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Rural Program Development and Growth Officer

National CASA/GAL Association

Rural Program Development and Growth Officer

Location: Atlanta, GA

The National Court Appointed Special Advocate/Guardian ad Litem (CASA/GAL) Association for Children fulfills society’s most fundamental obligation by making sure a qualified and compassionate adult will fight for and protect the best interests of children who have experienced abuse or neglect. The mission of National CASA/GAL, together with its state and local members, is to support and promote court‐appointed volunteer advocacy so that every child who has experienced abuse or neglect can be safe, establish permanence and can thrive. Today, only 45% of the children in the system have access to a CASA/GAL volunteer. The National CASA/GAL organization is committed to ensuring 100% of these children have access to a CASA volunteer.

Breaking New Ground
Starting in 2019, National CASA/GAL launched a multi-year campaign, “Change a Child’s Story”. The campaign is an integrated campaign designed to reach out to a wide range of constituent groups and was deployed across a wide spectrum of media. In addition to this campaign, in 2021 National CASA/GAL launched aa strategic planning process to plan for a future that ensures a CASA/GAL volunteer is available for every child that needs one and there is a CASA/GAL program and core model is in every community in the Country that needs one. This new strategic plan will be informing and guiding our efforts through 2030, including development of a new business model, programs and services that increase our impact and improve outcomes for children and families The team that will drive these changes will be hands on leaders, critical thinkers and problem solvers, relationship builders, collaborative decision-makers, as well as effective communicators, and entrepreneurial and change leaders.

Position Summary
The Rural Program Development and Growth Officer will lead efforts to support programs in Rural communities with their unique service needs, capacity building and growth initiatives, and efforts to build strong sustainable growth and increased children served in these areas. In addition, the Rural Program Development Officer will develop strategies, practices and systems for effective communication and engagement of Rural programs, coordinate the Rural Leadership Council activities and the Rural program initiative, will work to ensure high quality advocacy, adherence to the core program model and grant funding requirements. The director will work to ensure sustainable growth in the network to fulfill our mission to provide a quality advocate for every child that needs one through capacity building, strategic program development, expansion and redevelopment of a robust quality assurance process for Rural programs. The Director will also provide expertise, support, and resources to assist the CASA/GAL state organization/network staff in their work with Rural CASA/GAL programs.

Core Responsibilities

  • Develop a Rural Program Development and Growth Plan to ensure a pathway to Rural programs operating according to standards of high effectiveness and the development and expansion of new Rural Programs and increasing capacity to serve more children in Rural Communities.
  • Work with and support local programs with expansion, growth, and capacity building.
  • Work with State Organizations in the development of new programs or expansion of current programs as outlined in state-wide growth plans.
  • Gather data and information on each Rural programs approach to building capacity to serve more children with quality volunteer advocacy.
  • Support Rural programs in their understanding and alignment with program standards, grant accountability, quality advocacy and volunteer pre-service training.
  • Provide leadership and coordination to the Rural Leadership Council and the engagement of Rural programs in planning and providing advice to new programs, plans, policies and procedures.
  • In collaboration with the Rural Leadership Council, develop a Rural program initiative that is structured to provide services to and to meet the unique needs of Rural programs.
  • Lead the annual conference planning for Rural program engagement, learning and development.
  • Coordinate and ensure the adoption and implementation of the revised pre-service curriculum and support the development of facilitators of training in partnership with the pre-service training functional area.
  • Lead the development, design and implementation tools and resources for state organizations to utilize in working with Rural programs.
  • Manage and coordinate the dissemination of information and communications to Rural programs.
  • Provide research on topics of interest to Rural programs.
  • Gather data from the Annual Survey to identify trends, challenges successes in Rural programs. Prepare recommendations for development of tools and resources based on the findings.
  • Support quality review visits, grant monitoring and accountability calls with Rural programs.
  • Design a communication vehicle for Rural programs to share ideas, challenges and needs of their state organization and National CASA/GAL.
  • Assess program data from the Annual Survey to identify high growth programs, analyze organizational structure and development to determine key factors that lead to the growth and develop models to scale success and replication within other Rural programs.
  • Examine capacity building models and organizational assessment tools and design models for adoption within the CASA/GAL network.
  • In collaboration with the Program Development Team, develop and implement a written plan for strategic growth of the network. In addition, create a comprehensive set of tools and resources for CASA/GAL state and local program governing bodies to strengthen their skills and engagement in building sustainable capacity.
  • In conjunction with the Program Development Team, design and develop tools and resources to educate the CASA/GAL network on multiple strategies for growth and strategically building sustainable capacity.
  • Facilitate workgroups of Rural program staff and board members to gather information on the network’s needs to support capacity building initiatives, building an inclusive network, and strategic planning.
  • Provide technical assistance to Rural programs as needed and in the absence of state leadership on capacity building, program development, planning and sustainable growth.
  • Assist with the delivery of pre-service training and educational delivery of child-welfare issues and trends within the network and National CASA/GAL.
  • Other responsibilities as needed.

Experience and Professional Qualifications

  • Master’s degree in related field or bachelor’s degree with combination of training, education, and experience.
  • CASA/GAL Experience as a Rural Executive Director preferred.
  • 7-10 years of professional experience in capacity building, board and staff development, nonprofit program management, governance and/or organizational development. Preference given to candidates with prior nonprofit experience or prior work in a membership network environment.
  • Strong capacity building background with knowledge of and demonstrated experience in capacity building models and initiatives, organizational assessments, organizational development, governance, volunteer recruitment/retention, strategic planning, and leadership development.
  • Experience running a local CASA program in a Rural community.
  • Exceptional project management, prioritization, and planning skills with demonstrated success producing high quality deliverables on time and within budget.
  • Strategic thinking skills with the ability to operationalize concepts and transform ideas into action as well as apply research findings and data analysis to ongoing program development.
  • Prior experience managing or overseeing capacity building and planning projects including supervising staff, project budgeting and planning and managing workflow.
  • Demonstrated evidence of excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, and experience with delivering presentations.
  • Demonstrate ability to embrace and exemplify organizational competencies and values.
  • Work well under pressure with deadlines and be skilled in prioritizing responsibilities.
  • Demonstrate a commitment to work collaboratively with all constituent groups, including staff, board members, volunteers, donors, state and local program staff, and other supporters.
  • Become a steward and ambassador for the CASA/GAL mission and brand.
  • Working knowledge of technology and software applications necessary to perform responsibilities of this position.

Organizational Values
Adaptability ◦ Collaboration ◦ Integrity ◦ Respect ◦ Quality ◦ Service ◦ Stewardship

To Apply
Please send resume and cover letter to employment@nationalcasagal.org.

National Court Appointed Special Advocate/Guardian ad Litem (CASA/GAL) Association for Children
100 WEST HARRISON NORTH TOWER SUITE 140, SEATTLE, WA 98119
https://nationalcasagal.org

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