Entry Level Career Counselor Jobs

INTRODUCTION

Lao Family Community Development, Inc. (LFCD) is a community development non-profit agency established in the City of Richmond in Contra Costa County in 1980. Today Lao Family has expanded its operations and service footprint to two additional counties including Alameda and Sacramento. LFCD’s headquarter office is in Oakland, CA. It delivers programs and services from 7 locations in 35 languages. The agency provides both community development real estate facilities and a diverse array of workforce, education, and human service that directly support predominantly low-income US born high barrier families and individuals, refugees, immigrants, transitional age youth, seniors and other special populations such as individuals with disabilities.

Job Summary

LFCD is seeking a qualified candidate to serve, prepare, and place California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs), General Assistance (GA), and CalFresh recipients in unsubsidized/subsidized employment. The candidate will be stationed at one of our Career Pathways Employment and Training (CPET) office locations in the North Oakland. The Career Coach will outreach to recruit employers and job seekers; facilitate program orientation; complete intake-assessment; set up Individual Employment Plan (IEP) by providing case management, vocational training counseling, job placement, and retention services. Program activities and strategies include long-term career advancement for each CPET participants; understanding hiring and business development needs of each employer; compliance requirements of Alameda County Social Services Agency; and the many subtle factors that can influence each individual’s ability to thrive and advance in the workplace. This position will directly report to the Site Supervisor.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Establish a positive and trusting rapport with participants as well as provide motivation, encouragement, and promote consistent program participation. Assist individual participants with creating for themselves an individual and/or family Self-Sufficiency Plan (SSP) based on the principles of CalWORKs 2.0. Complete the Online CalWORKs Appraisal Tool (OCAT) for newly enrolled participants as needed. OCAT includes a comprehensive screening for barrier identification and a detailed explanation of available services.

• Recommend and develop training plans for participants, refers participants to appropriate training opportunities, and collect timesheets, employment verification letters, and pay stubs as proof of participants' job placement. Perform necessary post-placement and post-exit to ensure participant’s job retention longevity.

• Lead, coach, and facilitate Welfare-to-Work (WTW) orientation, CalFresh (GA), & job club (JCL) sessions, career assessments, workshops, job search and interview preparation, and provide one-on-one or small-group counseling. Develop a comprehensive employment portfolio that includes a master application, résumé, cover letter, thank-you letter, not-offered letter, reference list, CASAS testing, and Individual Employment Plans. Introduce and navigate O*NET Online to help participants identify career interests, education pathways, labor-market alignment, and appropriate job matches to support successful placement. Assess participant needs to determine suitable job interests and employment opportunities. Create a Welfare to Work plan when obtaining employment or enrolling in a vocational education program, and conduct retention follow-ups for 180 days (six months) for Welfare-to-Work (WTW) program participants to monitor progress and provide continued support. Conduct retention follow-ups for 90 days (three months) CalFresh (GA) program participants to monitor progress and provide continued support for. Monthly case comments for retention, weekly comments for job club.

• Track participants’ attendance, input data, update daily log and job activities into the internal database system CalSAWS (County web-based system); maintain record of new enrollments; navigate the database to access and audit participants’ roster and complete other program activities such as orientation, Job Club, and other CPET activities tracking sheets.

• Provide a variety of Work Experience and Community Service (WEN/CS) Program activities numbers of approved worksites within their assigned region. Understand the WEN/CS worksites that are designed to help CalWORKs participants who have limited educational experiences, possess Limited-English communication abilities, have sporadic employment histories, or limited marketable skills to learn new job skills or to upgrade their current job skills in a non-paid or subsidized paid work position while receiving their cash aid assistance.

• Ensure that all participants in Unpaid Work Experience (UWEN) and Paid Work Experience (PWEN) receive a minimum hourly wage for the hours they work at their assigned worksite and receive a scheduled bi-weekly payroll check.

• Coordinate an in-person meeting with the participant and worksite supervisor at the host site to discuss the participant’s progress and monitor worksites to ensure all participants are in fact, performing assignments/activities in accordance with the worksite agreements.

• Must attend training and obtain certification as required by the program or agency, and maintain ongoing training to keep the certifications up-to-date. Build trust, maintain good relationships, network with partners, and conduct a survey with participants following placement to ensure job stability. Prepares program monthly activity and reports to the CPET Site Supervisor.

• Be knowledgeable of the agency’s mission, vision, core values, and strategic plan. Join different agency initiatives to improve program and service quality and to help accomplish the agency's strategic plan’s goals and objectives, and other duties as assigned by the Site Supervisor or Program Manager.

REQUIREMENTS AND QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent required in social work, psychology, or related field, AND at least 2-3 years of experience doing similar work preferred OR must have at least 3-4 years of experience providing case management, employment direct services, and coaching. Bilingual in Spanish is highly desired.

• Must be enthusiastic, client-centered, creative, dedicated, organized, and motivated to work with low-income individuals, individuals with multiple barriers to employment, diverse ethnic and social backgrounds.

• Ability to work effectively under pressure, adapt to change, have strong time management and communication skills, able to work well independently and also in a team with other staff members.

• Ability to communicate effectively with Site Supervisor on a regular basis and to groups, including making one-on-one and group presentations as well as facilitating workshops.

• Understand, explain, and apply complex local, state, and federal regulations, policies, and procedures of WIOA, Refugee, GA, CalFresh, and CalWORKs Welfare-to-Work programs. Working knowledge of effective case management techniques.

• In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire; they must pass a background check.

• Must have a flexible schedule on some evenings and weekends.

• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and work on the computer; use hands to handle or feel; talk or hear; and move objects up to 25 pounds.

COMPENSATION:

Salary based on experience, along with a comprehensive benefits package including health plan, vision, dental, paid vacations, holidays, sick leave, and employer contributed pension/group life insurance.

TO APPLY:

Please submit the cover letter and resume. This position is open until filled and may be closed at any time.

Lao Family Community Development, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity and is committed to an active Equal Employment Opportunity Program (EEOP). It is the stated policy of LFCD that all employees and applicants shall receive equal consideration and treatment in employment without regard to race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age (over 40), sex, marital status, medical condition (cancer-related), or physical handicap (includes all other medical conditions). LFCD will also conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 USC, Sections 1210 et seq., and the U.S. Department of Justice implementing regulations, 28 CFR, Part 35.