Temporary Social Services Program Manager - job 1 of 2

About KIND 

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) is a global leader in the protection of unaccompanied and separated children who are forcibly displaced from their countries of origin. Launched in 2008, KIND champions a world in which every child’s rights and well-being are protected throughout their journey to safety. 

Building on its extensive programming and successful model in the United States, KIND is expanding in the Americas and Europe to bring its experience to bear in working with unaccompanied and separated children. Our work focuses on addressing the legal and mental health needs of this population; building strong partnerships and engaging in training and capacity strengthening with governments, NGOs, and the private sector; and advocating for systemic and pragmatic reforms to advance the rights of unaccompanied and separated children.

Position Summary

KIND seeks a Social Services Program Manager to strengthen KIND’s capacity in the areas of community engagement, outreach, and volunteer recruitment to leverage community and private sector resources and harness volunteer interest to deliver enhanced social services to unaccompanied minor clients.

• Outreach, Training, and Technical Assistance
• Leads national outreach strategy geared towards developing non-legal partnerships and volunteer recruitment to secure resources for KIND’s social services program.
• Creates internal guidelines and trainings on best practices for community engagement and partnership development.
• Provides individualized technical assistance and expertise to KIND staff and community partners.
• Prepares practice advisories and gather materials regarding best practices on topics pertinent to KIND’s social services delivery.
• Represents KIND at local coalitions, courts, and agencies.
• Supports the development of a providers’ collaborative toward cross-learning, programming implementation, and general collective client engagement when needed.

• Volunteer Services
• In collaboration with Human Resources, identify best practices and opportunities for recruitment and training of a volunteer workforce for special events and programs; create and maintain current job descriptions for volunteers.
• Creates and manages volunteer policies and procedures to include community engagement plan to be used across field offices.
• Conducts an agency-wide needs assessment and design a recruitment plan for volunteers from local schools, churches, civic organizations, corporations, and community partners and leaders.
• Designs a tracking mechanism that will allow each field office to prepare, compile, submit and maintain accurate records and files, records, and statistics of volunteer activities, hours, and program and special event outcomes.
• Develops a mechanism to effectively respond to concerns/issues raised by internal and external stakeholders as it relates to volunteers.
• Holds regular meetings with field offices and programs to ensure program needs are met and to promote effective communication.
• Provides and highlight volunteer recognition through annual appreciation events and internal messaging.
• Creates national database of community partners and community engagement plan.

• Social Services Team Management
• Supervises, analyzes, and systemizes Social Services team’s data entry and metrics tracking in Legal Server.
• Participates in program development and contribute to the development of performance metrics, logic models, and narratives for grant applications and reports.
• Contributes to the development and implementation of policies, procedures, and guidelines to be implemented across all field offices and compiled in an updated Social Services Handbook.
• With other members of the Social Services management team, develop and lead trainings and guidelines on best practices regarding self-care, wellness, prevention of vicarious trauma and burn out as well as appropriate professionalism in client relations.
• Supports data management and communications efforts, as well as grant reporting for the Social Services team.

• Direct Client Services and Supervision of Social Service Intern(s)
• Supervises interns with generalist scope of practice.
• Monitors and evaluate case activities, including client referrals, intakes, case strategy, and case closure through case rounds and regular check-ins of social service interns.
• Consults and work regularly with KIND staff to integrate holistic, trauma-informed, and client-centered services that consider both legal strategy and social service needs.
• Evaluates and provide expert consultation to the Social Services team and KIND attorneys on services referral, needs assessments, advocacy strategy, safety planning, and crisis management.

• Master’s degree in Social Work or advanced degree in related field, preferably in Social Work, Counseling, or related specialty.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in social work, counseling, child therapy, or related specialty; Preferred experience working with trauma survivors.
• Experience working with immigrant and refugee children and youth, and low-income, diverse communities.
• Experience supervising interns and volunteers.
• Experience conducting outreach and managing external partnerships.
• Experience creating and conducting training to large audiences and interdisciplinary teams.
• Fluency in English and Spanish, spoken and written.
• Ability to work collaboratively.
• Strong record of intercultural responsiveness, sensitivity and awareness, and cross-cultural communication skills
• Experience working with a diverse team of social service providers and advocating on behalf of clients.
• Ability to effectively conduct trainings to diverse audiences in person and virtually, including attorney trainings and Know Your Rights presentations for child clients.
• Familiarity or ability to work with adult immigrant caretakers, or training in trauma-informed parenting.
• Experience working with attorneys, law firms, or other legal service providers preferred.
• Ability to travel as assigned.
• Ability to work within an office environment, have regular interaction via telephone, teleconference, video and email with KIND’s team and have in-person meetings with clients.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (such as Teams, Excel, etc.).
• Ability to work collaboratively and multi-task in our KIND environment, managing numerous priorities and emerging opportunities.
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to work on multiple projects in a deadline-oriented environment; ability to prioritize tasks and delegate as appropriate.
• Ability to work effectively with people of diverse backgrounds, lived experiences, and communication styles.
• Commitment to prioritizing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, as well as embracing transparency and authenticity in daily work life.
• Be disciplined and nimble to ensure delivery on our core mission of access to justice and protection of children’s wellbeing and rights.
• Ability to multitask and work with a sense of urgency in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Committed to practicing and supporting wellbeing and a work-home life balance.
• Experience working and communicating in a remote environment.

Our Benefits

- Medical, dental, and vision insurance with KIND paying 100% of the employee only portion of the premium for one of the two medical plan options, dental, and vision. 

- Pre-tax flexible spending account (FSA) for both medical and dependent care.  

- Pre-tax transit and parking spending account.  

- Employer-paid life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment insurance.  

- Employer-paid short and long-term disability insurance.  

For a complete list of benefits, please click here. 

Our Focus on Wellness

KIND recognizes that our ability to help our clients starts with helping our team members. KIND has prioritized wellness for employees through Mindfulness and Wellness Trainings, Wellness Platforms, Employee Assistance and Resilience Programs, Time Away and Office Wellness Activities. 

For more information regarding our Wellness initiatives please visit this link.  

Application Instructions

To be considered for this role, please submit an employment application at supportkind.org/join-the-team, along with your resume and cover letter.

Disclaimer: KIND is committed to an ethical recruitment and hiring process and maintains a firm “no fees” recruitment policy. We will never charge a fee or ask for money as part of the application process. KIND also conducts all interviews via telephone or video conference, and at no time will KIND engage in a text or mobile app-based application or interview process. For more information, please visit the following website: https://supportkind.org/join-the-team/kind-employment-practices/.