Youth Prevention Specialist (Social Services Specialist II)

This position includes a signing bonus of $2,500 (full-time) for new county hires.

The Division of Domestic and Sexual Violence Services (DSVS) of the Department of Family Services (DFS) is seeking a Youth Prevention Specialist to promote awareness and programming to the public and professionals about sexual and domestic violence, stalking, and human trafficking targeted to youth. This is an exciting time to join DSVS as we recently completed our strategic plan and refreshed our mission, vision, and values to align with the DFS Mission, Vision, and Values and the One Fairfax Policy. We invite you to learn more about DFS and its Mission, Vision, and Values, by clicking here. To learn more about One Fairfax, we highly encourage you to watch the Becoming One Fairfax-An Introduction to Key Concepts video by clicking here and visit the One Fairfax webpage here. The Youth Education and Outreach Specialist II is a member of Prevention, Education and Coordination Services. This position is grant funded and specializes in programming and awareness on healthy relationships, dating violence, and sexual violence prevention with youth, teen, and young adult populations.

Duties and responsibilities of the Youth Prevention Specialist include:

• Provides technical and professional level support to administer education and outreach programming
• Teaches youth, parents of youth, and county and non-profit partners who work with youth, on topics related to healthy relationships, safety, and healthy coping skills
• Develops and implements tools to evaluate the effectiveness of programs, monitor goals, and makes recommendations for changes
• Collaborates with team members to implement a comprehensive training and education strategy based on best practices
• Develops and presents curriculum for youth and parents of youth on sexual and domestic violence, stalking and human trafficking
• Assists with coordination awareness activities (i.e., Teen Dating Violence Awareness month) and develops promotional materials and resources
• Conducts needs assessments relevant to service area (e.g., at-risk and underserved youth)
• Develops and maintains a working knowledge of learning theory for youth
• Networks and develops contacts, and builds strong, professional relationships with youth serving professionals, school staff, and community leaders
• Maintains partnerships with community groups, county agencies, and others to implement youth-related programming
• Contributes to division, unit, and program measures and assists with submission of grant reports
• Serves as point of contact to process requests for educational/prevention/outreach activities targeted to youth
• Represents DSVS on committees, local and regional meetings, events, etc.
• Participates in the development and adherence of DSVS goals, objectives, policies, and procedures
• Provides hospital accompaniment and after-hours coverage on a rotational basis.
• Provides crisis line coverage as needed.
• Perform other duties as assigned to meet the goals and mission of DFS

• Knowledge of domestic and sexual violence, teen dating violence, stalking, and human trafficking
• Knowledge of the psychosocial development of youth, teens, and young adults
• Knowledge of best practice teaching and learning modalities for youth, teens, and young adults
• Knowledge of federal law and local policies and practices related to domestic and sexual violence, dating violence, stalking, and human trafficking
• Ability to perform safety, risk and needs assessment, interview, counsel, and refer clients/customers to other resources as needed
• Ability to apply critical thinking, knowledge and research
• Ability to schedule and manage workload sufficiently to meet deadlines
• Ability to maintain professional ethics and confidentiality of client/customer information
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of individuals
• As per grant funding, candidate must speak, read, and write fluently in Spanish to be able to perform job duties and communicate to Spanish speaking community without access to a translator. Candidate must pass the following: Successful completion of Language Proficiency Testing.
• Knowledge of current social service problems and methods/approaches to address issues;
• Knowledge of regulations and guidelines relating to the assigned area of social service specialization;
• Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing;
• Ability to maintain professional ethics and confidentiality of client information;
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of individuals;
• Ability to schedule and manage workload sufficiently to meet deadlines.

• Oral and written Spanish literacy is required per grant funding. A passing grade on a proficiency test is required.
• This position is considered essential personnel and will be required to report to work during times designated countywide as approved for unscheduled leave regardless of the emergency situation (i.e., weather, transportation, other disaster).
• Work hours are Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., however, evening and/or weekend work for program activities as well as being part of an on-call rotation for Hospital Accompaniment and After Hours are required.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Minimum of a bachelor's degree in human services field OR minimum of a bachelor's degree in any field with a minimum of two years of appropriate and related experience in a Human Services area (Section 22VAC40-670-20 of the Administrative Code of Virginia).

CERTIFICATES AND LICENSES REQUIRED:
Valid driver's license

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
The appointee to this position will be required to complete a criminal background check, child protective services check, driving record to the satisfaction of the employer. Oral and written Spanish literacy is required per grant funding. A passing grade on a proficiency test is required.

BONUS ELIGIBILITY:
Positions within this classification that are general merit may be eligible for a one-time hiring incentive bonus for new county employees only. This bonus program requires a signed payback agreement between the department and employee.

• Master's Degree in Social Work
• At least 2 years of experience working within the human services field with youth, teens, and youth adults.
• Experience providing education to youth.
• At least 2 years of experience in collaboration with and development of partnerships.
• At least 2 years of experience with community engagement, conducting outreach, and delivery of trainings and presentations.
• At least 1 year of experience working within the domestic and sexual violence, stalking, and human trafficking field.
• Experience providing services to people impacted by domestic and/or sexual violence , stalking, and human trafficking.
• Experience working with a diverse multicultural population.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite applications.

Fairfax County is home to a highly diverse population, with a significant number of residents speaking languages other than English at home (including Spanish, Asian/Pacific Islander, Indo-European, and many others.) We encourage candidates who are bilingual in English and another language to apply for this opportunity.