Vacant job

About us

Maskrosbarn is a children's rights organization that works to support young people who have parents suffering from mental illness, addiction, or who expose them to violence. We reach out to youth aged 13–19 from all over Sweden.

About you

Have you grown up with a parent who has an addiction, mental illness, and/or subjected you to violence and feel that you are doing well today? Now you have the opportunity to use your experiences and help other young people in similar situations by becoming a coach at Maskrosbarn!

About the assignment

In the role of contact person (coach at Maskrosbarn), you will be matched with a young person with whom you will have continuous contact for at least one year. You and your youth will meet once a week, for two hours each time, and work together based on clear goals for the youth to process their experiences and gain tools to handle their situation.

Every other meeting will focus on exercises from our method material designed to work towards the goals we have set in the program. The alternate weeks will be more flexible meetings where you will discuss current issues and can plan activities together – such as having coffee, climbing, bowling, or whatever the youth and you find enjoyable. As a coach, you will also spend about 30 minutes on reporting and supervision time related to each meeting.

You will receive ongoing support and supervision from the program manager, as well as the opportunity to participate in professional development and group activities for both coaches and youth.

Receiving support from a stable adult and having a trusting adult relationship is one of the most important protective factors for a young person; as a coach, you are helping to change young people's lives.

“My life changed when an adult saw me” – Youth

You who are applying:

• Live in Gothenburg and surrounding areas
• Identify yourself as a dandelion child – you have/had a parent with addiction, mental health issues, or who subjected you to violence. This is a requirement as identification is part of our method.
• Are doing well enough today that you can ask about, meet, and listen to the problems that the youth have without it becoming too difficult for you to handle – you can maintain distance from your own feelings and experiences and have tools to manage them.
• Are a good role model for our youth, have great self-awareness, are drug-free, have a well-functioning life where you can plan your time, set boundaries for yourself and others, and can balance the role of being professional while also being a kind of extra big sibling for the youth.
• Are flexible and selfless – you have the ability to meet the youth where they are, physically and emotionally, have a relatively flexible schedule in your free time, and can adapt to what the youth is interested in and what suits them.
• Have a strong commitment, are curious and open, and think it would be fun to use your personality in your work and come up with activities together with your youth where you can use interests or expertise you have to motivate the youth.

It is extremely important to approach the assignment with the mindset of being there for the youth until the end of the assignment.

Application

Answer the following questions in a personal letter, or by recording a video (max 3 min). Then send the letter/video along with your CV to [email protected], marking your application with “Coach Program Gothenburg”

• In what way are you a dandelion child? (describe a bit about your upbringing in a maximum of half an A4)
• How have you processed your experiences and memories?
• Why do you want to work as a coach?
• What do you think would be your biggest challenge as a coach?

We will call for interviews on an ongoing basis. The next step in the process is a recruitment evening on February 26, in the evening. If you proceed in the recruitment process, you will also need to participate in mandatory training days, see dates below. The trainings will be held at our office at Sten Sturegatan 36 in Gothenburg.

Recruitment evening: Wednesday, February 26, evening

Basic training: Wednesday, March 5, evening

Coach training: Saturday, March 15, daytime

Conversation training: Monday, March 31, evening

If you have questions, contact [email protected]. Write “Question recruitment GBG” in the subject line.

The application deadline is Sunday, February 9