SBCT Community Coordinator

Cover letter required to be considered. Address to Executive Director.**

Summary

Do you like to work with professionals and people from all walks of life? Do you have a passion for working with families involved in the child welfare system? Do you feel most comfortable in a group of people, collaborating to get to a better outcome? Are you a savvy facilitator and communicator?

If so, this exciting opportunity might be a great fit! New Jersey’s Safe Babies Court Team (SBCT) is a program affiliated with Zero to Three, a national, evidence-based model for supporting children up to three years of age who are in foster care. The Safe Babies Court Team Community Facilitator is the lead staff person for the county site, within New Jersey’s SBCT

The Coordinator will work with the local Safe Babies Court Team Judges in Northern New Jersey vicinages to improve outcomes for infants and toddlers entering the foster care system. This is a leadership-level position that serves as the program's public face. The mediator/coordinator is the central party to facilitate collaboration among stakeholders in child welfare cases of children ages 0-3 in the foster care system in New Jersey. The Community Coordinator facilitates collaboration among community stakeholders on the Safe Babies Court Team (SBCT), schedules meetings, keeps and disseminates minutes, and conducts follow-up activities related to SBCT goals

This position requires office time-based in Wayne, NJ, and community/client-facing time throughout the program's counties in Northern New Jersey: Bergen, Passaic, Hudson, and Essex.

The Community Coordinator will serve as a source of support for the family as they navigate this process. They will act as a bridge or navigator, assisting the parent in self-advocacy and connecting the child and parent with community services and members of the SBCT. The Coordinator will conduct monthly Family Team Meetings with each case and serve as the mediator to promote address roadblocks toward timely permanency. Flexibility is required to participate in some evening and weekend activities.

Key Responsibilities

• Works with the judicial leadership to identify and address roadblocks in SBCT cases.

• Provide emotional and logistical support for parents involved in the SBCT.

• Engage the parents and their supports to facilitate communication and support self-advocacy.

• Ensure the parents involved with the program are well-connected to community supports and services, locating a parent mentor with lived experience if needed.

• Maintain regular contact (both in person and remote) with both biological and resource (foster) families.

• Facilitate monthly Family Team Meetings for each family and their stakeholders.

• Document all case related activities in case management system and in monthly memos to the court

• Build a strong relationship with other stakeholders to facilitate the referral process and address individual case issues.

• Works with the judge and larger stakeholder group to implement the SBCT Core Components.

• Collect data on SBCT cases and enters it into SBCT database on site/state-level database system

Skills & Experience to be a Successful Candidate

• Deep knowledge of issues related to child abuse and neglect and the systems that support these families.

• Knowledge of local community resources, including early childcare and education, health, mental health, child welfare, early intervention, substance abuse, MICA, and behavioral health.

• Ability to work collaboratively with a multidisciplinary group and lead a diverse group of stakeholders.

• Highly experienced mediator/facilitator of high-conflict situations.

• Working knowledge of juvenile and family court functioning.

• Facility working with people of diverse educational, professional, socioeconomic, and ethnic backgrounds.

• Minimum 5-years relevant work experience.

Additional Preferred Skills and Experience

• Professional or lived experience with foster care and the child welfare system.

• Professional or lived experience working with community resources and the local judicial system.

• Experience working with family court judges.

Essential Qualities

• Encourages and practices critical thinking.

• Is self-reflective and empathic.

• Recognizes the influence of workplace relationships on outcomes and results.

• Maintains a respectful, collaborative, and accepting approach towards others.

• Awareness of the influence of society, childhood experiences and trauma on individual behavior.

• Collaboratively and creatively supports the work efforts of colleagues at all levels and in all areas of the organization.

Education

• Minimum undergraduate degree in a related field. Master’s degree preferred.

Extensive lived experience with local community resources and other aspects of the job, including lived experience with foster care, can substitute for educational experience.

Compensation & Benefits

• $52,000-$58,000/year full-time position based on experience and education.

• QSEHRA health care plan-$500/mo reimbursement,

• Matching 3% SIMPLE IRA, phone/internet use stipend,

• 10 paid sick days, generous paid vacation, and paid week off between Christmas and New Year.

• Paid maternity/paternity/adoption/foster care time, paid 1-month sabbatical after ten years of service.