Community Advocate

Community Advocate

Department: Youth and Community Development Services

Location: 215 Heyward Street Brooklyn, NY 11206

Program: Community Schools Initiative

Reports To: Community School Director

Salary: Full Time, $40,000-$45,000 This position is performance based and is also contingent on funding availability

Date: September 2025 – June 2026

Schedule: Monday - Friday; Some Saturdays, Scheduling may vary due to needs of the program.

Job Summary: The Community Advocate will work closely with families and Community School staff to support Community School Family Engagement and attendance Initiatives. The Community Advocate will help support parents' skills, parent-child relationships, family relationships, and parent-school communication to increase student attendance and improve family well-being. The Community Advocate is responsible for initiating and maintaining a regular and sustainable supportive relationship with high-risk families. The Community Advocate will ensure optimal academic, social, and emotional development of both parents and students. The Community Advocate will work closely with the Community School Team (director, social worker, program coordinator, and tutor) to provide resources that will enhance the Community School. Staff members would need to have a working reliable computer.

Education, Experience and Skill Requirement:

• High school diploma required; Bachelor's degree preferred
• Two years or more experience in the field of youth development
• Family outreach and home visit experience
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent documentation skills
• Facility to motivate others toward achieving goals
• Ability to develop alliances with high risk and difficult to engage youth and families
• Knowledge of community resources and counseling practices with high-risk populations
• Outstanding collaborative skills
• Bilingual Spanish/ English is required

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Create and maintain thorough written record of assessments, attendance outreach efforts and all required documentation
• Work collaboratively with community resources to establish timely and effective referral processes
• Maintain ongoing open communication with school principal, parents, and school-based staff
• Support with the maintenance and distribution of pantry food, hygiene and cleaning supplies.
• Work in collaboration with school PTA and Parent Coordinator to increase parent involvement through monthly initiatives.
• Engage families and develop relationships between school and families of students identified as the targeted population (At-risk and chronically absent students).
• Partnering with families to create family goal plans that increase student attendance and enhance parent and child well being
• Maintain written records of home visits, family goals, and all required documentation
• Implement "Success Mentors" program to improve attendance initiatives. Success mentors are the most successful strategy for combating chronic absence. Success Mentors are caring adults (or peers) who mentor chronically absent students to identify the barriers preventing them from attending school each day.
• Assign "Success Mentors" to chronically absent students. Help Success Mentors understand that any topic is worth discussing! The idea is not for a Success Mentor to have the answers, but for the mentee to talk about and explore ideas.
• Implement attendance incentive programs. Hold award ceremonies for improved attendance, create an attendance going culture, and manage incentive programs (ex. trips, gifts, shirts).
• Support with Benefits enrollment and referrals including SNAP screenings and assistance.
• Collaborate with school staff, parents, and students to design a comprehensive parent workshop calendar.
• Refer participants to social worker for counseling to support with crisis intervention and safety planning
• Participate in ongoing efforts to advocate for program needs via community coalition building and via administering feedback surveys and program assessments
• Seek partnership opportunities and bring in at least 3 new partners a year to leverage resources to support programs
• Work closely with social worker, tutor, and case manager to support targeted student needs
• Attend all required department/ agency meetings and/or trainings
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Community School Director and/ or Community School Social Worker