Friends of the Children

Friends of the Children is a national nonprofit organization that selects and invites youth – all of whom have unique talents, interests and dreams, and face multiple systemic obstacles – to be paired with a paid, professional mentor called a Friend. We hire and train Friends to support our youth from as early as age 4 through high school graduation – 12+ years, no matter what.

Our model is distinct, courageous and proven. We revolutionized the youth mentoring field by creating the first and only long-term professional mentoring program in the country. We are experts in building sustained and nurturing relationships with youth.

This is at the core of what we do. Each child gets a dedicated, one-on-one Friend who listens to their hopes and dreams. Friends empower our youth to set – and achieve – their goals. Friends also create meaningful experiences that empower youth to build life skills and make healthy choices while exploring the child’s diverse talents and interests.

Our model is real, and it works.

Are you the next one to join our growing network?

Family and Community Engagement Specialist

Essential Functions/Core Job Accountabilities:

Responsibilities include: providing the primary source of empowerment support and encouragement, tracking caregiver progress toward individualized goals; building intentional partnerships that advance targeted parent outcomes; providing resource referral, parent skill-building, and crisis intervention; responsible for assessing risk factors, improving overall protective factors for each family, and collecting outcome data; delivering a caregiver survey and collecting outcome data.

The Family and Community Engagement Coordinator (FCEC) works directly with Friends to ensure a “whole family” approach that promotes family stability and well-being. They will be proactive, results-driven, and possess a sense of urgency while at the same time look to focus their entrepreneurial talents to make a real difference for children whose families are seeking stability and self-sufficiency.

Primary Responsibilities:                                                                                                

A.     Caregiver Assessment

• Collect, record and administer participant self-assessments and all other participant data for outcomes progress and grant data reporting.
• Co-develop individual goals with families that build protective factors in caregivers and advance family stability.
• Assess and monitor families’ needs over time and provide ongoing support.
• Maintain efficient, confidential, and organized records; provide timely and appropriate case notes in our database.

B.      Caregiver Empowerment

• Model and coach the enrolled family in multiple forms of parenting and communication skills, anger management, and problem solving.
• Empower and build skills in parents to positively and proactively engage in their youth’s education.
• Mobilize caregivers to implement plans that advance the goals they have for their families.

C.      Community Engagement

• Work closely with Program Director to build intentional partnerships so that caregivers can meet their goals
• Support families to build positive social networks.
• Collaborate and strategize with caregivers to effectively partner with outside support systems, resources, and organizations.
• Collaborate and work closely with community resources to ensure our families are able to see their full potential
• Complement the work of the PD and Friends by serving as an additional resource specialist in a variety of life domains that include, but are not limited to, mental health, workforce development, housing, and public benefits.

D.      Program Support 

• Work closely with the PD to ensure caregiver outcomes are achieved.
• Support PD in the child identification and selection process.
• Solicit and obtain feedback from caregivers on monthly basis.  Document and maintain all feedback, and include in quarterly reports.
• Collaborate with other employees to ensure quality, seamless service delivery to youth and families.
• Plan, coordinate, and lead consistent parent/caregiver support groups & activities.
• Collaborate with the PD in planning, training, retention, and providing support to families, Friends, and volunteers.

 E.      Additional Responsibilities

• All Friends-Eastern employees are mandated reporters and are legally required to ensure a report is made when abuse is observed or suspected.
• Be willing to work flexible hours and non-traditional hours on a regular basis and be on call in crisis situations.
• Participate in Friends of the Children training to have a baseline of the content, skills, and language used throughout our program for participants and staff.
• Communicate effectively and appropriately in all directions regarding organizational issues, concerns, policies, and procedures.  Raise and resolve issues appropriately.  
• Participate in regular conference calls with Program leads in the network, and otherwise communicate with personnel within the National network and other chapters about the program. Research, develop, implement, and sustain best practice programming to serve current and future needs of the organization as required.
• Utilize program data to help develop, implement, and sustain enrichment activities and program excellence.  
• Be relentlessly committed to ensuring that youth and families reach their long-term outcomes.
• Communicate regularly and effectively with PD about key aspects of the program, including status of families, recommendations for improvement of the program.
• Develop trusting, supportive relationships with families and guardians of the children we serve.

Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities:

• 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, caregivers, 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.
• Strong project management skills. Proven ability to manage multiple deadlines, responsibilities, and competing priorities.
• Ability to work in diverse work environments.
• Knowledge of child development and child issues, 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 – Eastern Montana, and commitment to developing personal skills and knowledge as appropriate to that growth.

Education and Experience Required:

• Bachelor’s degree required
• Minimum three years of experience working with children & families in a case management role or similar
• Willingness to commit for a minimum of three years
• Strong interpersonal skills, including the demonstrated ability to resolve conflict, and help others do the same
• Valid MT driver’s license, driving record and personal vehicle, insurance acceptable to Friends – Eastern Montana’s insurance carrier

Benefits:

3 weeks paid vacation, 12 mental health days, 8 observed paid holidays plus 3 floating holidays, comprehensive health, dental, vision, short-term disability and life insurance. Retirement with 3% match

Applications without a resume and cover letter will not be considered.