Child Welfare Diligent Recruitment Data Advisor

Diligent Recruitment Data Advisor

Join a team that makes a difference in the lives of children and teens in the US foster care system!

NAA is seeking passionate and collaborative diligent recruitment data experts to play a critical role in the National Center for Diligent Recruitment at AdoptUSKids. 

Overview:

The National Center for Diligent Recruitment (“Center”) operates within AdoptUSKids (AUSK), a multi-million dollar five-year federally funded collaborative project of the Children’s Bureau. The National Center for Diligent Recruitment has the following four goals:

1. Increase states, territories, and tribes (STTs) capacity to effectively collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data to guide their focused recruitment efforts.

2. Provide on-site intensive tailored technical assistance (T/TA) to support the work of STTs in implementing and updating robust diligent recruitment (DR) plans that have significant and strategic outcomes.

3. Develop effective models of diligent recruitment based on evidence-informed and evidence-based research.

4. Further the evidence-base of family finding, relative outreach, reunion support and intensive recruitment and retention services within the communities of origin of the children/youth in the foster care system.

The National Center for Diligent Recruitment will work with child welfare leaders to promote evidence-informed, best, and promising diligent recruitment approaches to improve the safety, permanency, and well-being of children, youth and families who are involved with the U.S. foster care system., This Center will provide intensive on-site guidance and assistance (TA) to states, territories, and tribes (STTs) to develop and actualize data-informed DR plans that result in concrete outcomes for children, youth and families who are being served by the system.

The Center’s website will be a repository of knowledge, best practice, and accomplishments of all on-site work in STTs and its dissemination strategy will promote best practices. Data analysis, family finding, relative outreach/support, and intensive recruitment and retention services within communities from which the children came are all important strategies and practices that will be promoted through the work of the Center.

Position Overview:

The DR Data Advisor will provide technical expertise grounded in previous, relevant experience and demonstrated understanding of data architecture, data analytics and data trends and patterns in Child Welfare and Diligent Recruitment. The DR Data Advisor will partner with and support the DR Advisors and Consultants in the delivery of Intensive Technical Assistance related to Diligent Recruitment in the States, Tribes and Territories.

Education and Experience Requirements:

· A master’s degree in data science, statistics, social work, psychology, or a closely related field is preferred; (will consider a bachelor’s degree data science, social work, psychology, or closely related field with extensive child welfare data experience)

·A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in public child welfare

·Demonstrated experience working with administrative data systems, relational database systems and the types of data architecture used in child welfare systems

· Demonstrated experience designing and generation data analysis and interpreting, and communicating results and findings

· Demonstrated experience in identifying significant differences in data; data patterns and trends; and assessing data quality

· Demonstrated experience in interpreting and implementing data standards such as data quality measures and analyzing data quality results for the purposes of program and data quality improvement 

· Knowledge and understanding of approaches to identifying disproportionality and disparity in outcomes

· Knowledge of and experience with various databases/platforms/software, such as Airtable, data dashboards, and SQL queries, that demonstrate the skills to adapt and learn new databases/platforms/software

· Excellent verbal and written communication skills in presenting data concepts and issues to program staff as well as STT data and IT partners

· Ability to travel onsite to deliver capacity-building services up to 45-50% or 3 trips per month, on average

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

· Public Child Welfare Knowledge. Possesses knowledge, skills, and abilities gained from public child welfare agency experience. Expert in data architecture and data analytics in relation to diligent recruitment.

·Data Informed. Values data, ability to understand data, supports STTs in how they use data, and uses data to inform decision making.

·Accountability. Holds self-accountable for measurable high-quality, timely, and cost-effective results. 

·Vision. Understands and communicates the shared vision of the project; influences others to translate vision into action. Knowledge and understanding of disproportionality and disparities with the ability to address them. Demonstrates commitment youth voices and authentic engagement. 

· Relationship Management. Treats others with courtesy, sensitivity, and respect; possesses a good sense of humor. Honors different priorities, perspectives, and points of view in all situations.

· Effective Communication. Professional communication style (verbal and written) with the ability to communicate project needs and concerns to the Director of Tailored Technical Assistance. Practices active listening; keeps others well informed; openness to others who express contrary views; adheres to the communication model as outlined in our collaboration agreement.

· Project Management. Possesses exceptional project management skills. Determines the necessary sequence needed to achieve goals, handles multiple demands and competing priorities, meets high performance expectations and objectives. Flexibility with the ability to adapt as needed.

