CFI Central VA Regional Coordinator

Summary:

The Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University celebrates 40 years as Virginias University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Research Training and Dissemination ().

The Partnership believes that families are best served by other families especially those with similar experiences and challenges. Families are the experts on their own children and can pass this expertise to others.

The Partnerships Center for Family Involvement (CFI) () provides emotional informational and systems navigational support to families to help them increase their skills as advocates mentors and leaders so that families children and adults with disabilities can lead the lives they want.

We are seeking a dynamic candidate for the role of Central Virginia Regional Network Coordinator for the CFIs Family to Family Network of Virginia initiative that is funded by four state and two federal agencies to provide 1:1 emotional informational and systems navigational support to families of children and adults with disabilities and/or special health care needs.

Position Primary Purpose

The Regional F2F Network Coordinators (RNCs) are .80 FTE (fulltime) grant funded positions reporting to the director of the Center for Family Involvements Family to Family Network of Virginia. RNCs are responsible for overseeing a region of the state recruiting training and supporting volunteer Family Navigators to help family members of children and adults with disabilities (aged 050) to identify and find information services community support that meet their needs; and outreaching to organizations and groups in their region with whom the CFI and Partnership should partner with to meet the needs of families with children and adults with disabilities. We are particularly interested in the Central Virginia region of Virginia on supporting families of transitionaged youth with disabilities.

Typical Duties

• The Central Virginia Regional Network Coordinator will work 32 hours per week.
• The position could potentially work approximately 1820 hours each week from home (the remainder of the hours are to be worked in the office at 2235 Staples Mill Drive (4th floor) in Richmond) following a probation period and subsequent eligibility for telecommuting up to 60% of the work week.
• This is a grantfunded position
• Some travel will be expected to attend meetings conferences and presentations
• A laptop will be provided to the employee.
  
  

Service Navigation

• Following CFI and Parent to Parent (P2P) USA evidence informed practices the RNC recruits trains and supports a minimum of 5 people with disabilities or family members of people with disabilities as volunteer Family Navigators in their region
• Following CFI and P2P USA evidence informed practices the RNC ensures that Family Navigators in their region are matched with 90% of the family callers and are providing emotional informational and systems navigational support to families of children/adults with disabilities (contributing to the minimum of 600 families statewide supported each year)
• When unable to match a family with a Family Navigator the RNC provides direct support to the family
• The RNC collects timely data from Family Navigators on family matches and maintains up to date information on professional and family support in the CFIs Salesforce data system

• The RNC identifies gaps in services as well as conflicts that may arise between services providers and families and reports issues and resolutions to the F2F Network director and CFI director

Community Relations

• The RNC completes community mapping of associations groups and organizations in the Central Virginia region to help the CFI maintain uptodate information on resources services contacts etc.
• The RNC serves on state and/or regional committees as a CFI/Partnership representative
• The RNC exhibits or supports Family Navigators to exhibit CFI and Partnership materials a resource fairs/conferences in the Central Virginia region
• The RNC establishes collaborative relationships with leaders and professionals in the community to promote the mission goals and services of the CFI and Partnership to the community including training on disability laws and services for which their child and family may be eligible
• The RNC should understand the culture of the Central Virginia region particularly underserved communities (i.e. rural poverty linguistically diverse military) and develops and sustains a trusting and supportive relationship with organizations and families in the region
• Support the work of the Dept of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDS) Individual and Family Support Program (IFSP) including but not limited to facilitation of IFSP Council meetings promoting IFSP council event completing monthly reports and identifying new partnerships and resource identification

Organization Support

• The RNC attends and participates as a team member in regular CFI and Partnership staff meetings/trainings to stay abreast of our initiatives
• The RNC determines a schedule for bringing Central Virginia Family Navigators together to ensure they are kept up to date on important CFI Partnership (and partner agency) information
• The RNC serves as a resource to the CFI and Partnership by bringing Central Virginia regional family perspectives to ensure the delivery of effective culturally agile and family centered services to organizational clients
• The RNC assists develops and participates in programs or projects assigned by the supervisor to ensure the integration of family wisdom and experience to these programs

