Friends of the Children

Our mission is to impact generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors—12+ years, no matter what. Unlike other programs, we exclusively focus on children who are also facing many systemic obstacles for whom short-term solutions and single-programmatic solutions will not work. Throughout the 12+ years in the program, our team supports youth to set and accomplish academic and developmental goals, while consistently supporting each of them through the unique challenges they face. Over the long-term, our goals ensure that youth graduate from high school ready for post-secondary education, employment, or military service, steer clear of the juvenile justice system, set positive life goals, and adopt healthy lifestyles. Ultimately, our trauma-informed approach supports youth to develop skills for self-sufficiency, breaking the cycle of generational poverty, so they will thrive as mentally and physically healthy, empowered members of society.

Basic Function / Position Objective:  

The Programming and Wellness Manager (PWM) is a member of the Program Leadership Team made up of the Program Director and the Program Managers who supervise the teams of Friends. The PWM leads our child selection and enrollment process to identify and engage children who face the greatest challenges, including those impacted by high levels of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), systemic racial inequities, and other significant barriers. The PWM plays a critical role in developing, implementing, and managing group programming, organizational initiatives, strategies, policies, and practices to enhance the social emotional health of our youth, caregivers, and staff.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

A. Program Support: Youth

• Develop trusting, supportive relationships with the families and caregivers of the youth we serve
• Nurture emotional intelligence, resilience, and coping strategies and help youth develop healthy lifestyle choices through workshops and programming designed to encourage physical activity, nutrition education, and mental wellness practices.
• Partner with Friends to plan, coordinate, and lead regular developmentally appropriate group programming that align with youth goals and sparks.
• Provide feedback and recommend appropriate action and solutions to individual youth’s academic and social and emotional needs.
• Collaborate with organizational leadership for behavior and crisis planning and response, ensuring a trauma-informed incident response, and being prepared to provide referrals to appropriate services as needed.

B. Program Support: Caregivers & Families

• Develop trusting, supportive relationships with the families and caregivers of the youth we serve.
• Plan, coordinate, and lead regular programming targeted for caregivers that support creating community and empowerment.
• Partner with Program Managers to plan and execute programming that builds caregiver skills to engage in their youth’s education and social and emotional health.
• Plan, coordinate, and lead regular family engagement events throughout the year that support building connection, play and community.

C. Program Support: Organizational

• Lead the annual child selection and enrollment process.
  1. Collaborate closely with high-poverty elementary schools, foster care systems, and community-based organizations to ensure that the children who need our services the most are accurately identified and enrolled.
  2. Oversee a multi-stage assessment process, including in-depth observation of children within their school environments.
  3. Utilize a research-based behavioral risk and protective factor assessment
  4. Thoughtfully build relationships with caregivers to establish trust and a level of commitment to the long-term partnership.
  5. Partner with the Program Leadership Team to determine roster placement for youth

• Establish and maintain partnerships with mental health and social service providers to remove access barriers for our youth, families, and staff.
• Develop and manage mental health safety protocols including risk management, suicide prevention, and crisis management.
• Maintain accurate, confidential, and organized records; provide timely case notes for youth and caregivers in our program database.
• Utilize trauma-informed and culturally responsive lens in your work.

Additional Responsibilities

• Provide support for all employees as mandated reporters to ensure a report is made when abuse is observed or suspected.
• Plan and lead trainings for staff related to mental health wellness, trauma informed responses, and other topics as identified.
• Communicate effectively and appropriately in all directions regarding organizational issues, concerns, policies, and procedures.  Raise and resolve issues appropriately. 
• Utilize program data to help develop, implement, and sustain enrichment activities and program excellence. 

Essential Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to work flexible and non-traditional hours on a regular basis and be available for crisis situations. Normal working days are Tuesday through Saturday with Sundays and Mondays off.
• Strong interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills; organizational and time management, delegation and follow-up skills.
• Proven ability to deliver trauma-informed, culturally responsive services to families and their children.
• Ability to cultivate and sustain relationships and work effectively with a wide variety of constituencies, including staff, program children, parents, schools, organizational supporters, Board members, and community partners.
• Ability to represent, effectively and professionally, the organization to a wide variety of audiences.
• Ability to research, analyze data, design/develop, propose, implement, and sustain programming
• Ability to solve problems, work in a team environment, manage several issues concurrently, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced constantly changing work environment.
• Proven ability to manage multiple deadlines, responsibilities, and competing priorities.
• Knowledge of child development and current challenges, particularly those most relevant to our program youth.
• Awareness of community resources, and the ability to cultivate and sustain relationships with these resources.
• Enthusiasm for helping to plan and manage the anticipated growth of Friends SW Washington and commitment to developing personal skills and knowledge as appropriate to that growth.

Required Education and Experience:

• Master’s degree in counseling, social work, psychology, or related discipline with specialty and/or knowledge in Trauma Informed Care and Motivational Interviewing preferred.
• Bilingual in Spanish preferred but not required.
• A minimum of two years’ work experience with youth.
• Valid Washington or Oregon driver’s license, driving record and personal vehicle insurance coverage.

Salary Range:

Full-time, non-exempt position at an hourly rate of $29.00 - $31.25.

Benefits:

The benefit package is comprehensive and includes the following:

• Medical, dental, EAP, and vision coverage paid 100% for the employee by the organization; 25% of the premium for dependents is paid for by the organization
• 401k plan with matching of up to 2.5%
• Long-term Disability, Life, and ADD coverage paid 100% for the employee by the organization

 Plus a robust paid time off package that includes the following annually (prorated based on start date):

• 120 hours vacation (with progressive increases based on longevity)
• 80 hours sick
• 10 paid holidays
• 6 mental health days
• Paid time off for the work days that occur during our closure between Christmas and New Year’s Day

Additional Information:

Friends of the Children is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to addressing discriminatory practices, and to working toward racial equity. The equal employment opportunity policy of Friends of the Children provides fair and equal opportunities for all employees and job applicants regardless of race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status, disability, or genetic information, in compliance with applicable federal, state and local law. Friends of the Children hires and promotes individuals solely on the basis of their qualifications for the job to be filled.

Friends of the Children is growing rapidly as communities across the country are experiencing the power of how “One” changes a child's story: One Friend. One Child. 12+ years. No matter what. #ThePowerOfOne

To learn more about Friends of the Children go to: https://friendsswwa.org/