Youth Coordinator General Duties

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The youth coordinator position is integral to the Healthy Transition Grants. Due to the

nature of the job, many find that they are unsure of how to spend their time, or what

their responsibilities are. Please find the general duties of the Youth Coordinator

outlined below.

General

Monitor Email & keep up to date on all community and team meetings
Attend mandatory meetings on time
Serve as an ambassador for the grant and the agency
Demonstrate high standards and respect for the privacy of client's personal health

information

Contribute to the development of a TAY-guided Handbook and Toolkit for other

professionals and youth to access as a resource

Role model cultural and clinical competence in the community
Engage with clients, caregivers, and other significant individuals in TAY's life

Federal

Adhere to all federal guidelines and requirements as outlined in the grant proposal
Create and man federal binder – record of planning meetings, resources, and other

activities carried out by the grant

Resource List – find and add new resources to the collection of resources available

(to help with reduction of duplicative services.)

OHTP Staff and Team Meetings

Attend OHTP meetings and community collaborator meetings (all workgroups if

possible)

Lead the Virtual Drop-In Center and presentation of community resources. It may

be difficult to find resources in the beginning – seek and utilize partnerships so you

give an accurate communication of events and resources in the community

Help to reduce transportation and resource barriers for TAY by proposing creative

solutions and helping professionals understand where the need is

Identify areas of improvement for the cultivation of youth voice and youth choice in

service provision

Gain peer support certification through the state & peer support duties (such as

mandated reporting)

Assist TAY when they have questions or need assistance during grant meetings
Facilitate transportation for TAY in-person meetings
Provide regular reminders for TAY

TAY-Related Activities

Help facilitate recruitment for initial referrals, focus group participants, and Y/YA

participants in OHTP meetings

Serve as main contact for TAY if they have questions, need to change their intakes,

never got a call, etc.

Assist with engagement of TAY clients and provide tips on how to best engage the

population

Respond to emails from school staff, other service providers, parents, or TAY

themselves regarding TAY needs (food, rental assistance, etc. while waiting for

services with the grant)

Connect TAY with opportunities in the community such as volunteering or

mentoring

Chair the YAB – handle scheduling, handbook for YAB, recruiting members;

ensuring YAB gives all feedback needed by different facets of the grant

Invite local advocates, leaders, or TAY role models to present to YAB
Coach and teach young people how to share their voices more effectively
Communicate available OHTP meetings to TAY, reminding TAY of meetings, helping

TAY with forms, paying TAY for meetings

Facilitate transportation to and from meetings (if applicable)
Devise communication system with TAY and provide occasional reminders to keep

them apprised of meetings (group chat, app, Slack space, etc.)

Provide TAY meeting info and handouts for meetings; communicate meeting

minutes to TAY

Send out meeting minutes after the meeting for TAY and other attendees
Send TAY reminders of YAB and other paid meetings
Create, promote and share TAY social events (can be based on community

connection, outreach, marketing, social awareness, or a combination) with

participants and direct practice providers

Connect with partners as needed to provide for TAY needs, such as hygiene care

packages when applicable

Resource: 5 Things: Engaging Youth in Launching System of Care Efforts

(constantcontact.com)

Advocacy

Advocate for TAY and youth with MH by attending events as a panelist or giving

workshops

Advocate for TAY by attending and keeping records of local and statewide meetings

(governing board of grant – our is OICY)

Provide youth voice and choice for TAY in grant, agency, and community meetings
Advocate for TAY at community and state-wide events/forums that promote and

capture youth voice

Advocate for policy change
Advocate for amendments to youth-serving policies
Participate in advocacy organizations

Marketing

Give presentations on the grant/population
Connect with schools and educational service centers so they are aware of the

grant and how to make a proper referral

Discover possible partners in the community and integrating them to grant partner

network (invite to Partnership meeting, take down contact info, add services to the

resource list)

Provide outreach for the grant to indirect contacts (TAY professionals/ TAY

providers). Help other service providers understand the nature of the grant / what

is an appropriate referral; options for making a referral (warm intake line, website,

app, etc.)

Provide outreach to collaborations and organizations as necessary for referrals,

partnerships, reduction of duplicative services

Create marketing videos or film interviews about the grant and serving youth Give

presentations about the grant to various organizations, agencies, and trainings

Paperwork and Tracking

Complete necessary paperwork for TAY incentives (Incentive Forms, Check

Requests)

Contact Logs – Document and track direct and indirect contacts obtained through

Youth Coordinator Position

Establish quarterly goals for committees being led
Track mileage
Complete interim reports quarterly (For YAB)
Complete yearly reporting documents as required by Evaluation Team or other staff

