Adoption Recruitment Coordinator for Youth with Disabilities

Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE)

We find permanent and adoptive families for children and teens in foster care.

Job Description

MARE’s Mission:
At MARE, we connect children and teens in foster care to permanent and adoptive families. MARE is a non-profit agency with more than 65 years working in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) to mobilize and support a compassionate community of families, individuals and supporters ready to provide the live-giving connections that children and youth in foster care need. We exist to help children and teens who wait the longest in foster care without permanency to find life-long connections. MARE specializes in the recruitment of permanent and adoptive families for teens, children of color, sibling groups, LGBTQ+ identified youth, and those with complex medical and developmental needs.  MARE's primary office is in Newton, however this position could also be headquartered in Springfield. 

Position Summary:

The Adoption Recruitment Coordinator for Youth with Disabilities, known internally as a Specialized Recruitment Coordinator (SRC) is an agent of change in the lives of children and teenagers with disabilities in the Massachusetts foster care system who are waiting for adoptive families. The SRC will identify adoptive families or other permanent adult relationships for youth with disabilities and/or complex medical needs. The SRC is responsible for developing, coordinating, and administering individual recruitment plans for a small caseload of children and teenagers with a goal of adoption, including monitoring the progress of each child toward a successful permanent match.  The SRC will nurture relationships with prospective adoptive families interested in adopting children with disabilities and/or complex medical needs and support their progress towards successful placement and adoption.

The Specialized Recruitment Coordinator is also responsible for planning several events annually, which focus on matching MARE-referred children with disabilities and/or complex medical needs, recruiting new families to adopt such children and teens, and educating families and social workers about disability issues.  The SRC collaborates cross-departmentally to maximize the resources MARE offers for the youth on the SRC caseload. The SRC visits with the youth on their caseload quarterly, and devotes much of their time to building partnership with other significant adults in each child’s life including foster parents, relatives, case managers, group home staff, and other providers.  

Candidate Description:

You might be the right fit for this role if you are motivated to make a change in the lives of youth with special needs and can serve as an advocate for their need for permanent family life beyond their diagnoses or limitations. You find a challenge in persevering to overcome systemic barriers and cultural misconceptions.  You enjoy human connectedness and working to build coalition, while being able to sustain stretches of independent case management and documentation.  You can work within a structured model and bring innovative ideas and flexibilty in response to each child or teen's unique needs.

Qualifications:
MARE actively seeks to broaden the diversity of our team to best reflect the populations we serve, and encourages BIPOC individuals, persons with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ+ community and those with lived experience with the child welfare system to consider applying, even if all qualifications are not met.

The Specialized Recruitment Coordinator (SRC) will have many of the following qualifications/skills:
  • Bachelor's degree and experience in human services, special education, child welfare or a related field. A Master’s degree and personal or professional experience with the disability community are considered a plus.
  • Strong written and interpersonal communication skills with the ability to adapt communication approach for children, teens, prospective families, and professional colleagues. 
  • Comfortable advocating on behalf of clients and the organization and must demonstrate strategic problem-solving skills.
  • Committed to contributing to a workplace culture of diversity, equity and inclusion, and must share MARE’s urgency for finding permanency for all children and teens in foster care, through innovation, compassion and connection.
  • Self-motivated and able to manage their time and priorities independently, while contributing as an active team member within their Department and the organization at large.  
  • Ability to plan and execute events, being able to articulate a broad vision, as well as coordinate the details to implement vision successfully.
  • Demonstrated comfort with modern office technology, including basic proficiency using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database and the Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint). 
  • Reliable access to a car and ability to be in the field several times per month, including occasional statewide travel.
  • Avialability for occasional scheduled weekend and evening commitments.

MARE’s Culture & Benefits:
MARE’s values of innovation, compassion and connection are at the core of our services to children and families. Our 21-person staff team has a clear sense of and a strong commitment to being a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization where multiple voices are heard and honored. MARE has a flexible remote/in-person hybrid workplace with a minimum of one full day per week in-person at our Newton or Springfield office.

MARE offers a comprehensive benefits package including:
  • Flexible family-friendly working hours
  • Generous paid vacation (4+weeks), holidays (13), and sick time 
  • Medical and Dental Insurance
  • Life and Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance
  • Long Term Disability
  • 401(k) pre-tax saving plan with up to 4% of salary matched by employer