Retention Support Services Program Manager

Job Description

RETENTION SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM MANAGER

Req #: 240761 Department: SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK Appointing Department Web Address: http://risewiththealliance.org Job Location: Seattle - Other Job Location Detail: This position serves the entire state of Washington and can be performed remotely, with in person meetings required around Washington state. Posting Date: 11/08/2024 Closing Info: Closes On 11/22/2024 Salary: $7,500 - $8,250 per month Other Compensation: Shift: First Shift Benefits: As a UW employee, you will enjoy generous benefits and work/life programs. For a complete description of our benefits for this position, please visit our website, click here. As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem-solving skills and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world. UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty.
The Alliance for Professional Development, Training, and Caregiver Excellence (The Alliance) is a partnership between the UW School of Social Work; Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF); Eastern Washington University School of Social Work; UW Tacoma School of Social Work and Criminal Justice; and Partners for Our Children.
The Alliance works to increase the capacity of Washington’s social workers, partners and foster caregivers to support community wellness. We provide education and programs in a variety of modalities so that each adult learner can retain the skills needed to continue to succeed.
The mission of the Alliance is, “Through innovative and accessible training and supports, we empower those caring for and serving families and communities to provide anti-racist, culturally relevant, trauma-informed service.” Learn more at Rise with the Alliance . The Alliance’s work spans throughout Washington State and has team members throughout the state. Because of this, many of our roles are hybrid and require both remote and in-person work. As a part of the Alliance team, this position will be expected to attend quarterly, in-person, All-Alliance meetings, which take place throughout the year at our three regional training hubs (Delridge, Spokane, Tumwater) as well as at the School of Social Work at the UW Seattle Campus, and additional meetings as needed.
The Alliance works within the University of Washington School of Social Work (SSW). At SSW, we commit ourselves to promoting social and economic justice for poor and oppressed populations and enhancing the quality of life for all. We strive to maximize human welfare through education, research, and public service. We embrace our position of leadership in the field of social work and join in partnership with others in society committed to solving human problems in the twenty-first century.
The UW and the School of Social Work promote diversity and inclusivity among our staff, faculty and students; we seek applicants for this position who are committed to these principles and whose experiences have prepared them to fulfill our commitment to inclusion and have given them the confidence to fully engage with audiences from a wide spectrum of backgrounds.
The Alliance has an outstanding opportunity for a full time CaRES Program Manager who will be responsible for leading the Retention and Support program, which is currently contracted through 6/30/2026, with the potential to be extended. The goal of the DCYF Retention and Support program is to support current community foster parents and relative caregivers to improve retention outcomes, for improved service to children in care.
The CaRES Program Manager will; oversee program staff and the implementation of the program; meet day to day operational and strategic needs; ensure processes for tracking and reporting performance; support the onboarding and training of staff; supervise staff; collaborate with DCYF Licensing Division and other DCYF leadership; manage and document statewide practice for consistent supports and services using staff and contractor roles for mentorship, education, training, events, and responsive programming; ensure culturally appropriate services; monitor and manage the estimated. $1M annual budget; promote services to the foster parent, relative caregiver community and community partners; and provide direct services to caregivers.
The CaRES Program Manager works within the partnership to accomplish its vision and values, and works within the framework set out in the partnership's guiding principles. The CaRES Program Manager leads a statewide effort to improve outcomes for children in care through increasing community and cultural connections among caregivers; promoting diversity and supporting caregivers with a variety of individual and group options in order to improve placement stability, reduce placement disruptions and keep caregivers caring for the children in their homes. The CaRES Program Manager actively collaborates with DCYF and other community partners to establish and maintain an effective, impactful statewide network of culturally diverse caregiver services. The CaRES Program Manager should demonstrate; genuine curiosity, eagerness to listen and to learn from the diverse experience of others; extensive experience and knowledge of the needs of foster parents, relative caregivers and suitable others within the child welfare system; and active engagement with diverse caregiver populations within each community to ensure culturally appropriate services are delivered. Program implementation, staff, contract and program management, data management /reporting, and budget management skills are also needed in this position for this program to be successful. This position will work closely with the Alliance leadership and the UW partnership to build and sustain a dynamic, effective program.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The CaRES Program Manager represents the Alliance and the University of Washington School of Social Work to professionals, foster parents, kinship providers, those with lived experience in child and family serving systems, community partners and DCYF. As such, this role must demonstrate experience with these populations, understand the child welfare system and how to successfully care for high needs children in homes and the community.
Program Management and Implementation

Lead CaRES efforts to meet the contracted engagement strategy and provide on-going support to licensed foster parents and kinship caregivers to meet their needs and to sustain them as caregivers over time including meeting established time frames to initiate CaRES post licensure supports and services.

Support the Associate Director in negotiating the contract at required intervals.

Monitor, support, and guide the team of Mentors who provide individual support to caregivers throughout the state.

Ensure that the CaRES Mentor team provides strength-based, problem-solving services and meets required timeframes and documentation requirements.

Develop and implement various caregiver engagement strategies to better support and retain caregivers and community.

