Youth Program Supervisor

RISE (Readiness, Inquiry, Scholarship, Education) is HopeWell’s newest innovative solution to advance equity in education and improve educational opportunities for children experiencing foster care. The program aims to build students’ early literacy skills through a culturally responsive, evidence-informed curriculum designed to meet the unique needs of children in foster care by integrating literacy learning, social and emotional skill development, and a trauma-informed approach.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a growing and engaged team to work toward closing the opportunity gap for foster care-involved youth. RISE offers an innovative solution, turning the typical model on its head. With tutoring and other educational supports specifically designed around the unique challenges faced by foster care-involved children, RISE is a home-based service that follows children as they move and incorporates supports for any caregivers involved in a child’s life (e.g. foster parents, biological parents, kinship caregivers). This provides children with continuous academic support, even as they experience changes in their placement and permanency goals. RISE launched during the 2021-22 school year and is currently supporting students in kindergarten through 3rd grade in the Greater Boston area, and will be growing in size and scope in the coming years.

The ideal Youth Program Supervisor has a unique combination of clinical training and experience in an educational setting. While RISE is by no means a clinical program, effectively supporting the academic progress of youth experiencing foster care requires attention to their academic needs while simultaneously using a clinically-informed approach to their social, emotional, and mental health needs.

The Youth Program Supervisor will supervise a team of Tutors, supporting them in providing high quality academic supports that meet the unique needs of youth involved in the child welfare system. In addition, the Youth Program Supervisor will provide some direct tutoring services themselves. An essential part of RISE’s leadership team, the Supervisor will collaborate with colleagues to promote quality educational supports grounded in best practices and ensure staff have what they need to deliver the program to fidelity. 

This position requires an experienced professional whose passion for education, child welfare, and social justice is matched with strong leadership, sound judgement in the face of complex challenges, and a proven track record of successfully managing direct-service teams. A dynamic, collaborative, and results-oriented service provider, the Youth Program Supervisor is enthusiastic about the idea of piloting, strengthening, and growing a brand new education program that delivers real results. This individual will believe that all children can learn and have the strong ability and desire to work well with BIPOC youth.

Responsibilities

The Youth Program Supervisor has responsibilities specific to being a supervisor, as well as responsibilities that match the Tutor job description because the Supervisor will also carry a caseload. 

The Youth Program Supervisor will:

• Collaborate with the Literacy Program Manager and Education Director to implement Tutor training, coaching, and support model.
• Use observations, staff supervision conversations, and program delivery and outcomes data to ensure that RISE tutoring model is being implemented to fidelity. Collaborate with RISE leadership team to use data to inform how to best meet youth and caregiver needs and adapt program model and Tutor training, coaching and support model as relevant.
• Collaborate with the Education Director to interview and hire a team of Tutors. Provide individualized supervision to and evaluate and support the professional development of a team of Tutors. Provide on-going coaching and recognize good work performance through commendations and other staff appreciation programs.
• Collaborate with Education Support Manager, Literacy Program Manager, and Education Director to ensure alignment across all areas of academic supports and provide comprehensive, program-wide ongoing professional development.
• Collaborate with RISE leadership and Tutors as needed to assess and develop support plans that meet the specific social, emotional, and mental health needs for individual youth.
• Provide direct tutoring services as described below.
• Actively participate in program and agency internal (e.g. collaborating with colleagues, staff meetings, town halls) and external meetings (e.g. collaborating with other providers, schools) both in person and virtually as assigned.
• Other duties as assigned. RISE is a brand new program, and as such, the program model will be subjected to a continuous cycle of analysis and assessment as it launches. It will change iteratively as we learn more about how to best support youth needs, and as a result the roles and responsibilities of various team members will likely adapt and change as the program is launched and evolves. 
• When fulfilling the role of Tutor, the Youth Program Supervisor will:
• Implement assessment and intervention tools with an in person tutoring caseload of K-3 youth and their caregiver(s).
• Use standardized assessment tools (literacy, social and emotional learning) to continuously measure youth skills and learning gaps. 
• Observe and assess youth’s home environment to identify and engage in opportunities for improving learning (e.g. creating a cozy and relatively quiet nook to read for fun).
• Collaborate with RISE Education Support staff to assess and develop a plan to address any needs for additional learning supports (e.g. an IEP that would benefit a youth and is not yet being provided).
• Collaborate with RISE Literacy Program Manager and Tutor’s supervisor to individualize RISE curriculum learning routines and approaches to best meet each youth’s educational needs based on assessment and observation data, as well as information and feedback from caregivers, school staff, and other providers.
• Implement individualized version of core tutoring curricula through frequent, in person, one-on-one tutoring sessions with youth, typically in their home. 
• Ensure high fidelity of the RISE curriculum model and employ a trauma-informed approach.
• Partner with RISE Education Support staff (where appropriate) to communicate and collaborate with caregiver(s) about youth’s progress and about how they can best promote youth’s educational progress. 
• Communicate regularly and collaborate effectively with community providers, including but not limited to school staff, Department of Children and Families staff, and mental health providers.
• When appropriate, partner with RISE Education Support staff to participate in meetings related to a youth’s educational goals (e.g. IEP meetings, informal school conferences). Communicate about youth’s needs and goals and uphold youth’s rights before, during, and after the meeting.
• Complete documentation including, but not limited to, intake paperwork and consents, needs assessments, service plans, case notes.