· Strategic Thinking. Proactive in anticipating workload fluctuations and increases. Ability to make reliable independent decisions that are consistent with The Center’s goals and objectives. 

· Team Building. Participates in team building activities and meetings to contribute to the accomplishment of group goals and goals of our funder.

·  Integrity/Honesty. Possesses high ethical standards; consistently demonstrates ethical standards in words and actions.

Additional Notes:

Work is performed in an office environment within the United States. This position may require occasional evenings and weekends. NAA conducts child protective services and sex offender registry checks on all employees.

Roles and Responsibilities:

The Data Advisor will serve as a subject matter expert within the NCDR focused on the understanding of national and state level child welfare data related Diligent Recruitment Plans.

1. Technical Assistance. Provide technical assistance to the STTs receiving services from the NCDR on utilizing data to develop, implement and assess the outcomes related to the DR plans. Provide technical assistance to the STTs receiving services from the NCDR on understanding the data available in their systems and identifying gaps in the available data. Provide recommendations on the use of various databases, platforms, and software, as needed.

2. Data Collection & Analysis. Analyze, summarize, and process the compilation of the National Center for Diligent Recruitment data as needed for the Data Dashboard, agency audits, response to requests from the Children’s Bureau, and other data shared externally. Partner with the DR Advisors to explore needs of STTs and prepare outreach to STTs that includes data specific to each STT. Identify relationships and trends that could affect the design of research related to disproportionality and disparate outcomes.

3. Database Management. Maintain databases, ensure data accuracy, integrity, and security. Optimize database structures for efficient data retrieval and storage. Provide recommendations on the use of various databases, platforms, and software.

4. Insights & Reporting. Develop reports, dashboards, and visualizations to communicate findings effectively to partners. Provide actionable insights and recommendations based on data analysis. Support the DR Advisors by synthesizing and interpreting data and promoting data-driven best practices. Provide actionable insights and recommendations based on data analysis.

5. Quality Assurance. Gather, review, and provide quality assurance regarding data collection throughout the project. Oversee data pulls from programming partners’ systems as well as validation of data collected and entered by program partners.

6. Communication. Present data concepts and issues to program staff, STT data, and IT partners. Maintain cross-collaborative communication and partnerships within the National Center for Diligent Recruitment including collaborating with the Evaluation Team on data-related issues, data tracking, and interpretation of evaluation findings. Provide clear understanding and insight to others of data analytics and findings.

Benefits:

As a member of our team, you will receive a competitive salary of $90,000 to $95,000 (commensurate with experience) and a generous benefits package including a gold health plan, dental & vision insurance (100% employer paid for employees!); employer retirement plan contribution; and professional development opportunities, among others. You will also enjoy your work - knowing you are a part of a dedicated group of professionals making an impact.

NAA is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to a diverse workforce. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability.

How to Apply:

No phone calls please. Apply online here Diligent Recruitment Data Advisor with a cover letter and resume. The cover letter must include a detailed description of your experience with diligent recruitment.

About NAA and AdoptUSKids:

Founded in 1982 under the name Adoption Exchange Association, the National Adoption Association is the country's premier national association of adoption professionals and organizations. NAA is the only national association focused exclusively on supporting the educational needs of those in the adoption profession. The organization serves adoption exchanges, private child-placing agencies, and public child welfare systems by engaging members in national discussions to eliminate barriers to foster care adoption and share best practices. Our mission is leaders advancing best practices in adoption from foster care. Our vision is to build the premier network of professionals and agencies to create innovative strategies and solutions so that every child has a permanent loving family. www.adoptnaa.org

AdoptUSKids educates families about foster care and adoption and gives child welfare professionals information and support to help them improve their services. We also maintain the nation’s only federally funded photo listing service that connects waiting children with families. Our mission is to: raise public awareness about the need for foster and adoptive families for children in the public child welfare system; and assist US states, territories, and tribes to recruit, engage, develop, and support foster and adoptive families. www.adoptuskids.org

NAA Racial Equity Statement:

As leaders in child welfare, we recognize systemic racism creates disparities that negatively impact our staff as well as the children and families we serve. NAA is committed to listening, learning, and taking actions to advance racial equity by:

·       Continually and intentionally recruiting, hiring, and supporting diverse staff, including consultants and vendors;

·       Using a racial equity lens in all of our programmatic work;

·       Evaluating our organizational policies and procedures to ensure that they are antiracist1;

·       Allowing staff to be their authentic selves.