POSITION TITLE: Education Supervisor

PROGRAM: The Journey Program/Fair Futures

DEPARTMENT: Family Permanency Services

REPORTS TO: Assistant Director Journey Program

PROGRAM PURPOSE:

Catholic Guardian Services? Journey Program was implemented in collaboration and with funds provided by Fair Futures. Fair Futures is a new initiative developed by a public/private partnership and is solely focused on improving educational, employment and housing outcomes for youth in foster care.

The Journey Program collaborates very closely with our foster care case planning teams.

Catholic Guardian Services? Residential Foster Care, Enhanced Family Foster Care (EFFC) and Specialized Family Foster Care (SFFC) Programs provide family permanency services to children and families served. Our program teams are interdisciplinary and are composed of Case Planners, Social Work Supervisors, Directors of Socio Services, Parent Advocates, Case Aides, Socio-Therapists, Education Specialists, and Coaches.

Our work includes the implementation of evidence-based models to address trauma, mental health and other challenges faced by children and families. We successfully provide wrap-around services and support during and after foster care placement by having direct access to Catholic Guardian Services? portfolio of social services and behavioral health programs. These programs include children?s health home care management services, evidence-based preventive services programs, outpatient mental health services, career development and job readiness services for adolescent.

BASIC FUNCTION:

Educational Supervisor support Educational Specialists in helping students progress along their academic journey by providing ongoing management, direction, and support. The supervisor creates a harmonious, strength-based work environment and use this environment to successfully monitor the progress the team is making with students through regular training, formal supervisory sessions, as well as during crisis situations.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provides leadership and supervision to a team of 3-4 Education Specialists.
• Timely approves assigned employees? electronic time sheets, approves or disapproves PTOs and completes employee performance evaluations by required due date.
• Regularly conducts individual and group supervisory conferences to review caseload management, activity and progress.
• Review key data in advance of supervision (including any progress notes, new academic data, and goals/steps completed over the last week). Debrief with specialists on the status of their relationship with students, any crisis situations, goal-setting progress, etc
• Participates in training and consultation sessions to develop work load management and supervisory skills.
• Attends internal and external meetings as necessary. Including interdisciplinary team meetings.
• Participates in the recruitment and hiring of program staff and in disciplining and terminating employees in accordance with CGS policy.
• Monitors development and implementation of program improvement plans of assigned staff.
• Ensures assigned team?s participation and completion of all required and mandated trainings.
• Maintains a professional and collaborative approach while interacting with staff from other programs/departments.
• Ensures that education specialists attend Family Team Conferences (SPRs) for children on their caseloads as needed.
• Visits DOE districts and/or schools as needed.
• Supports educational specialists in their efforts to build relationships with students and educational team including sharing effective engagement techniques;
• Supports educational specialists with the academic goal-setting process, including walking through how to navigate the DOE and educational processes
• Helps team to prevent and navigate crises, as they arise;
• These duties and responsibilities are subject to change as the program develops.

QUALITIES & COMPETENCIES OF EFFECTIVE EDUCATIONAL SUPERVISOR

RELATIONAL SKILLS

• Ability to work from a strength-based, trauma-informed, educational lens;
• Able to build and maintain harmonious working relationships with and among staff;
• Support staff in developing strong relationships with students and young people;
• Provision of emotional support to reduce stress and build resiliency in staff;
• A love for working with students;
• Strong ability to relate to our students and engage them in conversation;
• Values and promotes diversity;
• A belief that change is possible;
• Able to maintain healthy boundaries;

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

• Knowledgeable about educational resources and services;
• Ability to conduct outreach build DOE and Educational partnership;
• Experience in or openness to implementing evidence-based practices;
• Ability to use Motivational Interviewing techniques;
• Ability to use trauma-informed techniques;
• Ability to troubleshoot, advocate, and navigate obstacles where there is not always a clear-cut pathway;
• Computer literate with the ability to utilize an on-line platform to support the Fair Futures model;

• Demonstrated knowledge of best practices in the field of serving families and children involved with the child welfare system.
• Proven professional skills, including meeting deadlines, ensuring compliance with agency policy and procedures, and overseeing complete and timely maintenance of agency records, in accordance with contractual requirements.
• Excellent writing and communication skills.

QUALIFICATIONS

• A Master?s degree in social work, psychology, education or other social service related field;
• At least three years of experience working with at-risk or system-involved young people;
• Supervisory experience is preferred;
• Experience in Child Welfare
• Bi-lingual (Spanish) a plus
• Ability to work a flexible schedule, including periodic evenings and weekends, and ability to travel to community settings throughout NYC
• NYS Driver?s license preferred