This is a comprehensive list of qualifications that we believe will lead to success in the role. We strongly encourage candidates with lived experience with the foster care system to apply.

• Bachelor’s degree required. Social work (i.e. BSW, MSW) or equivalent degree in the Human Services preferred.
• 3 years experience serving youth who have experienced trauma and implementing support strategies that use student-centered and trauma-informed approaches preferred. 
• 3 years of supervisory/management experience.
• Prior experience in both an educational setting and a social service setting strongly preferred.
• Prior experience with child welfare involved youth a plus.
• Prior experience in Massachusetts public education system a plus.
• Must be comfortable working in community settings.
• Strong reading and writing skills and a high degree of effective oral and written communications skills.
• High level of personal accountability for the quality and impact of work and demonstrated ability to effectively organize, plan, and prioritize work.
• Demonstrated understanding of and competence in serving BIPOC youth.
• Demonstrated flexibility and entrepreneurial spirit; thoughtful, curious, and open-minded approach to learning, growth, and change.
• High level of professionalism in work and interpersonal interactions with both internal and external contacts.
• Computer skills sufficient to perform essential functions.

Other Requirements

• Daily access to an automobile is required. 
• A valid MA State Driver’s License.
• Clearing of background checks as required by state and federal law.
• Maintain availability to work up until 7 pm on weekdays, as most of the tutoring occurs in the afternoon and early evening. Staff schedules are centered around both the needs of youth enrolled in RISE and required program staff meeting. Staff schedules can shift over time as youth needs, staff caseloads, and program needs change. Please note that when scheduled into the early evening, staff coordinate with program leadership to flex other hours to align with HopeWell’s 35 hour work week while meeting all job expectations.

HopeWell has an unparalleled work culture, with an emphasis on diversity, belonging, inclusion, equity, and holistic wellness. At HopeWell, each team member is called to uphold and live daily the values of empathy, strength, learning, and integrity. HopeWell is an environment where we laugh and smile while handling serious, life-changing work.

HopeWell also offers a comprehensive rewards package that values employee wellness, work-life balance, and continuous learning. Benefits include student loan pay-down assistance, tuition reimbursement, funding for professional development, as well as a full suite of healthcare benefits, 401k plan, and generous paid-time-off.

Please submit an application here: https://recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/jobs/Apply/1723364/HopeWell-Inc/Youth-Program-Supervisor