Professional Youth Mentor "Friend"

Apply by visiting: https://friendsutah.org/about/careers.

Friends of the Children is a nonprofit that is impacting generational change by empowering youth through relationships with professional mentors. We do this by providing children facing the most obstacles with a long-term, salaried, professional mentor, who we call a “Friend,” from kindergarten through high school graduation, 12 ½ years – no matter what. We are currently seeking an extraordinary professional to embark on a new career journey as a Friend at our Utah Chapter.  

At Friends of the Children, we put children first and use our values to change the way the world treats and views youth facing great barriers. As a Friend you will nurture long-term relationships from a foundation of love, acceptance, and culturally informed practice. Do you want to help eight of our youth discover their limitless potential, by fostering their internal resiliency?  Are you ready to help build relationships within the communities of our youth and families to strengthen social networks and provide bridges to new opportunities?  If so, the impactful role of a Friend might be for you.  

Basic Function:

A Friend works intensively with eight (8) children as a positive adult role model to develop a caring, trusting and sustained relationship with each child. For each child, a Friend will set positive expectations; nurture and promote their strengths, talents and abilities; help assure physical and emotional well-being; teach life and academic skills; provide enrichment activities; and model responsible behavior. A Friend will fully document activities and participate in an ongoing evaluation process. Friends will work primarily one-on-one with their children. A Friend must also know, understand, honor and support the organization’s mission, vision, values, principles and policies, and be able to clearly articulate the organization’s function.

Essential Responsibilities

• Develop and sustain a long-term, caring, protective, and loving relationship with each child.
• Spend time with children, one-on-one and at home, school, and in the community.
• In collaboration with youth and caregivers, set goals and develop plans to meet those goals to ensure the development of each child’s strengths, talents, abilities, and needs.  
• Teach life skills and help develop a talent/skill/area of interest with each child along with healthy habits to contribute both to basic development and learning, and to contribute to building positive self-esteem.
• Provide enrichment resources and activities that include opportunities for cultural awareness
•  Support child’s development of behavioral management skills, emotional regulation, and prosocial behavior.
• Model and promote good problem solving and decision making skills.
• Develop positive relationships with families, teachers, and others involved in each child’s life
• Advocate to secure additional resources, opportunities, and services for youth as appropriate
• Assist with systems navigation in schools to secure conditions for optimal academic success
• Participate in programming and resources available through the organization, effectively utilizing program resources to meet the needs of each child.
• Reinforce basic academic skills and learning.
• Maintain a 40-hour work schedule that includes afternoons, evenings, and some weekends that meet the schedule and needs of youth and families.
• Maintain spending within budgetary guidelines
• Complete, distribute, and collect interaction summaries, expense reports, assessments, and evaluation materials accurately and in a timely manner
• Attend and actively participate in team meetings and staff functions
• Provide information and support to the development and executive team on related activities
• Fulfill other responsibilities as required.

Required Skills

• Ability to cultivate trusting relationships with children, parents, teachers, and community members.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work with children in varied capacities and settings.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and communicate appropriately within the workplace.
• Ability to use creativity and initiative in planning activities to continually develop children.
• Ability to work independently in diverse environments with limited supervision.
• Ability to work as a team player.
• Ability to manage several concurrent issues and solve problems effectively exercising appropriate discretion and judgment.
• Partner with parents/caregivers to provide concrete and social emotional supports for the family.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Ability to complete administrative tasks accurately and on time.
• Attention to detail and accuracy.
• Ability to handle high mobility and driving demands safely and with good judgment.
• Spend 3-4 hours weekly with each child.
• A sense of humor is a plus.

Required Qualifications

• Associate’s degree required; Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• At least 2 years of experience working with children and families. Mentoring experience with children preferred.
• Willingness to commit for a minimum of three years.
• Bilingual English/Spanish preferred.
• Ability to pass a full criminal background investigation and Motor Vehicle Record check.
• Maintain current driver’s license, good driving record, and vehicle insurance.
• Transport children in personal vehicle as required for mentoring activities.
• Proficiency in Microsoft applications; familiarity with databases, office functions and data reporting.
• Maintain First Aid/CPR certification.

Working Hours:

This is a full-time, exempt position. Due to the nature of a Friend’s role, the work hours are somewhat nontraditional and include late afternoon and evening work. We recognize that each Friend’s daily work schedule will vary due to the uniqueness of the role and the needs of the individual children being served. Each Friend is expected to exercise appropriate discretion in this regard. During the school year, the general workweek is Tuesday through Saturday, with Sunday and Monday as days off. During the summer, and for spring and winter breaks, many Friends work a standard Monday through Friday workweek. The Program requires that you see each of your assigned children both in and outside of home, school, and the community for three to four hours each week.

BENEFITS

• 95% Employer paid medical & 100% Employer paid dental and vision
• 100% Employer paid Long Term Disability, AD&D, and Life Insurance
• Three weeks paid vacation, two weeks paid sick leave, 12 paid holidays, and additional team earned time off
• 401(k) with 3% employer match (immediately 100% vested)
• 8 weeks of paid parental leave (birth, adoption, foster)
• Cell Phone Stipend
• Employee Assistance Program for staff and their families to support in times of crisis and mental health needs.
• Flexible scheduling with partial remote work