Public Agency Consultant: New Allies

Company Overview

Youth Villages is a non-profit organization helping youth, young people, and their families across the United States who face a wide range of emotional, mental, and behavioral challenges. As a leader in the field of youth mental and behavioral health, Youth Villages earns its status as one of the nation’s most promising results-oriented non-profits as recognized by Harvard Business School, U.S. News & World Report and The White House.

Our commitment to helping youth and families find success spans more than 30 years and includes a comprehensive array of programs and services. With a dedicated staff of more than 5,000 working in 29 states and the District of Columbia, the organization serves more than 40,000 youth annually, further increasing our impact through partnerships and advocacy.

Program  Overview

The New Allies team works directly with public child welfare agencies and their system partners to develop policies and practices that contribute to improved outcomes for children and families. We are seeking individuals with a strong sense of purpose who have a passion to make a positive impact of individuals interacting with child welfare systems.

Position Overview

Public Agency Consultants work directly with leaders at all levels of public child welfare systems to provide coaching and support; develop resources and policy/practice guides; and coordinate efforts among a variety of players to streamline collective impact.

Reporting to the Director of New Allies, they will lead practice improvement efforts in 1-2 sites while supporting efforts in an additional 2-3 sites as needed. Public Agency Consultants should be mission-driven, critical thinkers who can successfully lead projects and project teams, build trusting relationships with diverse stakeholders, present to and engage leaders, and conduct analyses and distill their findings into opportunities.  Applicants with lived experience or a personal connection to the foster care or other social service systems are strongly encouraged to apply.

This is an extraordinary opportunity for mission- and results-driven individuals with public child welfare leadership experience to have significant and national-scale impact on youth and families.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Independently lead projects focused on specific areas of improvement or opportunity for public agency sites (E.g., implementation of new service lines or policies to increase family preservation; policy revisions that expedite permanency; individual case review and staffing)
• Conduct and manage research and operational analysis to proactively identify improvement opportunities unique to each agency site; research may include stakeholder interviews, agency staff interviews, case reviews, surveys, assessment of nationwide and site-specific performance data, and organizational analysis
• Use statewide performance data and other relevant indicators to identify future sites well-suited for New Allies engagement.
• Identify strengths and improvement opportunities within key areas of state agency practice.
• Communicate findings and recommendations appropriately and effectively to internal Youth Villages leaders, site leaders, stakeholders, and local child welfare professionals.
• Develop and maintain relationships with child welfare leaders and ensure strong understanding of current developments, trends, and innovations in child welfare practice.
• Other duties may be assigned

Skills and Qualities

• Passion for Youth Villages’ mission, motivation to improve the systems that touch the lives of children and families, and eagerness to work in an environment that prizes continuous learning, growth, and inclusiveness
• Ability to lead project teams with minimal oversight, helping both the team collaborate effectively and individual team members develop professionally
• Positive, customer service-oriented attitude and ability to develop trusting relationships with internal and external stakeholders (e.g., Youth Villages front-line staff and executives, peer organization leaders)
• Skilled communicator and listener who is comfortable presenting to and engaging senior leaders and can lead through influence with humility and flexibility
• Critical thinking skills, including ability to distill analyses into key insights
• Ability to view child welfare agency through a system’s lens
• Understanding of state and federal government funding streams that support child welfare and adjacent agency supports and services
• Strong Microsoft Office skills, specifically Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook

Location: This position can work remotely full-time or from any Youth Villages office.

Travel: About 50% of job time requires domestic travel, with some months being higher and others having no travel.

Salary

$70000 - $90000 / year based on education and experience

Requirements

10+ years working for a public child welfare agency (all relevant experience will be considered, including internships)

Bachelor’s degree required

Master's degree in social work (MSW), healthcare administration (MHA/MHSA), public administration (MPA), psychology (MP), or related field is preferred

Experience supervising child welfare professionals required 

Experience in both frontline work and systems-level leadership (preferred)

Applicants with lived experience or a personal connection to the foster care or other social service systems are strongly encouraged to apply

Benefits
Medical, Dental, Prescription Drug Coverage and Vision
Retirement Savings Pension Plan
401k
2 weeks paid vacation
12 paid sick days per year
11 paid holidays

Paid parental leave
Mileage & Cell Phone Reimbursement (when applicable)
Tuition and Licensure Reimbursement is available

Youth Villages is an equal opportunity employer and provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

Youth Villages is committed to not only advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace but also in our work with children and young adults. We know that children, families and young people of color can face inequity in child welfare and justice systems, and we train our employees to build the skills they need to work with the communities that we serve, as well as, other employees from different cultures and backgrounds. Youth Villages is opposed to racism in any of its forms and is committed to inclusion, equity, and diversity. We believe that respect for each other is crucial in the work that we do each day.