Senior Advisor

Summary

Join Foster America as a Senior Advisor-Washington for a three-year initiative focused on preventing foster care entries. This role leads systemic change efforts by leveraging expertise in community co-design and collective impact. You will design and implement prevention frameworks, establish governance structures, integrate racial equity and social justice principles, and amplify the voices of lived experts. The position requires strong collaboration skills with diverse stakeholders, including government officials and community organizations. Success will be measured by building relationships, aligning strategies, enhancing data-driven decision-making, and supporting lived experts. The position is remote with up to 40% travel.

Requirements

• Minimum of 7 years in child welfare/or prevention or systemic change initiatives
• Proven experience with community co-design, collective impact, and organizing systems-change efforts
• Data driven decision making experience and skills at creating and managing data dashboards

Responsibilities

• Lead and support the design and implementation of prevention frameworks and pathways, including those for families involved in pre-placement services in the child welfare system, as well as those adjacent to but outside the formal child welfare system
• Establish and support governance structures that enhance collaboration and innovation among diverse stakeholders
• Integrate Racial Equity and Social Justice ensuring equity principles are embedded throughout the initiative
• Amplify the voices of lived experts—individuals who have been personally impacted by the child welfare system—to ensure policy and practice changes reflect the real experiences of families
• Coordinate efforts between fiscal and child welfare teams to optimize resources and align strategies
• Explore Options and Establish Governance Structures
• Form and facilitate a Steering Committee
• Recruit key stakeholders, including government leaders and community organizations
• Lead strategic planning to address how a strengthened governance structure can help to reduce silos and improve coordination within the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF)
• Ensure at least 50% representation of lived experts
• Support members through education, compensation, and engagement activities
• Collaborate with the office of Racial Equity and Social Justice
• Embed the DCYF guiding principles of Racial Equity and Social Justice into all strategies
• Review and utilize disproportionality in child welfare reports to inform decisions impacting marginalized and tribal communities
• Prioritize impacted perspectives in decision-making processes
• Engage with communities to understand their context and needs
• Facilitate integration of lived experts into public systems (e.g., health, education, human services)
• Lead and support development of a framework for prevention using participatory and community-engaged processes
• Collaborate with governmental leaders and technical assistance providers
• Coordinate support from Foster America specialists in fiscal, data/technology, and design
• Assess data infrastructure
• Evaluate current data processes and identify current assets and gaps
• Implement data-driven practices
• Support the production of biannual outcome reports
• Align metrics with evolving initiative priorities
• Enhance Collaboration
• Foster teamwork between fiscal, child welfare, and program teams to improve funding agility and accountability
• Optimize Resources
• Align strategies and utilize data-driven insights to optimize resource allocation
• Support Preventive Initiatives
• Coordinate efforts to enhance preventive services and support system transformation
• Engage stakeholders—including DCYF staff, government officials, community organization, and tribes—to foster collaboration and develop mutual accountability for reaching shared goals
• Facilitate meetings between fiscal and program teams and optimize funding opportunities and resource allocation
• Assess data systems, address gaps, and reports to guide strategic adjustments
• Lead and support design and implementation of a prevention framework to reduce foster care entries, developing and testing preventive solutions while coordinating with specialists and technical-assistance providers
• Engage lived experts by prioritizing their perspectives in decision-making and optimizing opportunities to integrate their insights into systems-change efforts
• Collaborate with relevant offices to embed equity and use data to address disparities among marginalized populations
• Form and lead strategic planning sessions through a Steering Committee and explore and establish governance structures. Facilitate engagement activities

Preferred Qualifications

Master’s degree in Social Work, Public Administration, or related field

Benefits

• Medical insurance
• Paid vacation
• Paid parental leave
• Paid holidays
• Commuter benefits
• Participation in a retirement plan
• Paid sick time
• Professional development opportunities
• Salary is commensurate with experience in the range of $126,000 – $140,000
• Remote position