Senior Education Specialist

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.

The Sr Education Specialist role is responsible for providing individualized education support services to at-risk students with the goal of advocating to ensure that students are placed in the most appropriate educational settings. The Sr Education Specialist also provide support to the supervisor in leading the team to meet program KPIs.

1. Advocate for students in IEP meetings to ensure that they are placed in the most appropriate educational setting and that they are receiving all of the services needed to succeed in school. 

2. Ability to maintain open lines of communication with parents, school staff & case planning team regarding student's academic progress, attendance, and behavior. 

3. Identify students who may need special education support, work with case planners to secure the appropriate consents, and make appropriate referrals to the Committee on Special Education or Committe on Pre-School Special Education

4. Attend interdisciplinary team meetings to provide updates on student's educational progress and as well as the student's education plan

5. Conduct school visits within the five boroughs and in the greater New York area to meet with school personnel, speak with students, collect documents (attendance records, report cards, Individualized Education Plans) and confirm that their services are in place

6. Guide students through the high school selection and college process to ensure that they are choosing the best-fit high schools as well as the college of their choice

7. Complete timely and accurate documentation in CONNXs, & Care4 database systems

8. Support supervisor in administrative tasks as needed, as well as contribute to the overall leadership/cohesiveness of the team to ensure the program's KPIs are met. Also support shadowing opportunities & some coverage supports to new & existing specialist as directed by supervisor

The New York Foundling is committed to attracting and retaining a diverse employee population, the Foundling will honor your experiences, perspectives and unique identity. Together, our community strives to create and maintain working and learning environments that are inclusive, equitable and welcoming. 

• Demonstrated strong commitment to safety.
• At least 1 year of relevant experience in child welfare, social services, or related field
• Excellent writing, communication, interpersonal, problem-solving, time management and organizational skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team to meet deadlines, & prioritize multiple tasks efficiently
• Ability to work with diverse population and work from a strength-based, trauma-informed, youth development lens
• Ability to receive and execute feedback to professionally grow and/or improve and be flexible with programmatic needs and changes
• Must be able to travel to meet youth in their homes, in the community or as needed
• Knowledgeable in Excel, Word, TEAMS, Outlook & Power Point, CONNXs, Car4 & Evolv NX