Associate Program Director - Help kids at the US Southern Border

What is this job? 

You help get vulnerable children at the United States’ southern border OUT of influx shelters and placed instead with a child and family not-for-profit organization that can provide appropriate housing, medical, mental health, and educational services to that young person.

With close collaboration and support from the Chief Operating Officer (COO) the Associate Program Director (APD) position ensures the daily operations of Board of Child Care’s (BCC) Caminos Nacional program run smoothly. 

What is the Caminos Nacional program?

BCC received a federal grant to provide residential services for children who enter the United States but who are without a guardian. This population is commonly referred to as “unaccompanied children.” The grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). Delivering this service helps BCC fulfill its purpose: enriching communities, one family at a time.

The Caminos Nacional program works with subgrantees to provide safe, secure placement options for children who have recently migrated to the United States and are seeking opportunities for reunification with family as well as the chance to pursue their education and legal immigration cases.

The subgrantees BCC works with have, like BCC, long track records of working with children within residential settings.  The Caminos Nacional APD provides effective leadership and management to fulfill program administration, monitoring, and financial oversight activities. The APD performs extensive and highly skilled grant development and coordination, including the preparation of applications and reporting materials.

What is this company?  Board of who? 

We would agree with you our name is not the greatest and we hope to change it in the near future! Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, the Board of Child Care (BCC) is a child and family-focused charity. It has evolved and adapted from a traditional orphanage opened 140+ years ago to being a leader in providing high-quality behavioral health, educational, and residential services across the Mid-Atlantic.

Board of Child Care is not a federal or state agency. It is an independent not-for-profit organization that partners with the Federal government to serve unaccompanied minors.

BCC does not have separate vision and mission statements. Instead, we are guided by a singular purpose, "enriching communities, one family at a time." Serving over 1,000 youth and families annually, BCC's programs support the healing of past trauma and seek to empower youth and families to flourish within their community.

Who would I work for?

This position reports to the Chief Operating Officer (COO), who has been at BCC for over seven years.  You can read a little bit more about the leadership team at BCC here.

What is the team like?

If you enjoy talking to the people you work with, mixing a bit of humor with a "get it done" mentality, asking "hey what if we did it this way?", this is a great fit for you. We use the single accountable person model for work (asana.com is our platform for team collaboration) and generally are seeking someone who can ‘make it happen’ by consulting policies, procedure manuals, and teammates across disciplines.

If you prefer very tight control over how every task is done, really prefer to do things only your way, or feel more confident in only doing a task “exactly the way you were taught to do it” kind of gig, that's totally fine but this team is not a fit for you. You’ve got to be comfortable living in a space of some ambiguity and knowing that not every scenario is going to be written down with an answer of what to do.

Why the COO would say it's great working here: 

• Writing this job posting, I am looking out my window at kids playing soccer. Just a few days ago some of them were sitting in a border holding cell.  I love feeling like my work is connected to something greater and when I see news stories about the border or the conditions there, I feel good knowing my small part is making a difference. 
• A narrative that is often missed in the media about this population is the stories about reunification.  It makes it all worthwhile for me knowing BCC played a role in helping a family member see their kin for the first time in sometimes years.
• We don’t gloss over the national conversation about equality at BCC and expect our teams to continue ‘business as usual.’  The Chauvin trial and many other recent events have sparked deep, reflective conversations amongst our teams.  (You can see our response to the Chauvin trial and read about our organization’s EDI journey to date)
• I love that I have great benefits and that BCC cares that I save for retirement (up to a 3% match!)  There is free parking, coffee, and daily lunch provided. Seriously we have awesome benefits.  (Full list here)
• I love that my teammates take COVID and safety seriously, and we work extremely hard to make sure others feel that way every single day. 

What does the Associate PD job do specifically?

The Associate Program Director's primary responsibilities are: 

1. Take the safety of your colleagues seriously and don't just pay lip service to the concept. Follow our COVID daily safety check-in process before coming to work (and ensure your direct reports are doing the same). Stay home if you’re not feeling well!
2. Provide oversight for all aspects of Caminos Nacional Program operations, including adherence to activities detailed within the subrecipient agreements, memorandums of agreement and the cooperative agreement with the Office of Refugee Resettlement. 
3. Maintain primary accountability for program performance and fulfillment of critical tasks, including reporting, program management and monitoring, subaward management, and compliance.
4. Provide oversight and support throughout the start-up, implementation, operational and closeout phases of the program for all subrecipients and in relation to the primary grant award.
5. Provide grant award start-up support including new award orientation with subrecipient organizations and agency personnel; serving as start-up grants manager to issue subawards, assisting with the preparation of project-specific deliverables such as project plans, bed delivery timelines, performance measurements, etc. in collaboration with colleagues and team members.
6. Review documentation and terms and conditions for subawards, procurements and continuation applications; verify completeness of submissions and requests, applications and availability of sufficient funding.
7. Complete quarterly and annual performance reporting requirements as well as annual continuation application procedures in accordance with federal timeframes. 
8. Prepare, review, process and respond to subrecipient correspondence to request approvals, waivers, funding and/or project modification requests, etc.
9. Ensure the development and regular updating of training materials. Support coordination efforts related to the planning and delivery of training to agency staff and subrecipient organizations.
10. Develop systems of accountability and subrecipient monitoring to ensure that the policies and procedures related to best practice program operations are alive and delivered consistently throughout subrecipient programs.  When necessary, will identify the need for and deliver corrective actions to guide the practice of the subrecipient and ensure compliance. 

A full, more formal job description will be provided prior to the interview stage to all candidates. 

Do I get to work from home? 

BCC's teams have had a variety of schedules throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.  With the availability of vaccines, modifications to all workstations, and ready access to PPE, BCC is operating 100% in office within the Caminos Nacional program. 

Relationships are one of BCC's four core values (the other three are safety, empathy, and impact).  We want the new Associate PD to feel connected to their work, their teammates, and to those our programs serve.  As such, this position begins with a full-time, in-office schedule.  A partial remote work schedule can be coordinated with the COO later pending a review of job performance and team dynamics, but with full transparency, the maximum would be 1 remote day a week.  There is no fully remote option for this position. Ad hoc telecommuting for doctor appointments and other life events is completely fine.

Do I have to travel?

Yes, traveling is required for this position. A company vehicle will be provided as needed for any trips within the region. When not traveling out of state, local travel will occur primarily during the business day.

Short, multi-day travel with overnight stays to BCC’s Caminos Nacional partners throughout the contiguous United States is required on a quarterly basis at a minimum. BCC has developed COVID protocols around whether those visits occur virtually or in person. More information about this can be discussed during the interview. 

Is there room for professional growth at BCC?

COO note:  I hear all the time from job applicants that they want to work somewhere that they can grow.  I can count many examples of our staff starting in one job but moving internally to try something new or stepping up to become a supervisor or manager.  I work hard to craft a professional development plan with each of my direct reports and expect my supervisors to do the same for their teams. 

One thing BCC does, for example, is send all employees an email with every new job posting at all campuses - BCC encourages movement and growth, and I really like that about our culture.  I personally started here over seven years ago as head of fundraising and marketing and now am the COO. The Executive Director of MD and DC programs started at BCC over 20 years ago as a direct care staff! 

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work:

This is a full-time position that works Monday through Friday 8:30am – 5:00pm.  Eligible for BCC’s flex-schedule.  Non-essential for weather-related office closures.

Required Education and Experience

• A Bachelor’s degree and 2 years of experience in the field
• At least 1 year of supervisory experience in a professional office environment.

Or

• A high school degree and 5 years of experience in the field.
• At least 1 year of supervisory experience in a professional office environment.