Family Peer Advocate (Mandarin/Cantonese Fluent)

Job Title: Family Peer Advocate (Mandarin/Cantonese)

Department: Family & Youth Peer Support Services

Reports to: Program Supervisor                                                    

Location: Hybrid-Fixed

Schedule: Full Time Monday-Friday, Saturdays 9am to 1pm 

Salary Range: $39,000-45,000

Formerly the Mental Health Association of New York City (MHA-NYC), Vibrant Emotional Health’s groundbreaking solutions have delivered high quality services and support, when, where and how people need it for over 50 years. Through our state-of-the-art technology-enabled services, community wellness programs, and advocacy and education work, we are building a society in which emotional wellness can be a reality for everyone.

Vibrant’s Family & Youth Peer Support Services are staffed by family advocates who have shared similar life experiences to other parents – including finding success in navigating the complexities of the child-serving system. Family Peer Advocates are committed to the well-being of all, show respect in all aspects of work, thrive in a collaborative team, and have the skills to build and maintain relationships. 

Position Overview: The Family Peer Advocate (Mandarin/Cantonese-speaking) will provide essential support and guidance to families navigating various social services, particularly those in the Chinese-speaking community. This role involves partnering with families to offer emotional support, information, and resources, empowering them to effectively advocate for their children and family’s needs. The Family Peer Advocate will act as a liaison between families and service providers, ensuring clear communication, cultural sensitivity, and access to resources. Bilingual proficiency in Mandarin or Cantonese and English is required, along with a deep understanding of the challenges faced by immigrant and culturally diverse families.

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with families to assess their needs and link them to appropriate resources in their community
• Share personal knowledge and experiences about the youth serving system
• Partner with other staff members and teams of the Vibrant Alliance to provide supportive services 
• Conduct outreach and presentations to schools, early intervention programs, clinics, and other community-based providers with a special emphasis on connecting with communities that have been historically hard to reach
• Facilitate /co-facilitate parenting education and support groups
• Conduct home and community visits to meet the family in locations that allow for the best possible opportunity for assistance
• Organize and support social and recreational activities for families
• Create and maintain comprehensive documentation of the work completed with individuals and families
• Other duties assigned 

Decision Making:

• Identifies multi-faceted problems affecting achievement of individual goals and provides solutions.
• Decisions have minor organizational impact that may require consultation with internal and external stakeholders regarding issues, possible solutions and implementation of alternatives.
• Analyzes and interprets issues, realigns responsibilities, commits resources and proposes alternative solutions.
• Implements solutions for minor projects after approval; held accountable if no action is taken.
• Multi-factor decision- making requiring research and analysis, subject to supervisory guidance.

Required Qualifications:

• The Family Peer Advocate will be a parent/caregiver of a child who has experienced social, emotional, developmental, substance use, and/or behavioral challenges and has ‘lived experience’ navigating multiple child serving systems on behalf of their child(ren) with social, emotional, developmental, health and/or behavioral healthcare needs
• Bilingual and bicultural candidates are preferred (Mandarin/Cantonese)
• Able to complete the FPA credentialing process within 18 months of being hired
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Work flexible hours, as required 
• Candidates possessing exceptional skill, but do not meet all of the qualifications are also encouraged to apply

Work Environment

• This job operates in a professional office environment. 
• This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.

Physical Demands

• The person in this position needs to occasionally move about inside the office to access file cabinets, office machinery, etc.
• Constantly operates a computer and other office productivity machinery, such as a calculator, copy machine, and computer printer
• This position requires frequent travel to provide services to youth in various locations

Excellent comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental, vision, supplemental income insurance, pre-tax transit/parking, pre-tax FSA for medical and dependent care, and 401K available. 4 weeks’ vacation, plum benefits, etc.

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they are able to perform every task in the job description. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and that candidate may be one who come from a less traditional background. Vibrant will consider any equivalent combination of knowledge, skills, education and experience to meet minimum qualifications. If you are interested in applying, we encourage you to think broadly about your background and skill set for the role.

Vibrant Emotional Health is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants are considered for positions without regard to veteran status, uniformed service member status, race, creed, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, citizenship status, national origin, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, caregiver status or any other category protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.

“Please be aware that fictitious job openings, consulting engagements, solicitations, or employment offers may be circulated on the Internet in an attempt to obtain privileged information, or to induce you to pay a fee for services related to recruitment or training. Vibrant does NOT charge any application, processing, or training fee at any stage of the recruitment or hiring process. All genuine job openings will be posted on our careers page and all communications from the Vibrant recruiting team and/or hiring managers will be from an @vibrant.org email address”.