Education Specialist

The New York Foundling • New York, NY

4d • Onsite

About The Position

At The New York Foundling, we trust in the power and potential of people, and we deliberately invest in proven practices. From bold beginnings in 1869, our New York-based nonprofit has supported hundreds of thousands of our neighbors on their own paths to stability, strength, and independence. We help children and families navigate through and beyond foster care. We help families struggling with conflict and poverty grow strong. We help individuals with developmental disabilities live their best lives, and we help our neighbors access quality health and mental health services—core to building lifelong resilience and wellbeing. Together, our interrelated programs provide a whole-person, whole-family, and whole-life approach that unlocks solutions for a lifetime.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree from a U.S. accredited educational institution or Credential Evaluation for a non-U.S. educational institution
• Knowledge of the NYC DOE system, college admissions and financial aid process, high school enrollment process, and alternative educational settings.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to evaluate and aggregate educational data, put together reports and summaries and present information to other stakeholders.
• Ability to collaborate with other program staff and community resources in meeting client needs.
• Ability to engage hard-to-reach youth in academic services and provide them with guidance and support.
• Microsoft office suite proficiency (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

Nice To Haves

• Two years in direct care position preferred (case planning/community service).
• Experience in youth/child welfare and/or NYC public school system preferred.

Responsibilities

• Providing academic support services to youth in the New York Foundling family foster care (FFC) program.
• Meeting with youth and collaborating with stakeholders including foster parents, birth parents, school staff and agency staff to ensure students receive necessary supports.
• Managing a caseload of students requiring direct and intensive intervention.
• Providing consultation to case planning teams for indirect intervention.
• Collaborating with New York Foundling tutoring programs including Road to Success and College Bound by providing tutoring referrals and technical support.
• Providing individual education counseling services to youth at risk of failing or dropping out of school.
• Advocating for youth within the public education system to ensure appropriate educational settings.
• Communicating regularly with foster parents and birth parents about youth’s academic performance, attendance, etc.
• Communicating regularly with school personnel for updates on student attendance, progress, and behavior.
• Monitoring educational DOE data and notifying agency staff and parents about youth performance and attendance.
• Referring students to NYF tutoring programs for academic support.
• Identifying students needing special education supports and making appropriate referrals for evaluations.
• Ensuring appropriate special education services are in place within the classroom setting.
• Providing assistance and guidance in the college application process (college selection, admissions application, admissions essay writing, financial aid application, work study, scholarship selection and application process, room and board, etc.).
• Providing assistance in the high school application process (ensuring quality schools are listed and applications are complete, correct, and submitted on time).
• Providing support for college students through monthly check-in calls to assist with transitioning to college life, class registration, and financial aid issues.
• Referring out-of-school youth for HSE and Vocational programs and providing ongoing support and guidance.
• Documenting all interventions performed in the Education Specialist Intervention online form.
• Developing contacts with relevant community resources.
• Conducting workshops on varying topics to enhance youth and parent engagement.
• Providing continuing education and support to case planners regarding educational issues and advocacy.
• Performing monthly case consultations with unit case planners and supervisors at Education Week meetings.
• Actively participating in educational meetings/conferences with foster and birth parents.
• Completing other job-related tasks as required.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level