Program Innovation Lead (CASA)

The Program Innovation Lead is responsible for oversight and administration of age specific youth programming and initiatives geared to meet the needs of children and youth served by Child Advocates of Fort Bend. As a team member of the Trauma and Wellbeing Advocacy Team, the Program Innovation Lead will ensure that all youth programming initiatives are trauma informed. This position will focus on new projects, services, or processes for the CASA Program. This position will also maintain a caseload as an Advocacy Specialist. This position reports to the Trauma and Wellbeing Advocacy Manager.

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Age-Specific and Trauma-Informed Youth Programming Administration

• Oversee and implement all age-specific youth programming and ensure each initiative is trauma informed.
• Facilitate trainings for volunteers based on age-specific and trauma-informed topics applicable to working with children in foster care.
• Coordinate with area service providers
• Manage and monitor processes and progress of ongoing initiatives.
• Develop and implement plans for new strategies, quantify outcomes and learnings from new initiatives.

 Volunteer/Casework Responsibilities

• Manages and supports up to 15 volunteers and up to 15 cases through consultation, problem solving, troubleshooting, feedback, guidance, evaluation, motivation, training, monitoring and preparation for court appearances
• Attend scheduled court hearings and staffings as needed
• Make a minimum of a monthly contact with each volunteer
• Provide assistance and consultation to volunteers as needed and when requested
• Matches CASA case with appropriate volunteer in consultation with the Volunteer Coordinator
• Keep necessary and appropriate volunteer records as directed by the Program Director
• Consult with appropriate DFPS staff regarding client needs and volunteer assignments.     

Program Related Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Trauma and Wellbeing Advocacy Team to ensure all programming aspects are trauma-informed.
• Assist with recruiting, interviewing and screening potential volunteers
• Assist with developing age specific advocacy trainings, as applicable
• Assist with in-service and volunteer recognition events
• Complete yearly volunteer evaluations
• Maintain compliance with Texas CASA and National CASA standards
• Assist with creating a Trauma Informed Agency programming

Strategic and Operational Plan

• Assist in the development of age-specific youth programming, short and long-term goals and annual operational plans

Community Outreach Responsibilities

• Maintain effective relationships through personal contact and written communication with other providers and resources for youth in foster care,

professional and social service organizations, funding groups, foundations and charitable organizations

• Serve on appropriate community committees and task forces
• Engage in public speaking when appropriate

QUALIFICATIONS

Bachelor’s degree in social service-related field or two years of experience in volunteer coordination and/or social services.  Ability to communicate with, supervise and empower volunteers to be effective in their roles.  Experience with volunteers given preference.  Ability to work well with the children/youth population.  Experience with at-risk children preferred.  Knowledge and understanding of issues and dynamics within families in crises relating to child abuse and neglect.  Experience working with such families given preference. Understanding of trauma-informed care and how to meet needs of vulnerable populations preferred. Ability to work within a team atmosphere.

Other Requirements

Submit to a child abuse and criminal background check
Complete 30+ hour pre-service training
Bending, stooping, reaching and other movement required
Ability to lift 20 pounds
Valid driver’s license
Must comply with all city, state and federal laws
Perform other duties as assigned

Interested individuals should complete a CAFB employment application and submit a cover letter and resume to HRRM@cafb.org.

Therapist

The Therapist is responsible for providing therapy to child survivors of sexual abuse and witness to extreme violence. Therapists provide supportive services and psychoeducation to non-offending caregivers. The therapists’ interfaces with Child Family Advocates to coordinate services.

PRINCIPLE RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide individual group and family therapy services.
• Provide evidenced based trauma focused treatment.
• Assess client functioning and develop individualized treatment plans.
• Maintain case files including session case notes, treatment plans, termination summaries, monthly reports, and telephone contact.
• Provide testimony of fact for county criminal and civil courts that pertains to the center’s mental health services.
• Coordinate with Clinical Director on all cases needing psychiatric consultation.
• Comply with Mental Health Services Standards of Practice, Texas Family Codes, and Texas Standards for Children’s Advocacy Centers
• Participate in scheduled case staff meetings.
• Engage in community education on child abuse awareness and prevention.
• Collaborate and provide consultation within a multidisciplinary setting.
• Manage a caseload of 25 clients.
• Other duties may be assigned (e.g. assisting with waitlist management, assessment, etc.)

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS:

Professional:  

• Master’s Degree in mental health related field and a professional license to practice independently or while under supervision.

• Complete required training to maintain compliance with Texas Standards for Children’s Advocacy Centers and licensure.
• Maintain good standing with the appropriate state licensing board and group membership affiliations.

Experience:

• Experience in working with child survivors of trauma.
• Experience and training in trauma informed care and/or evidence-based practices
• Specialized clinical knowledge and advanced clinical skill in areas of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral concerns
• Experience with court testimony preferred.
• Prior work with CPS, law enforcement agencies, and district attorney’s offices preferred.

