaneously with thoroughness, accuracy, timeliness and good humor.
• Self-motivation, initiative, sound judgment, and commitment to ongoing learning are essential
• Ability to work as a part of a team. 

Requirements for the position: 

• Travel around the service area
• Computer Literate
• Valid state issued Driver’s License and current Driving Record
• Willingness and ability to work outside of normal business hours, and Holidays and/or weekends as needed
• Ability to work with diverse cultures
• Strong attendance and high energy