Admissions Specialist/Group Facilitator

Overview

The Admissions Specialist/Group Facilitator is a vital position at the iCan House that supports the programming upon which the iCan House’s mission is built. This individual will directly aid the Program Director with the admissions and intake process for all inquiries and program candidates, and other tasks as assigned. The Group Facilitation part of the position will carry out program related tasks and will manage assigned responsibilities such as running social groups for individuals with special needs, coaching individuals, planning events, and scheduling as needed.

Admissions Management: Handle inquiries and explain iCan House mission and programs, start the admissions process for inquiries, conduct phone interviews and in-person intakes for program candidates, make recommendations to the Program Department regarding a candidate’s program fit and eligibility based on predetermined criteria.

Group Facilitator: Primary responsibilities focus on facilitating and managing social groups and social events for individuals who are neuro-diverse, plus other tasks as needed. Knowledge of lesson planning, and being able to identify activities, videos, games, etc. that will help cement learning for individuals on the Autism spectrum.

Knowledge of and familiarity with neuro-divergent populations, including autism spectrum and related communication disorders, are essential. It is imperative that the Admissions Specialist/Group Facilitator be compassionate and sensitive to the unique needs of those impacted by communication and processing differences seen in autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, learning disabilities, anxiety, and other social challenges.

Reports To

Program Director

Job Status

Hourly, Full time

Qualifications and Skills

EDUCATION

• College degree and coursework with a concentration in education, psychology, social work or a related human services field is required

PRE-REQUISITES and EXPERIENCE:

• Prior experience working in nonprofit, education or healthcare preferred
• Prior experience working with children, teens, and adults with special needs
• Prior experience in program planning, coordinating, and managing
• Prior experience in admissions and/or customer service

SPECIAL POPULATIONS:

The Admissions Specialist/Group Facilitator will work directly with those with various types of developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, and/or social skills challenges, and must be compassionate and understanding when interacting with potential participants and their families, current participants, their families, the community, and other professionals. Admissions Specialists/Group Facilitator will assist Program Manager with curriculum, facilitate social skills discussions, aid in planning events, and work directly in a facilitation role with these populations, and as such, must have strong experience and an ability to teach, connect, and relate with them.

The Admissions Specialist will be the first point of contact for most families who reach out to iCan House. This requires the Admissions Specialist to possess a high level of organization, be skilled at assessing neuro-divergent individuals and their needs, and have excellent customer service skills. After talking to initial inquiries, the Admissions Specialist will take potential members through the admissions process and either recommend the candidate for a program, or determine they are not a fit for services and will then provide outside referrals and resources.

50% of the job will be managing iCan House inquiries and admissions

50% of the job will be creating lesson plans from existing curriculum, facilitating groups, planning and attending social events for members

ESSENTIAL CORE SKILLS FOR ADMISSIONS SPECIALIST

• Experienced Admissions Specialist with a dynamic, confident, and welcoming presentation style; Group facilitation part of the role requires the ability to push forward the thinking of large and small groups while balancing the needs of the individual participants, the group/team, and the process framework.
• Communicates effectively and genuinely with potential members, current members, parents, team members, and community partners through telephone, emails, and in-person
• Exhibits a positive, personable, “can-do” attitude
• Adapts to diverse situations as they arise being flexible and nimble
• Exhibits strong initiative, is self-motivated and resourceful, and can work independently
• Utilizes a high level of organizational skills with attention to detail
• Experience working with children, teens, and adults with special needs
• Maintains strong character, enthusiasm, sense of humor, patience, self-confidence, and self-control
• Demonstrates effective teamwork skills
• Familiarity, experience, and comfort interacting with and accepting individuals who are diverse in culture, abilities, gender identity, race, preferences, beliefs, etc.
• Experience facilitating and planning programs and social events
• Maintains a high standard of working practice- setting an example to others and maintaining good working relations with Senior Management, Staff, Volunteers, Trainees, Members, Parents, and Stakeholders.

