Counselor (Hendry/Glades Zone) — AAD Hendry Educational Opportunity Center (AAD HEOC) in Miami, Florida at King Youth Foundation Inc

Position Summary

The Counselor delivers individualized college-access, financial aid, and workforce-pathway counseling to adults age 19 and older in the rural Hendry/Glades zone of AAD HEOC. Participants include agricultural and food-processing workers, parents, veterans, foster-care alumni, justice-involved adults, adults with disabilities, and limited-English adults. The Counselor serves this zone from intake through the first term of postsecondary enrollment.

The Counselor's work drives the project's four federal objectives: 27% secondary-diploma completion, 42% postsecondary enrollment (including Registered Apprenticeships), 50% financial aid applications, and 38% college admission applications. Every plan the Counselor writes puts college, apprenticeship, and short-term credential options side by side.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Outreach & Recruitment

• Help the Project Director inform residents, schools, and community organizations about the project's goals, services, and eligibility.
• Host monthly bilingual community information nights at satellite sites and through CBI Hub.
• Lead quarterly employer-site information sessions, including at U.S. Sugar Corporation in Clewiston.
• Staff college fairs, festivals, agricultural worker events, faith-based gatherings, and library events in the zone.

Intake & Eligibility

• Collect, screen, and process applications; document eligibility under 34 CFR 644.3 and forward complete files to the Project Director.
• Notify applicants of missing documents and complete eligibility determination within 14 days.

Assessment & Individualized Success Plans

• Conduct the multi-domain needs assessment within 30 days of intake: academic diagnostic, affective and career inventories, and skills-profile construction.
• Write each participant's Individualized Success Plan (ISP) within 30 days; update it at the end of each semester and revise it annually.
• Include in every ISP at least one Registered Apprenticeship or pre-apprenticeship pathway and at least one Workforce Pell-aligned credential pathway alongside the college pathway.
• Review AI-drafted ISPs and pathway suggestions before they become part of any plan.

Counseling & Workforce Pathways

• Deliver personal, career, and academic counseling: at least four substantive contacts per participant per year, starting within the first 60 days, plus contacts at each FAFSA, application, admission, and enrollment step.
• Counsel on workforce pathways using Apprenticeship.gov, the Florida Registered Apprenticeship Sponsor Registry, CareerOneStop, Florida CONNECT, and the Credential Engine Credential Finder.
• Help participants document existing credentials and work-acquired skills in a learner-controlled folder.
• Coordinate referrals to CareerSource Southwest Florida and CareerSource Heartland.
• Provide re-entry counseling for adults without a diploma: adult high school, GED/HiSET through Hendry and Glades County adult education, or stackable programs.

Admissions & Financial Aid

• Assist with college and apprenticeship applications, fee waivers, transcripts, essays, recommendations, and test scores.
• Assist with FAFSA, FFAA, and institutional aid; review Student Aid Reports and award letters; coordinate verification.
• Support mixed-status families, adults without recent tax records, foster-care alumni, and justice-involved adults through FAFSA special circumstances.
• Run monthly FAFSA Completion Days at the LaBelle and Clewiston satellite sites; follow up 30 days after each FAFSA submission.

Workshops & Partner Referrals

• Facilitate workshops in person and through CBI Hub on financial literacy, career exploration, admissions, FAFSA, AI literacy, digital literacy, and non-traditional careers.
• Refer participants to Top Score Tutors (two sessions per week; at least 10 sessions for test prep), AI Guys AI-literacy cohorts, and Career Bound Institute non-traditional career cohorts; monitor attendance and progress.
• Run the resource-assessment protocol for adults with disabilities, foster-care alumni, homeless adults, justice-involved adults, and limited-English adults.
• Serve veterans and military families on GI Bill, Yellow Ribbon, and county veterans' service coordination.

Persistence & Data

• Conduct 30/60/90-day follow-up with every participant who enrolls; trigger re-engagement for any participant at risk of stopping out.
• Enter all contacts, services, and attendance in the case management system within five business days.
• Collect data for formative and summative evaluation and the Annual Performance Report.
• Perform other duties as assigned, in compliance with EDGAR and 34 CFR Part 644.

Required Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in education, counseling, sociology, social work, human services, workforce development, or a related field.

Experience

• At least two years of progressively responsible experience in TRIO, college access, adult education, school counseling, workforce development, or another federally or state-funded program serving low-income, first-generation, or other priority adult learners.

Knowledge

• Postsecondary admissions, FAFSA, Florida state aid (FFAA, Bright Futures), and financial aid for adult learners.
• Florida workforce pathways: Florida College System, technical colleges, Registered Apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, Workforce Pell credentials, CareerOneStop, and Florida CONNECT.
• U.S. Department of Labor non-traditional occupations (one gender under 25% of the workforce).
• Responsible AI use in counseling, including FERPA-aligned practice and human review.

Other Requirements

• Strong oral and written communication in English.
• Cultural competence with limited-English adults, agricultural workers, veterans, foster-care alumni, justice-involved adults, and adults with disabilities.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Zoom, and TRIO case management software.
• Ability to work evenings and weekends and travel routinely in the service area.
• Valid Florida driver's license, reliable transportation, and willingness to use a personal vehicle for business travel.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bilingual English/Spanish (strongly preferred); Haitian Creole a plus.
• Former TRIO participant or alumnus.
• Experience with rural, agricultural, or limited-English adults in Southwest or South-Central Florida.
• Workforce case-management experience: career plans, work-readiness assessment, apprenticeship sponsor coordination.
• Coursework or credentials in adult education, financial aid (NASFAA), or career development (GCDF).
• Personal background of overcoming circumstances similar to the target population.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Builds trust with adults who have never set foot on a college campus.
• Explains aid and pathway choices in plain language, in English and ideally Spanish.
• Manages a dispersed caseload and tight deadlines across sites.
• Keeps accurate, timely records and protects confidential information.

Physical & Travel Requirements

• Routine travel among LaBelle, Clewiston, Palmdale, and partner sites (mileage reimbursed at the federal rate).
• Evening and weekend work for information nights, FAFSA Completion Days, and employer-site sessions.
• Annual FAEOPP state conference on rotation.
• Ability to lift up to 25 pounds when setting up events.

Background Check & Required Training

• Background check and fingerprinting before start.
• Annual TRIO compliance, FAFSA/financial aid update, FERPA, workforce-development, and responsible-AI training.

Grant-Funded Position

This position is funded by a U.S. Department of Education grant. Continued employment depends on annual continuation funding and satisfactory performance. Time and effort are documented under 2 CFR 200.430.

Preference is given to applicants who have backgrounds or experience similar to those of the target population — low-income, first-generation, limited English, foster-care alumni, military service, or other documented disadvantage — and who have succeeded in overcoming barriers similar to those facing AAD HEOC participants.

AAD is an Equal Opportunity Employer and a drug-free workplace. Reasonable accommodations are available to qualified applicants with disabilities.