Counselor (Collier/Charlotte 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, in English and Spanish, to adults age 19 and older in the Collier/Charlotte zone of AAD HEOC. Immokalee is among Florida's lowest-income communities; about 70% of households speak a language other than English, mostly Spanish and Haitian Creole. 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, in English and Spanish.
• Host monthly bilingual community information nights at the Immokalee site and through CBI Hub.
• Lead quarterly employer-site information sessions with agricultural cooperatives, hospitality employers, and the Babcock Ranch employer cluster.
• Work with the Immokalee Foundation, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Collier County Public Library (Immokalee Branch), and Charlotte County libraries on outreach and referrals.

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.
• Provide re-entry counseling for adults without a diploma: adult high school, GED/HiSET through iTECH (Immokalee Technical College), Immokalee Adult Education, or Charlotte Technical College.
• Refer limited-English adults to ESOL through Collier and Charlotte adult education 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 Immokalee satellite site, with bilingual support; 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.

Language

• Bilingual fluency in English and Spanish, spoken and written.

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

• 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

• Haitian Creole capability.
• Former TRIO participant or alumnus.
• Experience with rural, agricultural, or limited-English adults in Southwest 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 Spanish.
• Manages a dispersed caseload across two counties at opposite ends of the service area.
• Keeps accurate, timely records and protects confidential information.

Physical & Travel Requirements

• Routine travel between Immokalee, Punta Gorda inland, the primary office, 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.