| JOB SUMMARY: |
NORC is currently seeking a full-time child welfare specialist to join our child, youth, and family portfolio. This position is contingent upon contract award. This staff member will contribute to a child welfare project by supporting a federal process that assesses the quality of services and outcomes for children and families. Travel is required.
Preferably applicants will be based in either our Chicago, IL or Washington, DC offices with a hybrid office/work from home schedule. We are also open to applicants working remotely.
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| DEPARTMENT: Economics, Justice & Society |
The Economics, Justice, and Society delivers actionable research on critical social programs and issues, timely socio-economic trend data, and evidence-based solutions across a wide variety of topics from business dynamics to household formation. The department is home to NORC’s Center for Public Safety and Justice, Center on Behavioral Economic Analysis and Decision-Making, and three long-running flagship surveys – the General Social Survey, the Survey of Consumer Finance, and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. We provide insights into communities, households, businesses, and the nation through our expertise in income and poverty, household finance, youth development, victimization, law enforcement, religion, traffic safety, data governance, and other topics. We engage in policy analysis and evaluation research relating to social programs and issues, the economy and the labor force, transportation and traffic safety, and crime and law enforcement. We work with a diverse set of clients and partners, including policy-makers and data users in national, state and local governments, academia, and the press.
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| RESPONSIBILITIES: |
- Develop and deliver training to jurisdictions participating in the child welfare assessment and improvement process.
- Provide TA and monitoring with respect to state child welfare assessment and improvement activities and progress.
- Serve as liaison and subject matter expert, facilitating communication and delivering technical expertise to assist federal client in coordination of child welfare assessment and improvement activities.
- Provide logistics support for child welfare assessment and improvement activities.
- Support data collection, analysis, reporting, and evaluation of jurisdictions’ performance on outcomes, including ongoing analysis of quantitative and qualitative data gathered during the review process in addition to other relevant data sources.
- Manage and develop interactive dashboards (e.g., Tableau).
- Develop, update, and deliver training, instruments, resources, reports, summaries and presentations regarding state performance and assessment findings.
- Draft communication strategies; facilitate information dissemination across federal agency platforms
- Travel for onsite activities, including state case reviews, state team training, stakeholder interviews, and technical assistance/monitoring visits.
- Contribute to business development activities, including generating ideas and responding to requests for proposals (RFPs).
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| REQUIRED SKILLS: |
- Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree with 5+ years of relevant experience, Master’s degree with 3+ years of experience, or PhD in child or human development, social work, family studies, education, psychology, or a related field.
- Knowledge and professional experience in child welfare, with expertise in child welfare policy and practice at the state or federal level.
- Experience with child welfare data and data systems, data analysis, sampling, measurement, and interpretation of qualitative and quantitative data.
- Knowledge of structure and content of Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), and U.S. Census data used to evaluate performance.
- Understanding of use of entry, exit, and point-in-time cohorts and other characteristics of child welfare statewide data indicators and measurement objectives.
- Project management experience.
- Experience developing training materials and delivering training.
- Strong, effective written communication skills.
- Excellent oral communication skills.
- Ability to work effectively as an individual as well as part of a team.
- Strong organizational skills and high level of attention to detail; flexibility to manage multiple priorities, sometimes simultaneously, under deadlines.
- Commitment to confidentiality, accuracy, and high-quality performance in a federal program environment.
- Must obtain federal clearances and meet security and onboarding requirements.
- Must be eligible for and maintain access to government-issued equipment (GFE), including laptops and PIV cards, for support of federal systems.
- Able to physically travel by car and plane for onsite activities, including state case reviews, state team training, stakeholder interviews, and technical assistance/monitoring visits.
- Qualified applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S. We regret that we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position.
Preferred Qualifications
- Demonstrated experience with federally mandated child welfare reviews
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| SALARY AND BENEFITS: |
The pay range for this position is $105,000 – $115,000.
This position is classified as regular. Regular staff are eligible for NORC’s comprehensive benefits program. Benefits include, but are not limited to:
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Generously subsidized health insurance, effective on the first day of employment
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Dental and vision insurance
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A defined contribution retirement program, along with a separate voluntary 403(b) retirement program
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Group life insurance, long-term and short-term disability insurance
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Benefits that promote work/life balance, including generous paid time off, holidays; paid parental leave, bereavement leave, tuition assistance, and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
NORC is committed to equity and transparency in its pay practices. We publish salary ranges and benefit information for every job. The listed hiring range reflects what we, in good faith, expect to pay at the time of posting, though actual compensation may vary and may be adjusted over time. A candidate’s placement within the range depends on factors such as competencies, education, qualifications, experience, skills, performance, and organizational needs.
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| WHAT WE DO: |
NORC at the University of Chicago is an objective, non-partisan research institution that delivers reliable data and rigorous analysis to guide critical programmatic, business, and policy decisions. Since 1941, our teams have conducted groundbreaking studies, created and applied innovative methods and tools, and advanced principles of scientific integrity and collaboration. Today, government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world partner with us to transform increasingly complex information into useful knowledge.
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| WHO WE ARE: |
For over 80 years, NORC has evolved in many ways, moving the needle with research methods, technical applications and groundbreaking research findings. But our tradition of excellence, passion for innovation, and commitment to collegiality have remained constant components of who we are as a brand, and who each of us is as a member of the NORC team. With world-class benefits, a business casual environment, and an emphasis on continuous learning, NORC is a place where people join for the stellar research and analysis work for which we’re known, and stay for the relationships they form with their colleagues who take pride in the impact their work is making on a global scale.
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| EEO STATEMENT: |
NORC is an equal opportunity employer. NORC evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, sexual orientation, and other legally protected characteristics.
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