Professional: 

• A minimum licensure of LCSW, LMFT, LMSW or LPC . LPC-A,
• Certification and/or training in at least 1 trauma modality.
• Minimum 1-2 years of experience in working with children/young adults who have experienced trauma.
• Experience in providing individual, group, and/or family therapy.
• Experience in providing crisis intervention services.

Interested individuals should complete a CAFB employment application and submit a cover letter and resume to HRRM@cafb.org.

Training Coordinator

The Training Coordinator is a member of Child Advocates of Fort Bend’s (CAFB) Community Engagement Team. The Training Coordinator will coordinate training and education for CAFB Volunteers, staff, board members and community partners in accordance with Tx CASA and the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) of TX standards and CAFB training initiatives. The Training Coordinator reports directly to the Community Engagement Director.

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Training

• Lead the training functions for Child Advocates of Fort Bend to encompass identifying needs, developing plans, designing curriculum, organizing logistics, overseeing delivery, and conducting post-training evaluations.
• Collaborate with cross-functional groups to support and contribute to the creation of training programs, curricula, course materials and measurements that support agency.
• Responsible for the curriculum development, analysis, design, development, testing and distribution of training manuals/classroom instruction and Computer Based Training.
• Ensure compliance checks are built into the successful implementation of training plans in alignment with agency standards.
• Provide formal coaching to volunteers, staff, board members and community members for the CAFB Speaking Team.
• Identify and qualify SMEs based on required trainings and skills of training courses.
• Review course evaluations to assess which topics are most relevant to Volunteer needs or which instructors are most effective in delivering instruction.
• Consult with senior management to determine strategic goals for training programs.
• Conduct research on new training methodologies and technologies to determine their potential applications in the agency.
• Communicate training/education needs to Community Engagement Director, Program Directors, and program staff designees.
• Collaborate with the Director of Human Resources on training that staff may attend as required for state standards.
• Work with Prevention & Outreach Manager and Graphic Designer to ensure that training activities are communicated through various media outlets, including social media.
• Researches, develops, and communicates training curriculums to be utilized with volunteers and community members.
• Assist with community outreach as needed.
• Assist with other duties as assigned.

Volunteer Training

• Continually reviews current training curriculum and modifies, updates and/or develops new curriculum as needed. Implement pre-service volunteer trainings, which will include the development of a course catalog for the agency.
• Develops certification process for specified courses and/or series of training courses for volunteers, board members and community trainings.
• Develops and implements in-service volunteer trainings.
• Develop and implement in-service conferences and seminars to explore specific initiatives in-depth and with a variety of expert speakers.
• Meets TX CASA, National CASA, CACs of Texas, and National Children’s Alliance standards for learning for program volunteers and continuing education.
• Maintains training records/documentation and prepare statistical reports to evaluate performance of volunteers.
• Implements specialized trainings for CASA volunteers and CAC volunteer needs based on information vital to each specialized program.

Evaluation of Training Activities

• Collects, analyzes, and reports on agency-related training data and trends.
• Reviews and evaluates the training plan at least quarterly and, in consultation with the Community Engagement Director and makes revisions and modifications as needed to fulfill Child Advocates of Fort Bend’s mission and meets goals of recruitment and training. Seeks input from Community Engagement Director.
• Provides documentation and reporting related to education efforts of the agency in accordance with TX CASA, National CASA, CAC’s of Texas and National Children’s Alliance Standards.
• Implement Pre-Service and In-Service Volunteer Trainings throughout the year.
  • Measures:
    • Number of volunteers trained.
    • Number of pre-service training sessions offered.
    • Enrollment and graduation of volunteers in each training class
    • Satisfaction of volunteers and community members with training

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree and/or three years of experience in related field or capacity or training. Ability to work independently and possess strong time management skills; ability to multi-task; is highly organized and extremely detail oriented. Competency in office software applications. Knowledge and skills in utilizing social media and graphic design programs. Demonstrated collaboration and leadership ability and sound understanding of the principles of volunteer management and training. Ability to communicate and empower volunteers to be effective in their roles. Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment. 

Other Requirements

Submit to a child abuse and criminal background check
Complete 40+ hour pre-service training
Bending, stooping, reaching and other movement required
Ability to lift twenty pounds.
Valid driver’s license
Must comply with all city, state, and federal laws.
Perform other duties as assigned.
Evenings and weekends may be required.

Interested individuals should complete a CAFB employment application and submit a cover letter and resume to HRRM@cafb.org.

Child Advocates of Fort Bend is an equal opportunity employer.

CAFB adheres to a strict Zero Tolerance for Child Abuse Policy in our practices and operations.