Youth Advocate



Position Title: Youth Peer Advocate

Department: Adolescent Skills Center

Reports to: Program Director

Location: New York, NY; Onsite

Schedule: Full-time; Monday-Friday 9am-5pm; 2 days in Queens and 3 days in Lower Manhattan

Pay range: $29.23 to $32.98/hour

Travel: 0-10%

Vibrant Emotional Health’s groundbreaking solutions have delivered high quality services and support, when, where and how people need it for over 50 years. Through our state-of-the-art technology-enabled services, community wellness programs, and advocacy and education work, we are building a society in which emotional wellness can be a reality for everyone.

Position Overview:

To advocate for youth participants and ensure that their voices are heard and goals clearly articulated. The Peer Youth Advocate will be responsible for engaging youth in order to assist them in identifying their needs as well as achieving their goals. The Peer Youth Advocate will be an integral part of the Adolescent Skills Center team and will participate in supportive, recreational and educational activities offered to youth participants. The main focus will be to advocate for youth in all aspects of the work and supporting them through a strength-based approach.

Duties/Responsibilities:

- Serves as a role model for Adolescent Skills Center program participants
- Work in collaboration with ASC staff in engaging youth in planning their own care and advocating for their voices to be heard.
- The ability to share personal knowledge and experiences about the youth serving systems and resources available to youth in NYC.
- Provides support to ASC staff with co-facilitation of daily group activities.
- Provide support to youth at appointments, community and family meetings when necessary
- Provides youth with public health and psycho-education regarding mental health and topics that directly relate to youth or hot topics in the community.
- Assists in the organization of social, recreational and educational activities
- Represent the interests of participant youth with emotional/behavioral challenges in a variety of public forums and advisory groups.
- Promote problem solving and decision-making skill development, particularly in the three domains of the ASC, (education, vocation and social-emotional wellness)
- Carry a case load of Vocational and D-75 Students. Manage charts and ensure all documentation is up to date.
- Additional duties as assigned

Required Skills/Abilities:

Decision Making:

- Identifies multi-faceted problems affecting achievement of individual goals and provides solutions.
- Decisions have minor organizational impact that may require consultation with internal and external stakeholders regarding issues, possible solutions and implementation of alternatives.
- Analyzes and interprets issues, realigns responsibilities, commits resources and proposes alternative solutions.
- Implements solutions for minor projects after approval; held accountable if no action is taken.
- Multi-factor decision- making requiring research and analysis, subject to supervisory guidance.

Required Qualifications:

- Experience with the mental health system as a consumer, family member or educational experience
- Completion of a High School Diploma or GED; Some college or college intentions preferred
- Basic knowledge of Microsoft office
- Ability to develop new skills in public speaking
- Basic knowledge of the child/youth serving systems of NYC
- Basic advocacy and empowerment skills
- Bilingual and bicultural candidates are encouraged to apply
- Candidates possessing exceptional skill but not all of the qualifications are also encouraged to apply

Physical Requirements:

- This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.
- The person in this position needs to occasionally move about inside the office to access file cabinets, office machinery, etc.
- Constantly operates a computer and other office productivity machinery, such as a calculator, copy machine, and computer printer



We determine base pay through a comprehensive review of skills, experience, education, certifications, geographic location, and other relevant factors. The range listed reflects the compensation parameters for the role and does not represent the full compensation package. A complete overview of compensation and benefits will be provided by the Talent Acquisition team during the hiring process.

Full time employees will be eligible for excellent comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental, vision, supplemental income insurance, employer paid disability insurance, employer paid life insurance, pre-tax FSA for medical and dependent care, and 401K available.

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they are able to perform every task in the job description. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and that candidate may be one who comes from a less traditional background. Vibrant will consider any equivalent combination of knowledge, skills, education and experience to meet minimum qualifications. If you are interested in applying, we encourage you to think broadly about your background and skill set for the role.

Vibrant Emotional Health is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants are considered for positions without regard to veteran status, uniformed service member status, race, creed, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, citizenship status, national origin, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, caregiver status or any other category protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.

Please be aware that fictitious job openings, consulting engagements, solicitations, or employment offers may be circulated on the Internet in an attempt to obtain privileged information, or to induce you to pay a fee for services related to recruitment or training. Vibrant does NOT charge any application, processing, or training fee at any stage of the recruitment or hiring process. All genuine job openings will be posted on our careers page and all communications from the Vibrant recruiting team and/or hiring managers will be from an @vibrant.org email address.