Organization Description

Youth Justice Network (YJN) was founded as Friends of Island Academy in 1990 to anchor, sup-port and develop capacity among young people newly released from jail in New York City. A pioneer in youth reentry services, YJN builds on connections developed with young people while in custody, and leverages those relationships to provide post-release, neighborhood-based support-ive services. Youth Justice Network’s mission is to break cycles of incarceration and build an equitable justice system by providing participants with individualized advocacy, mentorship, and opportunities to grow, thrive, and lead. Our model is structured on trusting relationships that drive positive outcomes forward for people whose lives intergenerationally intersect with the justice system. We leverage strategic touch-points along the criminal and juvenile justice process to support and facilitate positive outcomes in the community.

Position Background and Description

YJN is seeking a Director of Fatherhood Services for its Brooklyn Friends 2 Fathers (F2F) pro-gram. Funded by the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), F2F seeks to help fathers connect with their families, engage more deeply on a social and emotional level with their children, and increase their financial support. The Director of Fatherhood services will over-see all program services such as the hiring and preparatory training of staff, management of calendar and scheduling partnership collaborations responsible for ensuring staff adhere to DYCD’s contract requirements. Assist with provision of services to participants, support toward YJN development and communications team as needed to nourish robust program development.

Director of Fatherhood Services will be supervised and supported by Associate Executive Director oof Strategic Planning and Community Partnership. Program Director will ensure qualitative and quantitative data is accurate and on track with DYCD’s expectations.

Through a combination of group consult and individualized support, F2F supports fathers referred to us from various agencies and the courts, offering classes, workshops and other supports necessary for fathers who are seeking to become emotionally and financially engaged with their children; and strengthen and deepen their engagement with their families.

Essential Responsibilities:

Responsible for recruiting, hiring, and supervision of all Fatherhood Program staff and ensuring they are properly vetted, trained and that program is effectively supported.

· Ensuring services are delivered to the highest of quality to ensure transformative impact and outcomes in the lives of fathers and their families.

· Proactive job postings, scheduling interviews alongside on-boarding and training of newly hired incoming staff.

· Weekly individual check-ins with staff, shadowing of workshop sessions, monitoring ac-curacy, punctuality and consistency of data input into DYCD’s database.

· Establishing an ongoing workspace that is professionally welcoming, respectful and kind to our fathers, families, staff and community partners.

· Providing structural template for weekly workshops as it relates to scheduling and adjustments as needed via hybrid or remote.

· Ensuring that staff are honoring contract requirements and are savvy and educated on pro-gram model.

· Participate in professional development trainings upon request from DYCD or YJN to continually enhance skillsets in the workplace.

· Collaborate with Associate Executive Director to ensure resources are provided and programming goals are met.

· Will host required fatherhood workshops weekly and utilize progress as asset framing when guiding staff.

Ensure healthy relationships with Community Partners:

· Creating and initiating agency efforts to promote and support accessibility of services to eligible fathers.

· Schedule and engage in collaborative spaces and events internally along with neighboring partners to strengthen and support healthy community relations for fathers and their families.

· Engage in community stakeholder meetings, in-person site visits to secure new partner-ships, team building sessions internally and externally, enrichment events with fatherhood coaches and the fathers they support, etc.

· Communicate with time sensitivity and prioritized urgency upon being contacted by com-munity partners about referrals or other specified needs.

· Provide updates and progress letters to the courts, probation and child welfare administra-tion as needed/requested.

· Be accessible to YJN’s development and communication staff to assist with grant story telling; welcoming of potential agency requests for media engagement or community rep-resentation.

· Be adaptive to potential requests or updates from DYCD with solution oriented strategies.

Support other F2F initiatives

· Participate in team meetings, trainings, and planning sessions;

· Ensure inventory is met for fathers and staff’s office needs;

· Educating each person within supervised staff on contract terms and expectations;

· Participate in agency-wide activities;

· Support the ongoing mission and work of the program as needed.

Qualifications

Required

· Bachelor’s degree in social work or a similar field;

· Two years minimum of experience providing fatherhood services to low-income adults within the past five years;

· Knowledge and experience in best family development practices and standards;

· Strong interpersonal skills, cultural competence, and an understanding and belief in strengths-based practices and youth development philosophy;

· Proficiency with Microsoft Office;

· Strong oral and written communication skills;

· A sense of humor, integrity, flexibility and a profound commitment to the participants we serve;

· Fluency in Spanish is highly preferred.