Training Duties

Attend as many mental health and developmental disability trainings as calendar

permits

Attend agency trainings (orientation, Relias online training system)
Attend community trainings
Become trained/certified in Adult and Youth Peer Support
Become trained in TIP / engage as a TIP trainer (if appropriate/feasible)
Provide tips on teaching professionals how to address TAY/communicate with TAY
Train professionals/partners how to incorporate youth voice
Train professionals/partners how to work with youth and young adults more

effectively

Professional Development Trainings

Social Work Methods
Working With Someone With Mental Illness
Peer Support
Equity in Behavioral Health for Youth & Families
Person-Centered Collaboration
ASAM Training
Counseling on Suicidality and Access to Lethal Means
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy – Substance Use
DBT for individuals with PTSD
Sex, Drug, and Labor Trafficking
LGBTQ Population
Cultural Competency and Awareness
Culture of Poverty

Places that the Youth Coordinator should present the grant to:

Local JFS; State JFS
Local and state advocacy boards for youth and individuals with lived experience

Trauma collaborative meeting

State Children’s Work councils
State governing boards for the grant
Local education service centers and libraries
CASA Teams and staff
Cross-Systems Collaborations teams
Probation officers of all counties served
Behavioral Health Juvenile Justice Collaborative
Local ADAMHS Board
Local colleges, universities, trade schools
Boys and girls detention homes
Transitional living houses and organizations
Systems of care meetings
Homeless Task Force
Trauma Informed Care - meetings and trainings
Early Intervention and Diversion staff

Youth Advisory Board

There are implications for working with young professionals
Remember many meetings are long and boring. Have a debriefing meeting for

young adults after meetings/on a regular basis. Young adults are sometimes

intimidated when in a large group. This becomes a venue for young adults to share

information on a topic that they may have held back. Pursue youth feedback in a

myriad of mediums.

Get youth to run your social media. Many youth don’t follow organization’s accounts

because their content is not engaging or deemed helpful/interesting. Having a peer

or advisory council can get you a following and reach youth easier.

Zoom Meetings have made it easier than ever for young adults to participate in a

myriad of meetings/services. Continue Zoom as an option even if in-person

meetings begin again for those with transportation barriers.

Directly asking young adults for their opinion thoughts helps create an environment

for young adults to give their opinion. Using metaphors or giving examples is very

effective for soliciting the proper youth feedback you desire.

Providing monetary reimbursement to young adults for meeting attendance, etc. is

an important tool to make the young adults feel that their time is respected/valued/

appreciated. This also acknowledges that their lived experience is a form of

intellectual capital, just like writings and ideas. The exchange of money for

intellectual capital recognizes that youth experience has important and can aid

agencies in improving their services/marketing.

If you wish to have youth at the table, it is not adequate to provide two slots for

youth to make it to meetings. Further, hour long meetings are not an adequate

amount of time to capture youth testimony, especially when youth all have their

own unique piece to contribute and shouldn’t be rushed.

Youth may go to school or work for their own agencies, organizations, and have

strict schedules. Many times professionals are so busy, they expect young people to

meet THEIR availability and do not incorporate any flexibility to be inclusive to

youth. Many times, youth are doing this as a volunteer service or for a small

stipend and the satisfaction of knowing they are helping the youth that come after

them. Oftentimes they are giving up precious hours to attend advocacy meetings

that will never directly improve outcomes for them, and it’s important to keep that

in mind

Youth are not provided with education regarding sharing; they often don’t know

how to inform professionals and need to be taught how to provide intellectual

capital effectively and in a way that will bring them no harm. They can use guidance

in this area

Sharing with professionals as an advocate or as a client is difficult/daunting either

way for young people

Lastly, give this position your all. The more effort and productivity you put in, the

more that the grant will be able to utilize and benefit from your position. In doing so,

you will open up more opportunities like this for other former foster youth and

transitional-aged youth in the future.

Topics to hit in this memoir

Why a person with lived experience, close to the same age range, will always be

necessary

The difficulties of the work
Barriers to providing lived experiences and testimony
Coaching other youth
Boundaries and youth
Coping with mental health as the youth coordinator
Coping with boundary issues with young adults
The impact of stigma on the workplace and the advocacy environment

Lessons Learned

Prepare your youth for what they will experience in the world
Support your youth through what is currently happening in their worlds
Stick up for your youth when they are disrespected or stigmatized rather than

staying silent

o Ask the young person how they felt

o Acknowledge the event

o Be honest with them

Its OK to shut things down or end a meeting when things get emotionally charged

and people become angry, upset. It is okay to disagree, but it is not okay to verbally

abuse each other

It is very, very important to listen to young adults, and take what they are saying

seriously

Lived Experience Testimony

“It was people I thought I could trust and I thought they would have my back, and

they didn’t.”

“I ended up telling him my whole life story just to show him that I wasn’t there for

money.”

Misconceptions and Harmful Statements – What do youth hear about themselves

in the voices of the community?

“I don’t like the darker generation”
Think people are getting paid through the government to say certain things or

defend vulnerable people

Believe that youth with issues are liars
Believe that youth have a hidden agenda,

Trauma Informed Care

People should not be experiencing threats and racial slurs in affiliated meetings

RESPONSIBILITIES AND ACTIVITIES