Job Description
About the OCA
The Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) is an independent executive branch agency with oversight and ombudsperson responsibilities, established by the Massachusetts Legislature in 2008. The OCA's mission is to ensure that children receive appropriate, timely, and quality state services, with a particular focus on ensuring that the Commonwealth's most vulnerable and at-risk children can thrive. Through collaboration with public and private stakeholders, the OCA identifies gaps in state services and recommends improvements in policy, practice, regulation and/or law. The OCA also serves as a resource for families who are receiving, or are eligible to receive, services from the Commonwealth.
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Office of the Child Advocate | Mass.gov
Commitment to Diversity
The OCA actively seeks to increase the diversity of its workforce and is interested in candidates whose experiences, skills, and qualifications support an ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Applicants are invited to include a statement within their cover letter describing how diversity, equity, and inclusion factor into the candidate's work and/or life experiences. The OCA values diverse perspectives, including candidates with lived experience in the child protective and/or juvenile justice systems.
About the Position
The Quality Assurance Team at the OCA focuses on improving the quality of state service delivery by responding to individual concerns about children received via our Complaint Line and evaluating statutorily required critical incident reports and supported reports of abuse and/or neglect of children in out-of-home settings. In addition to responding to individual cases as necessary, the information gathered and analyzed by the Quality Assurance Team informs the OCA's policy initiatives and recommendations related to state service quality and delivery, child maltreatment, preventable childhood injuries, and other issues or associated risk factors.
The Clinical Specialist (CS) will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience working as a collaborative member of the Quality Assurance Team and play an important role in developing and shaping the improvement of services to children and families of the Commonwealth. The CS evaluates the quality of state services provided to children and families and identifies systemic gaps, trends in issues related to service provision, as well as opportunities for improvement in state agency policy and practice.
The right candidate for this position is one who has an interest in ensuring the state's most vulnerable children and youth are protected from harm and who appreciates the role the state has in ensuring that all children and youth can thrive. This person is organized, highly clinical, able to work quickly, flexible, and able to adapt as work plans and goals shift based on a variety of factors. You are an effective communicator, solution focused, a critical thinker, a strong writer, and you are open to listening and learning from a range of perspectives. You are detail oriented, and able to work independently, while also working collaboratively with peers, managers, and OCA leadership to advance initiatives. You have a demonstrated commitment to fostering inclusion and addressing disparities in state services and systems. Most of all, you have a passion for improving the lives of the children and youth of the Commonwealth and want to be part of a growing team of public servants who share that passion.
Duties and Responsibilities (these are a general summary and not all inclusive):
- Perform Ombudsperson functions on the OCA Complaint Line, which includes responding directly to complaints and/or requests for information and resources from members of the public.
- Independently conduct case reviews of complaints received and determine, in collaboration with the Quality Assurance Manager, next steps for resolution and/or if OCA intervention is required.
- Independently conduct case reviews of Critical Incident Reports (CIRs) from Massachusetts child-serving state agencies concerning the fatality, near fatality, serious bodily injury, or emotional injury of a child and/or young adult receiving services.
- Independently review assigned DCF supported allegations of abuse or neglect reports (institutional) of children in out-of-home settings.
- Identify case practice concerns, trends, gaps and areas for system-wide practice or policy improvements based on a multifaceted clinical analysis of information gathered during complaint, CIR and/or institutional reviews.
- Provide clinical analysis and written reports concerning all case reviews and findings, including feedback to state agencies with identified policy and practice concerns.
- Debrief case reviews with the Quality Assurance Managers and/or Senior Director of Quality Assurance as requested and as needed.
- Collaborate with the Quality Assurance Managers and/or Senior Director of Quality Assurance to perform investigations, as assigned. This could include extensive review of relevant electronic and paper records, data analysis, state agency or stakeholder interviews, and drafting written reports.
- Responsible for the timely and quality documentation of Complaint Line inquiries, CIR reviews and reviews of supported allegations of abuse or neglect in out-of-home settings in the OCA database (Salesforce).
- May assist on special projects related to the OCA's core function work (Complaint Line, CIRs, supported allegations of abuse or neglect in out-of-home settings).
- Work on special projects related to the Complaint Line, CIR reviews, reports of abuse or neglect in out-of-home settings and/or at the request/assignment of OCA management.
- Respond to requests for information from The Child Advocate.
- May provide leadership and represent the OCA at Committee, Board and Council meetings, as requested.
Qualifications
- Relevant Education such as a Bachelor's Degree in social work or related field (psychology, criminal justice).
- Experience working within a child protection agency is preferred .
- Some k nowledge of the Massachusetts child-serving agencies and organizations , particularly child welfare is preferred.
- Strong writing, communicati on, and critical analysis skills.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office 365: Outlook, Word, and other computer software applications.
- A bility to demonstrate initiative, work inde pendently and as part of a team.
- Interest in professional development and growth.
- Demonstrates exceptional ethical and professional integrity by upholding the highest level of confidentiality regarding sensitive information .
A resume and cover letter are required.
Review of applications will start immediately and continue while the position is posted. First consideration will be given to those applicants that apply within the first 14 days.