Program Manager
Program Manager
We are looking for a Program Manager who can lead a team of Child Advocacy Specialists (CASs) and oversee all of their work directly serving CASA’s mission, ensuring that highly qualified staff are providing effective support to volunteers offering quality advocacy in the best interest of children to whom CASA is appointed by the courts.
CASA of Travis County believes every child who's experienced abuse or neglect deserves to have a dedicated advocate speaking up for their best interest in court, at school, and in our community. To accomplish this, the team at CASA educates and empowers community volunteers who ensure each child's needs remain a priority in an overburdened child welfare system. Through, honorable and respectful involvement with families, courts and all parties, CASA makes independent and educated recommendations that prioritize children’s safety and, wherever possible, preserve connections to their families.
At the end of your first year, success would mean leading a team of Child Advocacy Specialists and supporting their professional development, volunteer management, and advocacy skills to further CASA’s mission and vision, while demonstrating a clear understanding of CASA’s role within the child welfare system.
The Program Manager is a critical role to move CASA of Travis County towards meeting our vision of providing quality advocacy, a safe home and promising future for every child in Travis County.
Please review the full job description and online application by clicking here:
Responsibilities
- Leadership and Staff Management
Program Manager supervises a team of CASs ensuring that Texas and National CASA policies and standards are met. Program Manager assists the Director of Advocacy in carrying out the mission and vision of CASA through effective advocacy for the best interest of children.
- Provides coaching, motivation, mentoring and recognition of direct reports (CASs) in order to address volunteer management (including volunteer retention), case management, and data expectations.
- Oversees and facilitates onboarding and training of new staff on the advocacy team.
- Provides weekly individual supervision to each CAS on their team.
- Reviews and signs court reports in conjunction with other Program Managers, ensuring the timeliness and consistent quality of all CASA court reports.
- Monitors progress toward programmatic goals related to advocacy and volunteer management, and supervises CASs in development and enhancement of practices that contribute to achieving these goals. With approval from the Senior Director of Advocacy or Director of Advocacy, facilitates committees, ad hoc groups, and trainings as needed to support the vision and mission of the organization.
2. Case Management and Evaluation
Program Manager will coordinate assignment of all new cases to CASs once the Centralized Case Management process is complete.
- Ensures that the goal of safe and expeditious permanency for children is always in focus.
- Ensures that all volunteer and case management activities, theirs or their team's, meet or exceed Texas CASA and National CASA standards and fulfill CASA’s obligations as guardian ad litem under Texas law as well as the expectations of Travis County judges.
- Models a commitment to child safety and volunteer engagement.
- Assists in developing strategies to improve volunteer engagement and retention and, in collaboration with the Director of Volunteer Recruitment & Retention, implements those strategies.
- Prioritizes data-driven decision-making wherever possible.
3. Community Awareness & Partnerships
Program Manager builds effective relationships internally and externally and will serve as an official representative of CASA in a wide variety of settings.
- Assists in problem solving with external stakeholders on case-specific and/or systemic challenges that arise.
- Supports the CEO and Program Leadership team, as needed, in building relationships with established community partners while working to identify and engage new community partners.
4. Other duties as required.
Qualifications
- Experience in personnel management.
- A Bachelor’s degree is required however, in lieu of a degree, significant professional relevant experience may be considered.
- Demonstrated initiative to identify and solve problems creatively and effectively, prioritizing the needs of the child, volunteer and/or organization.
- Demonstrated passion for CASA’s mission.
- Demonstrated ability to contribute to a climate where people are motivated to do their best and manage conflict effectively.
- Demonstrated ability to hold self and volunteers accountable to performance standards.
- Demonstrated understanding of child and family advocacy issues that exist in the Texas child welfare system.
- Demonstrated ability to work under time constraints, be goal-oriented and maintain productive and effective relationships with staff, volunteers and community supporters.
- Demonstrated excellence in communication, both written and oral.
- Demonstrated integrity, honesty and ethical conduct.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience managing paid staff.
- Experience in child welfare.
- Spanish/English fluency.
Physical Requirements and Work Environment
The Program Manager will spend the majority of the time in the office and that could involve intermittent physical activities including bending, reaching, sitting and walking during working hours and must be able to lift at least 20 pounds. Additionally it is anticipated that the person will spend several hours of each day seated at a computer.