Child Welfare Strategic Initiatives Lead, (FOSTER CARE) Kinfirst Culture - REMOTE - Nationwide Remote Office (US99)

ICF is seeking a Child Welfare Strategic Initiatives Lead for Kin first Culture.  The Child Welfare Strategic Initiatives Lead will use his/her subject matter expertise to lead, coordinate, and oversee initiatives within Child Welfare Information Gateway to support the Children’s Bureau in topical areas related to supporting kin first culture across the child welfare continuum, including National Foster Care Month.

The Child Welfare Strategic Initiatives Lead provides content leadership and visioning for assigned content areas by identifying research, resources, service delivery trends, national issues, and stakeholder experts and organizations related to the topic. He/She works collaboratively with other subject matter experts, program managers, project staff and national partners, as well as federal staff to identify products, tools, web content, and publications that are aligned with the vision of the Children’s Bureau and the child welfare profession.

The ideal candidate will have expertise in foster care system administration and foster care licensing and broad understanding of child welfare policy and practice issues related to developing a kin-first culture across the child welfare continuum including prevention, foster care, permanency planning, and adoption. The candidate will also have experience applying a racial equity lens to policy and practice issues and understand how to integrate diverse representative youth and family voice and expertise.

Key Responsibilities:

• Responsible for identifying, prioritizing, and communicating kin first trends in child welfare across the projects products and services. Identifies gaps in Gateway’s resources and supports development of products to resolve those gaps.

• Serve as internal content expert on kin first -related child welfare practices and policies for customer service, product development, web content, marketing and outreach, and library teams with an emphasis on infusing a racial equity lens and the voices of people with lived experience.

• Oversee all aspects of the National Foster Care Month initiative; work with all Gateway partners, CB clients, and other stakeholders to ensure the development of appropriate products and web content and related media are developed and launched on time and within budget.

• Partner with the product development team to identify, write, review, and consult on products that synthesize complex information into useful web and/or print publications for professionals based on knowledge of topical area.

• Build and maintain strong connections to the field through partnering with national organizations, attend and present at conferences on behalf of Information Gateway, and work collaboratively with the Children’s Bureau’s Capacity Building Centers.

• Contribute to Child Welfare Information Gateway reporting and support activities related to data collection and continuous quality improvement efforts

• Interface with all staff and other appropriate stakeholders, at interagency meetings and national conferences, regarding permanency related topics.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in social work, public administration, or human services field

• A minimum of 8 years professional work experience

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in providing training/technical assistance in a human services field, preferably child welfare

• Ability to build and maintain strong stakeholder relationships for capacity building projects.

• Strong written and verbal presentation skills, including an ability to synthesize and write about complex child welfare issues.

• Experience in foster care, foster care licensing, and kinship at the state system level

• Working knowledge of federal and state laws that apply to child welfare, Child and Family Services Plans, title IV-E waiver demonstration authority, and  related fields, services and systems.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience working in a public child welfare agency setting and with national child welfare organizations.

• Master’s degree in social work, public administration, or human services field

• In-depth knowledge of the child welfare system, particularly in permanency and adoption practice

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with a customer service focus

• Ability to work across and within teams to accomplish goals

• Proven project management, supervision, and organizational skills

• Knowledge of and experience using websites and internet databases to find information

Professional Skills:

• Solid team builder, leader and team player with proven ability to manage competing priorities, perspectives, and stakeholder needs

• Exceptional project management skills with a focus on technical assistance project management

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities

• Ability to multi-task and maintain high-quality results in a fast-paced environment

• Demonstrated, outstanding level of professionalism in providing administrative support, including ability to exercise good judgment, discretion, tack, and diplomacy

• Proficient with MS Office applications (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)

Working at ICF

ICF is a global advisory and technology services provider, but we’re not your typical consultants. We combine unmatched expertise with cutting-edge technology to help clients solve their most complex challenges, navigate change, and shape the future.

We can only solve the world's toughest challenges by building an inclusive workplace that allows everyone to thrive. We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to hiring regardless of any protected characteristic, such as race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability status, or military/veteran status. Together, our employees are empowered to share their expertise and collaborate with others to achieve personal and professional goals. For more information, please read our EEO & AA policy.

Reasonable Accommodations are available, including, but not limited to, for disabled veterans, individuals with disabilities, and individuals with sincerely held religious beliefs, in all phases of the application and employment process. To request an accommodation please email icfcareercenter@icf.com and we will be happy to assist. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.

Read more about workplace discrimination rights, the Pay Transparency Statement, or our benefit offerings which are included in the Transparency in (Benefits) Coverage Act.

 

Pay Range - There are multiple factors that are considered in determining final pay for a position, including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and competencies that align to the specified role, geographic location, education and certifications as well as contract provisions regarding labor categories that are specific to the position. The pay range for this position is:

$63,511.00 - $107,968.00

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