Job Funding Source: Grant Funded Position

Salary: $12-$15 hr depending on experience and seniority

Time Frame: June-July, 20 hrs/week; with the potential for work in August, 

part-time, temporary

Employer: Detroit Youth Passages Project in the Department of Health Behavior, Health Education

Reports to: Co-Investigator

Job Scope: We are looking to hire 2-4 Detroit based students or outreach workers with proven ability to negotiate high stress urban environments, like night clubs and areas of known prostitution, for a research project interviewing young adults in Detroit.

Project Description:
The Detroit Youth Passages project uses a human rights framework and close community partnerships with the Ruth Ellis Center, Alternatives for Girls, and the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation serving marginalized youth in Detroit to investigate the structural conditions that contribute to sexual vulnerability among disadvantaged youth. Thus far, we have collected extensive ethnographic data, including in-depth interviews with youth of Detroit and these data provided the basis for design of a venue-based survey to be carried out in summer of 2012.

Job Description:
Summer work will focus on conducting survey interviews of ~30 minutes with young adults, in a variety if urban venues ranging from night clubs to areas of known street-based prostitution in the city of Detroit. Thus, the ideal candidate will have experience working with youth and issues of sexuality in challenging urban environments.

The Research Assistant will:
• Recruit participants for onsite surveys
• Conduct on site interviews
• Participate in May team training and subsequent in weekly project meetings
• Select Research Assistant’s will also conduct quality assurance checks on the data

A desirable candidate will have:
• Experience conducting outreach to high risk minority communities or prior work in the social service sector.
• Experience conducting interviews;
• Familiarity working with issues of youth and sexuality;
• The ability to work in Detroit on a flexible schedule, including some nights and weekends
• The ability to collaborate as a part of a larger research team and serve as a leader of a smaller street based team;
• The ability to negotiate access to difficult areas of the city including exotic dance clubs, night clubs, and areas of known prostitution
• Professionalism

Required Skills:
• An Associate’s Degree or two years of college plus a minimum of 1-3 years’ experience working with youth and/or issues of sexual vulnerability in the social service sector.
• Demonstrated familiarity with public health research and/or outreach in Detroit communities
• Prior experience working with vulnerable populations including commercial sex workers, transgendered persons, and youth.
• Access to a reliable vehicle and able to travel around Detroit

Preferred Skills:
• Spanish speakers a plus
• Flexible work schedule

Work Location: University of Michigan Detroit Center, community organizations, and specified venues around the city.

Interested candidates please submit a resume and a brief description of skills to Jessica Moorman at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please write “DYP Research Assistant” in the subject line.