Job Description:
Outreach Counselor
POSITION
At The Crossroads (ATC) is making plans for the most significant growth in our history – now is an exciting
time to join our team! We are seeking a committed, enthusiastic individual to join our fantastic staff as an
Outreach Counselor. Spanish speakers are strongly encouraged to apply. While most of our clients are
English speakers, we work with a small percentage of monolingual Spanish speaking clients. You’ll have the
opportunity to work closely with our amazing youth, and to have a huge impact on their lives.
Your job will consist mainly of street-based outreach, 1-to-1 counseling, and referrals to community partners.
You will be a member of a dynamic, passionate team, working to best meet the needs of our clients. In the
Mission, the client base is about 40% Latino (about 25% of these youth are monolingual Spanish-speakers),
25% African-American, 25% White, and 10% other. Downtown, it is about 80% African-American, 15%
White, and 5% other.
We prefer to hire someone with relevant professional and/or personal experience. We strongly encourage
Spanish bilingual applicants to apply. Since ATC is not a peer-based program, applicants coming from a
street background must have been off the streets for at least two years. ATC needs its staff to embrace a
harm-reduction philosophy. We are looking for people who will support clients in generating their own goals
and solutions, not those who give advice or like to use their own lives to instruct others.
Reports To: Program Manager
Schedule: Full-time, 40 hours/week, incl. outreach four nights a week (M, T, Th & F) in the Mission and
Downtown/Tenderloin neighborhoods of San Francisco. On evenings when outreach occurs, Outreach
Counselors can work as late as midnight. Counselors will be required to hold office hours 2-3 times per
week, from 2:30-5:30pm, and attend certain required weekly meetings.
Compensation: $38,000/year and comprehensive benefits & generous vacation
MISSION
At The Crossroads reaches out to homeless youth and young adults at their point of need, and works with
them to build healthy and fulfilling lives. Our model focuses on young people who do not access traditional
services and are disconnected from any type of consistent support. We work with young people who others
have given up on, who would not get help without us. We remove common barriers to service by bringing
our counselors onto the streets, and by shaping our support services around the needs of each individual
client. Our goal is to help our clients build outstanding lives, not just lives of subsistence. Learn more at
www.atthecrossroads.org.
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
There is a lot of laughter in the office, and yet we take our work very seriously. We are informal, but with a
high degree of professionalism. We work hard, care a lot about details, and work both independently and as
part of a team. If these seem like impossible contradictions, then you might not like us. If this makes sense,
we might be the right place for you.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Outreach
Outreach Counselors walk the streets of the Mission and Downtown/Tenderloin neighborhoods distributing
much-needed supplies to homeless youth and developing counseling relationships.
Counseling
Counselors meet with youth during the day, five days a week, for individualized counseling. These meetings
range from simple trust-building chats to deeper counseling, creating action plans and providing in-depth
referrals. ATC works with clients for many years, so we are able to make a huge impact through our
counseling work. Counselors also do work with incarcerated clients.
Organizational Development & Maintenance
Counselors participate in a variety of projects that contribute to the growth and development of ATC. As a
team member, you will help with the administrative and operational needs of the program.
QUALIFICATIONS
We have a very specific philosophy that guides our work, and we require people who are a good fit. Please
read this section carefully.
Required:
• Comfortable working with youth from a diversity of ethnic, racial, and ideological backgrounds
• Willing to work at night, and be generally flexible with your time
• Commitment to our mission above all else
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Basic experience with Excel, Word, and Google platforms
• Hard-working and self-motivated
• Great listening skills, and the ability to think critically and sensitively
• Open-minded and comfortable giving and receiving feedback
• Have strong sense of one’s personal strengths and weaknesses
• High standards of professionalism
• Ability to work effectively and efficiently in an often busy, sometimes chaotic environment
• Applicants must be 21 or older
• Physical ability to lift and carry a backpack up to 40 lbs.
Preferred:
• Spanish bilingual
• Two years relevant professional and/or personal experience with street outreach
• Experience working with incarcerated individuals
• Able to pass a background check in order to obtain jail clearance
TO APPLY
• Application Deadline: Sunday, April 19, 2015, 11:59pm
• Submit resume and answers to the additional questions (below) to [email protected] -you do not need to submit a cover letter
• Applications will only be accepted via email, and only in .doc, .docx, or .pdf formats – no exceptions
• The subject line of your emailed application MUST be: Outreach Counselor – [Your Name]
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS
Please limit your answers to one short, concise paragraph for each question. 1) Why are you applying for the Outreach Counselor position? What appeals to you about this job? What do
you hope to learn, accomplish, and/or experience through this position? 2) What makes you a strong candidate for this position? What experiences have you had that will enhance
your ability to work at ATC?
3) Have you ever counseled people individually before? What population? Under what circumstances?
What was the experience like?
4) What will your biggest challenge be in this position, and how will you address it? What will be your
biggest strength?
5) Please provide a brief response to the following scenario explaining both your personal thought process, as
well as how you feel you would respond to the youth:
There’s a young adult who you’ve seen on outreach a few times. He smokes pot regularly, has snorted
speed and has smoked heroin occasionally. He tells you that he’s planning on trying injecting for the first
time, but doesn’t really ask for your opinion. What is your initial reaction? How do you feel personally?
What would you want to say? What would you say? What about this situation do you feel comfortable
and/or uncomfortable with?
6) Have you ever been convicted of a felony? If yes, please include an explanation. Please note that this
will not disqualify you from consideration.
7) How did you hear about this job opening (e.g. Craigslist, Idealist, Opportunity Knocks, YNPN, other)?
8) References:
Please give us the names and contact information for three people to whom you are not related, whom you
have known at least one year. Please include at least one supervisor from employment and/or volunteer work
(two or more is preferable). If you are currently employed and do not want us to contact your present
employer, please indicate this and choose an alternate reference.
Please include their:
•
•
•
•
Occupation
Relationship to you
Email
Phone number
At The Crossroads is an equal opportunity employer.