About Us:

VOALA

Helping Our Most Vulnerable Change Their Life Stories

Volunteers of America is a non-profit human services organization committed to serving people in need, strengthening families, and building communities. VOALA provides a variety of social services to Los Angeles area communities such as Head Start programs, Upward Bound college prep programs, veterans’ services, homeless shelters, low-income housing program as well as drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Learn more at www.voala.org.

gang reduction and youth development

GRYD is dedicated to strengthening and stabilizing communities that have been adversely affected by high incidents of violence, poverty and unemployment. GRYD focuses on creating safe spaces and providing vital resources and platforms for community members to build trust and healthy relationships with each other and with law enforcement. VOALA provides Case Management and Community Intervention Worker services to the following GRYD locations established by the City of Los Angeles:

• Rampart 2
• Newton 1
• Newton 2
• Southwest 2

VOALA will serve and engage gang-involved youth or young adults between the age of 14 years and 25 years who are present in a GRYD Zone. The Program will improve and expand access to a continuum victim advocacy to young adult victims of violence and trauma, providing early intervention and treatment services, including access to appropriate medical care and counseling.

JOB SUMMARY AND PURPOSE

GRYD Seasonal CIW conducts outreach to victims of gang violence and trauma, ages 14-25, and provides services and resources in the assigned service area, serving as a liaison between youth, adults and the community to minimize acts of gang violence and to improve community relations. Assists with incident response and delivers Transitional Client Services.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Participate in planning, meetings and work at Summer Night Lights (SNL)
• Adhere to SNL Engagement Plan that identifies staff coverage in and around the SNL site and activities for the duration of the program.
• Have knowledge and understanding of community and neighborhood dynamic in and around the SNL site.
• Work with local neighborhoods to develop dialogues/conversations/agreements/understandings, resolve conflicts, tensions and misunderstandings and focus on troubleshooting efforts to identify solutions in and around the SNL site.
• Identify potential hot spots that may have an impact on violence reduction efforts in and around the SNL site.
• Intervene and prevent volatile situations from escalating when appropriate.
• Assist with rumor control in the case of an incident and/or potential incident.
• Work in collaboration with all partners to ensure community participation in SNL activities such as sports leagues, violence reduction programming, etc.
• Work in collaboration with law enforcement and other identified agencies to ensure safety at SNL site.
• Provide referrals as needed to community members for intervention and/or other identified community services.
• Attend required training sessions and program related meetings.
• Participate in nightly close out meeting with GRYD and program staff

Qualifications

REQUIREMENTS:

• Must be able to pass a fingerprint clearance, background check, including criminal history, personal references, employment and education verifications

EXPERIENCE:

• Experience working with At-risk families/individuals or gang population

KNOWLEDGE:

• Proven ability to interact positively with diverse groups of client population with varying education and economic backgrounds particularly gang affiliated individuals

SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Ability to perform under circumstances of possible emotional stress and conflict, including dealing with un-cooperative clients.
• Ability to work a regular schedule provided by your direct supervisor.
• Ability to safely and successfully perform the essential job functions consistent with the ADA, FMLA, and other federal, state, and local standards, with or without reasonable accommodation, including meeting qualitative and quantitative productivity standards.
• Ability to maintain regular, punctual attendance consistent with ADA, FMLA, and other federal, state, and local standards.
• Valid California driver’s license, insurance and reliable transportation

INTERPERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS:

• Build a relationship with all ethnicities, genders, etc.
• Integrity and able to work independently without supervision.
• Manage time very well.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• LAVITA (Los Angeles Violence Intervention Training Academy) certification
• Trained on the GRYD Model of practice and the Efforts to Outcome (ETO) Database
• Basic Microsoft operating system navigation, outlook, word, excel, power-point
• Bilingual (Spanish preferred)

Volunteers of America is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex including sexual orientation and gender identity, national origin, disability, protected Veteran Status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law

This employer participates in E-Verify as required by the federal government and will provide the federal government with your Form 1-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.

If E-Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact Department of Homeland Security (OHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so you can begin to resolve the issue before the employer can take any action against you, including terminating your employment.