Travel Trainer & Independent Living Specialist

The ENDependence Center of Northern Virginia (ECNV) is a 40-year-old nonprofit organization that provides direct services, advocacy, and support to individuals with disabilities and chronic conditions and their families to ensure individuals can thrive, live independently, and in the community. We promote a philosophy of independent living, including consumer control, peer support, self-help, self-determination, equal access, and individual and system advocacy, to maximize the leadership, empowerment, independence, and productivity of individuals with disabilities and the integration and full inclusion of individuals with disabilities into the mainstream of American society. We are a Center for Independent Living (CIL) that provides peer support, life skills education, advocacy, and assistance with Medicaid and other programs.

We have a strong focus on equitable access for multiply marginalized communities, including BIPOC, immigrant, and LGBTQIAS2+. You must be passionate about your commitment to challenging intersectional inequality.

General Job Description

The Travel Trainer & Independent Living Specialist is a strong voice for disability rights and independent living, working to assist people with disabilities in independent community living. The Independent Living Specialist provides general information and referral for consumers and the community as requested, provides independent living skills (ILS) training, and conducts outreach and peer counseling/mentoring. This individual will direct his/her/their work complementary to the spirit and intent of the independent living philosophy. When travel training, the Travel Trainer & Independent Living Specialist will teach individuals with various types of disabilities how to understand and safely utilize public transportation throughout the Washington DC area. Duties include planning routes via subway, bus or other transportation modes; accompanying trainees on multiple trips until they are able to travel on their own; documenting each training and reporting activities, as required; and marketing the program by conducting outreach and relationship building with disability organizations, schools, and other community partners.

Duties and Responsibilities

Travel Training (Approximately 50% of time)

· Participate in the design, execution, and continual improvement of the organization’s travel training program.

· Ensure the safety and well-being of consumers in street crossing and safety skills, emergency and stranger awareness, trip planning, and transit guide skills.

· Develop individual curriculum based on consumer evaluation and assessment; create trip plans and follows up as needed.

· Perform training and practice for consumers with mobility devices and on boarding and de-boarding buses, vans, subway cars, light rail, and other transit vehicles.

· Correspond and provide materials to current and prospective transit users.

· Plan and advise on individual travel based on functional mobility and cognitive needs assessment.

· Advise consumers on the proper way to submit complaints on accessibility and service problems in the transit system.

· Conduct community outreach and educational activities with community agencies, schools, churches, senior centers, retirement homes, transportation fairs, professional organizations, and other community partners, as requested.

Independent Living Specialist (Approximately 50% of time)

· Ability to work with diverse consumers on a cross-disability basis and understand their independent living needs, providing referrals for community resources.

· Provide orientation on the Independent Living Philosophy and Disability Partners services to new consumers.

· Conduct Independent Living Skills (ILS) training in accordance with the philosophy of independent living. This includes assisting consumers with identifying goals, then developing and implementing individualized training plans to meet the goals. ILS training includes, but is not limited to, the following areas: job development, money management, housing, health care and benefits management, daily living skills, household management, mobility, travel training, peer support, self and individual advocacy, and socialization.

· Facilitate timely completion of Independent Living Plans or Goals.

· Be a peer counselor, if applicable.

· Provide individual advocacy to complement consumer self-advocacy, if appropriate.

· Work with consumers one-on-one and in groups, at the Center, in the individual’s home, or in the community.

· Provide services in compliance with HIPAA (confidentiality) requirements.

Reporting and Documentation

· Adhere to reporting, recordkeeping, and data management regulations, as required.

· Prepare reports and documentation on travel training and other activities. Provide travel training statistics as requested.

Other duties as assigned

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

· Have a commitment to the philosophy of independent living, including consumer control, peer support, self-determination, equal access, and individual and systems advocacy;

· Three to five years of demonstrated work experience in cross-disability service delivery and the ability to teach others such skills;

· Experience developing and implementing individualized goal plans and coordinating work with others;

· Ability to problem-solve with creative, individualized solutions;

· Ability to schedule and work a flexible schedule based on consumer schedules and needs during the work week.

· Ability to travel independently throughout the Northern Virginia catchment area;

· Proficient in Microsoft Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, etc.), and experience using a database to document services; and,

· Experience working with people with disabilities, in providing Travel Training or Orientation and Mobility Training, or an equivalent combination of post high school education and/or more than three (3) years of progressively responsible experience in Travel Training or Orientation and Mobility Training, preferably in the transportation industry or with disability service or advocacy organizations.

· Must have the ability to interact and communicate effectively with people who have a wide range of disabilities.

· Patient, positive professional who can teach travel training and other basic independent living skills to teens and adults with mental, physical, developmental, and intellectual disabilities.

· Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor’s Degree in Allied Health Sciences, Special Education, Rehabilitation Counseling, Human Services, Orientation and Mobility, Therapeutic Recreation, or a related field.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

· Qualified person with a disability.

· Experience working in the independent living field.

· Spanish, Amharic, or second language/other than English fluency.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORKING CONDITIONS

This position will primarily be in the community and actively navigating public transportation. Some periods of sedentary work and data entry are required. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

All programs and employment positions of ENDependence Center of Northern Virginia, Inc. are open to all members of the community, without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation, economic status, or disability.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 protects the rights of people with disabilities to equal employment opportunities. Arrangements will be made if you have a disability that requires an accommodation in completing any part of the employment process. A request for an accommodation will not affect your opportunities for employment. It is your responsibility to make your needs known.

To Apply

Please submit a resume and cover letter to jobs@ecnv.org.

Applications are due June 27, 2023.