Professional Development

• The RNC attends mandatory Partnership CFI and/or VCU employee orientation and ongoing staff development opportunities
• The RNC participates in at least three face to face or virtual training seminars or courses and at least one state conference every year to improve service knowledge and skills and provide/share knowledge with CFI team and/or act as a content expert in a particular area of interest or knowledge
• The RNC actively participates in RNC team discussions (46 times/year) by sharing experiences training information resources etc. with other RNC team members and identifying gaps in services and possible solutions
• The RNC meets at least one time per month with the F2F Network director (and/or F2F codirector)
  Connect for Success Symposium Planning
• The Central Virginia RNC supports a planning team of professionals in order to organize an in person family engagement conference for PRCs TTACs military SLOs CFI PEATC family organizations and Family Engagement Network members (called the Connect for Success Symposium)
• The Central Virginia RNC meets regularly with the CFI director and a member of the Partnership events planning team to review conference plans and share decisions made by the planning team
• The Central Virginia RNC facilitates the 2 day event with support from planning team members
  Council Support
• The RNC supports the Central Virginia Individual and Family Support (IFSP) Council by recruiting members appropriate to council service attending state and Central Virginia regional IFSP Council meetings and ensuring meeting materials and notes are in place
• The RNC attends regular meetings with the Virginia Dept of Behavioral Health & Developmental Services to provide updates on IFSP Council work and to plan for state and regional council meeting agendas
  

Minimum Qualifications

• Have a minimum of 5 years of direct experience with supporting children/adults with developmental disabilities or special health care needs and their families
• Demonstrate respectful and welcoming language during interviews showing an understanding of different family structures and backgrounds.
• Ask thoughtful questions that reflect an awareness of these principles in the workplace.
• Use respectful and welcoming language in written communication demonstrating sensitivity to different perspectives.
• Provide specific examples from past experiences that illustrate their ability to work effectively with families who have different structures and backgrounds and their understanding of familycentered approaches
• Have at least 3 years of experience working with disability service delivery systems (education developmental disabilities Medicaid) local associations groups and organizations and other disability service providers
• Must be able tocollaborate well with others and be open to new ideas and adjust approaches as necessary
• Be selfdirected selfmotivated organized and able to multitask
• Have good computer skills (experienced in using current technology to communicate and prepare materials including website navigation and data entry) to include:
  • Navigating and using either Windows or macOS environments.
  • Software experience with Microsoft Word Google Docs or Apple Pages for creating and editing documents.
  • Software experience with Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets for data entry organization and basic analysis (e.g. creating simple formulas sorting filtering).
  • Experience using software like Microsoft PowerPoint Google Slides or Canva to create and deliver presentations.
  • Proficiency in using email clients (e.g. Outlook Gmail Apple Mail) for communication and calendar applications (e.g. Outlook Calendar Google Calendar) for schedules
  • Comfortable using web browsers (e.g. Chrome Safari Firefox) to navigate websites conduct online research and access webbased applications.
  • Familiarity with platforms like Zoom Microsoft Teams or Google Meet for online communication and collaboration.
• Demonstrated experience working in and fostering an environment of respect professionalism and civility with a population of faculty staff and students from various backgrounds and experiences or a commitment to do so as a staff member of VCU
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Ability to provide guidance to families of people with disabilities in personal and/or professional settings based on experience providing services or supports in these areas
• Have experience with transition aged services and adult service systems (e.g. PreEmployment Transition Services DARS employment services)
• Have experience managing volunteers
• Have experience with event planning (conferences webinars and trainings)
  

Typical Education and Experience

High School Diploma/GED and 13 years relevant professional experience or equivalent combination of education experience and training

Nickie Brandenburger

Required Experience:

IC