Youth Engagement Specialist

Summary

Join the National Adoption Association (NAA) as a Youth Engagement Specialist and make a difference in the lives of children and teens in the US foster care system. This role focuses on integrating youth perspectives and supporting the development of innovative strategies to improve outcomes for teens in foster care. You will use your lived experience in the foster care system to support technical assistance in enhancing state efforts to recruit, train, and support foster families. Responsibilities include community engagement, data coordination, youth advocacy, and administrative support. The position offers a competitive salary and a generous benefits package. This is an opportunity to leverage personal experience and professional skills to create meaningful impact.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in related field preferred
• At least 3 years of related work experience with a proven track record of administrative support and youth engagement
• Personal lived experience in the foster care system, preferably as a youth
• Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and organizational skills
• High level proficiency in Microsoft Office—MS Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams, Access, and PowerPoint
• Proficiency with Zoom, Slack, Trello, Google Workspace, Airtable, project management tools and overall familiarity and comfort with navigating and learning new technology
• Ability to communicate, relate, and work with youth ages 14-26
• Commitment to improving outcomes for youth in foster care
• Results-oriented with a high attention to detail, ability to multi-task, and meet deadlines in a demanding, fast-paced environment
• Passionate about the children, families and jurisdictions served by National Center for Diligent Recruitment with a commitment to National Adoption Association’s mission
• Ability to contribute to a strong team-based environment
• Ability to work effectively with diverse teams and agency partners

Responsibilities

• Build connections with youth and community partners to promote youth-led initiatives in the foster care system
• Collaborate with youth, state agencies, and foster care organizations to support the development of effective strategies for engaging foster families
• Support jurisdictions with the preparation of young people engaged in feedback opportunities
• Facilitate focus groups, listening sessions, or workshops to elevate the perspectives of youth in foster care
• Maintain cross-collaborative communication and partnerships within the National Center for Diligent Recruitment to support the collaborative
• Assist in the collection and coordination of the compilation of the National Center for Diligent Recruitment data as needed for the Data Dashboard, state profiles, agency audits, response to requests from the Children’s Bureau, and other data shared externally
• Assist in the development of automated profiles and reporting necessary for diligent recruitment
• Assist with data pulls from programming partners’ systems as well as validation of data collected and entered by program partners
• Advocate for the inclusion of youth voices in foster parent recruitment, training, and support initiatives
• Under close guidance and in support of the Director of Tailored Technical Assistance, provide feedback and recommendations to partners on how to improve support systems for foster families and teens
• Help to create opportunities for youth voices to be shared, received, and acted upon in foster care and adoption decision-making
• Assist the team with organizing and process-tracking webinar and project development, creation, and implementation
• Ensure a high level of customer service to internal and external stakeholders
• Support the National Center for Diligent Recruitment’s Universal and Intensive Technical Assistance teams by providing high quality customer service and support to States, Tribes and Territories

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior non-profit or child welfare experience highly preferred
• Knowledge of coding with Python and SQL development

Benefits

• Competitive salary of $50,000 - $55,000
• Gold health plan, dental & vision insurance (100% employer paid for employees!)
• Employer retirement plan contribution
• Professional development opportunities