Prevention Specialist

Prevention Specialist Position: Coordinating the McKinney Vento Program, a 5-county regional program assisting local school districts with ensuring their students and families experiencing homelessness have the resources they need to be successful in school. This position will include developing and improving local systems for referrals to resources, training, and collaboration between local school districts and partner agencies. School consultation and collaboration to support youth experiencing homelessness data and enhance student support services will be a significant part of this job. Occasional evenings and weekend work may be required for outreach and community events. 

An ideal candidate will have an established history of:

• A professional-level working knowledge of substance misuse and youth risk behavior prevention best practices and strategies including the Strategic Prevention Framework
• Experience working with educational institutions, staff, and students
• Facilitating community coalitions/workgroups
• Identifying gaps and barriers to services and implementing strategies to improve community connections to resources
• Strong written and oral communication skills, able to renew grant awards and fulfill reporting obligations
• Ability to work autonomously and also as a collaborative partner
• Established partnerships and knowledge of referral agencies, providers, educational institutions, and service organizations

Typical duties of this position will include:

• Planning and facilitating District Liaison meetings and workgroups
• Consulting with regional schools on McKinney-Vento and appropriate prevention-related activities 
• Sharing and communicating local data with community partners
• Collaborating with community events and learning opportunities
• Developing and sharing training presentations with a variety of audiences 
• Assisting with local trainings on Substance Use Disorder & other related topics
• Maintaining service data & other reports
• Implementing programs as determined by needs assessment
• Participating in county-level Continuum of Care (housing) coalitions

Additional Information:

This position will serve Barry, Calhoun, Clinton, Eaton, and Shiawassee Counties. The office location is in Charlotte and the candidate will be expected to work in the office most of the time unless they are on-site in their service areas or have made virtual work arrangements. Most new staff can expect to be in the office on average 3 days per week. Unless already certified as a Prevention Specialist, the candidate for this position will submit a Development Plan to fulfill their certification requirements within two years of their hire. This will include studying and successfully passing a certification exam at the employee's expense. This position is grant funded. On the occasion that grant funding changes, work assignments can change as well.