Represent the CaRES team by attending and participating in meetings as needed.

Lead the creation, maintenance, evaluation, and revision of CaRES Topic Support Groups.

Represent the Alliance and DCYF in a positive and strength-based manner.

Ensure that CaRES services are delivered in culturally sensitive ways that honor the individual culture of each family and with a trauma-informed lens.

Help staff working with caregivers to recognize the children/youth family of origin’s strengths and to support them in building relationships between caregivers, children and youth, and family/community of origin.

Support staff working with caregiving families to understand the needs of their children; whether nutritionally, physically, socially or emotionally, and to use critical thinking skills to identify and overcome barriers to meeting these needs.

Hire, train, supervise and support staff including coaching for staff who supervise others in supporting others. This position will supervise between 3 and 6 positions at any given time and leads a program of 20-40 full and part time staff.

Along with Alliance Leadership, determine and accomplish all program goals.

Meet all requirements set forth in the CaRES contract with DCYF and ensure accurate reporting.
Leadership and Partnership Development

Identify and develop partnerships and collegial relationships throughout the state to support kin and community caregivers in various stages of experience.

Provide vision for the program and services provided to the community and the staff.

Work with partners and agency staff to support the cultural needs of caregivers in culturally sensitive ways, to meet Washington State goals for foster parent retention.

Develop innovative strategies that will affect greater participation in programs and activities.

Attend DCYF meetings and provide regular communication with DCYF Contracting, Program Managers, the Licensing Division and field operations staff about emerging issues pertaining to caregiver support, the program’s successes and challenges, as well as strategies for overcoming barriers to success.

Provide retention education through community groups, training or events; based upon expressed need from the caregiver or DCYF partners.

Learn/maintain current knowledge of community resources, while building and sustaining community partnerships, particularly among culturally diverse populations.

Expand the program’s partnerships and connections for increased reach throughout the state. This may include seeking additional funding and/or donation opportunities.
Evaluation and Reporting

Ensure effective process to collect and review data for each aspect of the program.

Measure and report on the program’s successes and challenges, and address areas where the program needs additional attention to meet and exceed contract requirements.

Write and direct the preparation of clear and effective reports and other documents that measure and report on the program’s successes and challenges, and address areas where the program needs additional attention to meet and exceed contract requirements.

Provide DCYF with quarterly and annual reports, which include performance data as well as trends and feedback from caregivers and community partners.

Interpret results of program evaluations and research and apply them towards improved program outcomes.

Deliver high quality branded communication for the program including social media, website and flyers.

Create content and resources as needed for the program.
Collaboration with the Alliance

Practice shared planning and effective communication to ensure that processes, policies and strategy are in line with elements in the greater Alliance in order to best serve caregivers.

Attend relevant Alliance meetings and development opportunities.
Administrative and Financial

Maintain an SOP manual.

Oversee all program staff and program implementation for a consistent, statewide delivery of effective mentoring supports and services.

Allocate resources, monitor costs, and create routines for billing and reporting.
Other duties as assigned
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

Master's Degree in Education, Social Work, or related field

At least 2-3 years of relevant work experience. Equivalent experience may substitute for education requirement.
Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Experience supervising staff, contracted staff, and/or volunteers.

Experience supporting licensed foster parents and kinship providers.

Experience managing and assessing data, reporting and program evaluations; using data/evaluations to drive program improvements.

Experience working within a child and family service organization or government department serving children and families.

Experience in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion practices within a context of community outreach.

Knowledge and skills in personnel management, including team building, working with Human Resources, setting standards and expectations, performance planning and evaluations, and strength-based supervisory skills. This includes engaging in regular supervision with staff, contracted staff, and others as needed.

Values of empathy for and belief in the strengths of caregiver families and families of origin.

Demonstrated skills in building and maintaining relationships with internal and external stakeholders and community engagement within diverse communities.

Demonstrated organizational, oral, written and interpersonal skills.

Ability to develop trusting relationships.

Ability to work a flexible schedule which may include evenings and at least one weekend a month.

Excellent listening, case management, crisis intervention and conflict resolution skills.

Experience working in collaboration with DCYF Licensing Division and other DCYF leadership.

Creative strategic planning strength.

Public speaking and presentation skills.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Experience developing and managing statewide programs and services.

Experience working within university-based programs and policies; ability to work collaboratively with faculty, staff and university administration.

Experience managing contracts including monitoring contract performance and addressing performance issues as they arise.

Experience building and maintaining volunteer-based services and programs.

Experience managing child welfare services and programs, with an emphasis on caregiver-related services.
Application Process: The application process may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment, you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are access ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.

Committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff, the University of Washington will honor your experiences, perspectives and unique identity. Together, our community strives to create and maintain working and learning environments that are inclusive, equitable and welcoming.

The University of Washington is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.

To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 or [email protected] .

Applicants considered for this position will be required to disclose if they are the subject of any substantiated findings or current investigations related to sexual misconduct at their current employment and past employment. Disclosure is required under Washington state law .

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