JustUs Counselor

Counselor Position

Founded as an orphanage in 1831, Rising Ground has been at the forefront of evolving community needs. Driven by the belief that each of us can thrive when life has hope and opportunity, Rising Ground provides caring support and proven paths to positive change, helping children, adults, and families rise above adversity, and each year, Rising Ground is a positive force in the lives of more than 72,000 individuals annually. We do this through 101 programs across 138 sites, throughout New York City and Westchester. Our strong belief and commitment to diversity is shown not just through our work with supported people but is integral to the building of a strong staff that reflects the communities we serve. Rising Ground is headquartered in New York City.

About the Role

Just Us is an ACS-funded Gender Responsive Diversion Program facilitated by Rising Ground. This program is a holistic, gender-responsive program for girls, gender-nonconforming, and nonbinary youth (TGNBNC) youth who are involved, or at high risk of involvement, in the youth justice system. The project - which is grounded in the tenets of healing-centered, anti-oppressive practice - brings together highly skilled individual coaching; evidence-based clinical interventions; opportunities for young people to engage in group-based activities; economic empowerment skills building; and space where young people can come together to build community. All elements of the project are intentionally designed to support young people in cultivating their leadership skills; building their self-reliance; forging healthy social relationships; developing diverse strategies to avoid engaging in criminalized behavior/activities; and greatly enhancing their educational experiences and work opportunities. The full-time Counselor will provide youth-driven, healing-centered, anti-oppressive, clinical and emotional support and advocacy to young people engaged in the project. This is an exciting and demanding opportunity for an emerging therapist looking to participate in the expansion of a program that is designed to become a national model.

What You'll Do

• Connect with 15-20 young people within the project and serve as their primary point of contact throughout their engagement in the program. Intentionally and regularly engage all young people in weekly hour-long individual sessions.
• With each young person, co-construct individualized engagement plans and assess and revise the throughout the length of the young person's engagement with the program.
• On a rotating schedule, be available to help staff at the Teen Hub on the weekend.
• Engage in collaboration and case coordination with all program staff and a vast network of stakeholders.
• Participate in weekly supervision, team meetings, group supervision, and attend other required meetings as required
• Maintain program records, case files, and funder reports with accuracy and attention to timeliness detail.
• Other duties are required.

Qualifications

• LMSW, LCSW or other clinical licenses required.
• Clinical supervision offered for licensure (LCSW/LMHC).
• Highly organized, self-motivated worker who can easily manage competing demands.
• Creative problem-solver who anticipates challenges and seizes opportunities for collaboration.
• Able to implement vision, think strategically, exercise good judgment, and lead change.
• High level of self-awareness and ability to give and receive feedback well.
• Impeccable attention to detail, systems, and processes.
• Ability to work with flexibility, independence, accountability, passion, and humor.
• Meaningful commitment to practicing from a healing-centered, anti-oppressive stance.
• Lived experience within systems that impact the young people who will be involved in the project including the youth justice and criminal legal system strongly preferred but not required.

Benefits Offerings

Benefits Offerings includes 11 Paid Holidays Paid Sick Time Paid Vacation Paid Personal days Insurance Coverage Medical -3 plan options Dental - 2 plan options Vision - 1 plan option

Supervisory Responsibility

No

Work Environment:

Normal

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work:

Exempt/10:30am-6:30pm

Travel (if required): No

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

It is the policy of Rising Ground that the Agency wholly complies with equal treatment of all employees and applicants for employment without unlawful discrimination as to an individual's perceived or actual race, creed, color, national origin, alienate, citizenship status, gender, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, partnership status, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, or veteran status in all employment decisions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, compensation, training and apprenticeship, promotion, upgrading, demotion, downgrading, transfer, layoff and termination and all other terms and conditions of employment.