Duties and Responsibilities

Relationships

• Communicate effectively with potential members, current members and develop rapport and trust with the Admissions Process as well as the group facilitation process
• Actively cultivate and manage relationships with potential members, team members, parents, current members, and community partners
• Communicate with parents in a clear, concise manner during the admissions process and regarding their children’s experiences by phone at least once month and by email weekly, at a minimum in regards to the group facilitation part of the role
• Update the program director on parent discussions, member needs and behaviors, and situations every week, and more often as needed
• Model and apply exemplary social skills using iCan House curriculum and strategy
• Manage personal beliefs and challenges so they do not interfere with work relationships
• Represent the organization in community partnerships professionally and appropriately
• If a member misses 2 sessions in a row, initiate a phone call and email to inquire, updating program director

Curriculum Implementation

• Facilitate and manage social skills groups for children, teens, and adults using the iCan House philosophy and curriculum
• Use a variety of instructional techniques and strategies that will include curriculum modification in content presentation, knowledge of the instructional process, and hands-on presentation in presenting the social skills curriculum.
• Become adept at Incidental prompting based on member goals and interactions
• Stay current on member goals through their initial application, ongoing parent conversations, and member input, incorporating them into the group experience
• Demonstrate skills to follow and implement social skills lesson plans, to foster engagement and interest by incorporating activities, games, videos, etc
• Assist in the development of lesson plans.
• Identify and plan curriculum topics based on the needs of the group
• Prepare for the group anticipating the learning style and needs of the individuals
• Ability to generate excitement and enthusiasm appropriately.
• Exhibit strong initiative, self-motivation, and resourcefulness
• Effectively work independently requiring little direction
• Apply effective time management, prioritization, and decision-making skills

Administrative

Admissions Specialist

• Follow best practices for the admissions process, by documenting, meeting with, and assessing potential members
• Following up with inquiries, manage the waitlist, complete phone interviews, schedule intakes, and presenting the potential member to the team based on your assessment of them
• Maintaining the Admissions spreadsheet so that at any time team members can verify where potential members are, in the process
• Sending out appropriate emails at each interval of the admissions process to make sure the potential member/ parent is clear about what is needed at each step of the process

Group Facilitation Administrative Duties

• Write parent debriefs using a template and email them within 48 hours of the program
• Review and update member goals through parent communication once a month
• Record attendance and parent phone calls on the Attendance spreadsheet
• Participate in staff and team meetings, and all meetings requested by the program director.

Group Facilitation

• Coordinate with partner facilitator on implementation of lesson plans being prepared for weekly sessions
• Utilize effective group management skills and addressing problematic behaviors
• Accept and take responsibility for the success of the group session
• Be of high moral character
• Interact calmly with those with anxiety and social challenges, establishing trust
• Demonstrate good judgment, discretion, and diplomacy
• Use active listening skills
• Demonstrate effective decision-making skills
• Effectively assess and analyze situations at the moment
• Maintain enthusiasm, sense of humor, patience, self-confidence, and self-control
• Clearly state the lesson during each session and provide examples through modeling.
• Use incidental prompting strategies to assist members with correct responses when needed.

Event Planning, Coordination, and Supervision

• Participate in planning monthly social events
• Provide coverage for social events as scheduled
• Facilitate discussion with groups about what they would like to experience in advance.
• Communicate details and plans to the program director at least 10 days in advance of the event. Make follow-up calls and emails to confirm logistics and arrangements
• Represent the organization professionally at venues and in public
• Follow up with parents to confirm member attendance to socials at least 2 days before the actual event
• Monitor and supervise member participation at programs and events, on and off-site.
• Coordinate with team members and clarify each person’s role and responsibility during the event

Safety and Maintenance

• Ensure that the center and equipment used for the social club are well maintained at all times conducive to a safe environment.
• Take responsibility for the health and safety of young people, staff, and volunteers, for the safeguarding of premises, furnishings, and equipment.
• Actively comply with and promote all working policies and procedures

Special Populations

• Work directly with those who have anxiety, social communication challenges, various types of developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, ADHD, and other differences.
• Must be compassionate and understanding when interacting with individuals, their families, the community, and other professionals.
• Directly facilitate interactions, and as such, must have experience and demonstrate the ability to teach, connect, and relate to people with various differences.

Other Tasks & Special Project Assignments As Needed:

• Work under the direction of the Program Director on other designated tasks and specially assigned projects, both as a project participant and project leader, when appropriate.