Title: Child Welfare Project Manager

Pay Grade: Grant Funded

Starting Pay: $81,286.88

Departmental Mission Statement: It is the mission of the Juvenile Court to protect children from abuse and neglect and promote opportunities for children to reside in safe, stable, permanent family environments whenever possible, to strengthen families when their children are in need of services, to rehabilitate juveniles, to protect the public from delinquent and criminal activity while holding offenders accountable and addressing the harm suffered by the community and the victim, and to decide all cases fairly and impartially with dedication, integrity and professionalism.

ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE:

http://www.mass.gov/courts/juvenilecourt/index.html

Notes:

This position is grant funded until the end of June 30, 2024.
This is a temporary position funded by a grant subject to approval by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
This position is designated as a Management position and is covered by the Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual.
Position Summary: The Child Welfare Project Manager role is a position within the Administrative Office of the Juvenile Court. The role is the primary manager of the Pathways model of differentiated case flow management in the Juvenile Court Department. Pathways is a comprehensive case flow management plan designed by and for each county division of the Juvenile Court, with oversight and support from the Administrative Office. The goal of Pathways is to process child welfare cases more efficiently, resulting in measurable reductions to the time it takes a child to reach permanency. The Child Welfare Project Manager supports, monitors, and ensures ongoing Pathways engagement and advancement in each division of the Juvenile Court. The Child Welfare Project Manager uses and develops comprehensive data to monitor the initiative and assists court employees to gain independence in the use of available data tools and reports.

Supervision Received: Receives direction from the Departmental Chief Justice, Deputy Court Administrator, Case Manager, and/or their designee.

Duties:

·       Works closely with the Chief Justice and Case Manager in supporting data-driven implementation and analysis of the Pathways model of differentiated case management;

·       Ensures the success of the Pathways initiative through regular communication with each Juvenile Court division team, attendance at division team meetings and through systematic review of available data and metrics;

·       Works with Juvenile Court Administrative Office and Department of Research and Planning staff in system implementation, and ongoing staff support for technical systems including the MassCourts case management system;

·       Works and collaborates with employees and other stakeholders to determine ways to improve data operations in order to measure Continuous Quality Improvement in the processing of child welfare cases;

·       Plans and implements project updates and communication, interprets data, and prepares interim and final reports at the direction of and in collaboration with Administrative Office of the Juvenile Court and the Department of Research and Planning;

·       Differentiates the needs of the various stakeholders and creates action plans to assure successful implementation and integration of the Pathways model into daily practice;

·       Uses child welfare-based databases in Tableau in support of project implementation and communication;

·       Works and collaborates with Department of Research and Planning to create and maintain ad hoc and routine performance metrics reports in business intelligence platforms such as Tableau;

·       Orchestrates a continual feedback loop of data outcomes in order to motivate continuous improvement of permanency outcomes for children in the juvenile court process;

·       Assists users in each Juvenile Court division to gain independence in the use of available data tools and their functions;

·       Assist in the response to and fulfillment of public and government agency requests for child welfare court data and information;

·       Participates in developing and managing relevant Court Improvement Program projects and reporting; and

·       Performs related duties as required.

Job Competencies: All applicants must be able, through the interview process, to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the following areas:

 

Ethics and Values Communicates and demonstrates the ethics and values of the Trial Court.

Mission Understands, upholds, and communicates the Trial Court missions.

Applied Knowledge Understands research, information services operations, specialized tools, applications, and software, with some understanding of the various court departments and divisions.

Problem Solving Ability to successfully address data issues, draw conclusions, and make recommendations.

Customer Service Conducts oneself in a courteous and professional manner towards both Trial Court employees and the public.

Performance Measurement Understands the value and importance of performance measures as a basis for both individual and departmental assessments.

Commitment to Diversity Promotes an environment of diversity through understanding, respect, and positive communication with persons of varied economic and cultural backgrounds.

Collaboration Works with others cooperatively, demonstrating a willingness to be a team player, and contributing to a work environment that focuses on shared departmental goals.

Continuous Learning Demonstrates a commitment to continuously improving himself or herself through professional development.

Minimum Requirements: These are the minimum requirements necessary to apply for the position of Child Welfare Project Manager:

 

·       Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and Five (5) years or more of legal or project management experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience;

·       Preferred: Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school, a Masters in Public Administration or

Masters in Business Administration from a degree granting college or university, or PMP certification;

·       Experience working directly with managers, users and others;

·       Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with court officials, judges, employees and government agency employees;

·       Experience successfully leading a change management process;

·       Demonstrated ability to identify problems and to develop feasible solutions;

·       Ability to read, digest and effectively communicate complex issues and information relating to complex databases and reports, to non-data minded people;

·       Knowledge of and experience with Tableau preferred;

·       Experience in and knowledge of Massachusetts child welfare laws, systems and partners preferred;

·       Ability to synthesize technical/data information and communicate same to non-technical/non-data people effectively; and

·       Access to a reliable car and the willingness and ability to travel to courthouses in each county as necessary.

Preferred Qualifications:

·       Preferred: Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school, a Masters in Public Administration or

Masters in Business Administration from a degree granting college or university, or PMP certification;

·       Experience in and knowledge of Massachusetts child welfare laws, systems and partners preferred;