Guardianship Program Director

• Older Adults Division - Guardianship
• Waltham, MA, USA
• $80,000-$85,000 + Hiring Bonus
• Salary
• Full Time
• We regret we are unable to take phone calls about this position. JF&CS is an equal opportunity employer.

About JF&CS

For more than 150 years, Jewish Family & Children's Service has been helping individuals and families of build a strong foundation for resilience and well-being. We intentionally serve and employ people of all faiths, backgrounds, cultures, and abilities. Through an integrated portfolio of more than 40 programs reaching communities throughout Eastern and Central Massachusetts, JF&CS focuses on meeting the needs of new parents and their children, older adults and family caregivers, children and adults with disabilities, and people experiencing poverty, hunger, or domestic abuse.

About Services for Older Adults

With aging comes the unforeseen. Yet every adult deserves to age with dignity, purpose, and connection to community. Professional resources can be the key to that experience. Services for Older Adults, (SOA) a division of Jewish Family & Children's Service (JF&CS) in Waltham, is a state-wide leader in advancing care for older adults, combining compassion and expertise. SOA helps older adults, and their families navigate life transitions and changing circumstances by promoting connection and social engagement, improving the ability to manage challenges posed by chronic illness, and in accessing resources that support aging in community.

The Division supports upwards of 3,000 people each year, through programs designed to improve quality of life and help address challenges associated with aging. JF&CS's work with older adults is distinguished by innovation, thought and practice leadership, and expertise with a broad range of aging issues, including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and mental health and wellness. SOA programs also connect with a wide range of other services within JF&CS, addressing basic needs, mental health, disability supports and more.

About the JF&CS Guardianship Program

For more than 30 years, the JF&CS Guardianship Program has provided customized and comprehensive case management to a diverse range of older adults no longer legally competent to make decisions regarding their health and welfare. Operating out of our Waltham and Central MA locations, we serve as legal guardian, appointed by the Probate Court, for those with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, chronic mental illness, brain injury, and developmental disability. We work with those living independently in the community and those who need day-to-day committed assistance.

Our goal is to provide services for the whole person - physical, emotional, and spiritual. Therefore, our work is individualized and culturally sensitive, responsive to clients' own values, religions and preferences. Each client is assigned to a social worker who gets to know the person and manages every aspect of the case. We are big enough to provide complete coverage yet small enough that each of us is familiar with all the cases.

As guardians, we take our responsibilities seriously, caring for our clients' well-being in every way, guiding them through aging and, eventually, through end of life. This work is challenging, impactful, and profoundly meaningful.

Position Summary:

The Guardianship Program Director leads all aspects of our program, ensuring that we provide excellent care to those we serve, that we maintain strong relationships in the community, and that the program continues to evolve to meet changing needs and address new opportunities. They lead a committed team of four professional case managers and two guardianship accountants, providing ongoing supervision and professional development. They also ensure sound fiscal management of the program and its $850,000+ budget as well as compliance with standards of professional guardianship and the agencies we work with.

Reporting to the Division Director of Services for Older Adults (SOA), the Program Director is a member of the leadership teams of both SOA and JF&CS. They collaborate with other agency staff to strengthen our work so that we may better serve all our clients. They also represent the Guardianship Program in the community and serve as a member of relevant state and national organizations. The annual salary range for this role is $80,000-$85,000 plus a hiring bonus.     

Essential Job Functions:

• Ensure the quality and compliance of the agency standards, polices and requirements
• Collaborate with the fiscal department in ensuring compliance with all government/funding source standards and policies 
• Lead efforts to publicize and promote the Guardianship program to private pay clients and manage billing
• Prepare and submit Mass Health eligibility reviews
• Hire staff and manage case assignments
• Lead development of strategies for program growth and sustainability
• Institute and maintain program policies, procedures and protocols, including creation of Guardianship-specific approach to using agency's client database

• Oversee and ensure completion and maintenance of records, reports, and statistics as required by the Probate Court, funding sources, auditors, and internal policy
• Provide case management for small caseload and offer support, as needed, to case management staff
• Be available for emergency consultation, as necessary, to outside parties
• Develop community resource and referral contacts, serving as agency liaison to the community through trainings or workshops
• Manage relationships with program legal counsel and attend court hearings on as-needed basis
• Pay bond bills, monitor bond amounts and take necessary steps to file for reduction in bonds as appropriate
• Oversee case management staff's completion of financial tasks related to selling client assets and property

• Serve as the primary contact for EOEA relating to the Guardianship Program

• Supervise program manager(s) as well as case management and accounting staff in the Waltham office 
• Hire and oversee interns and volunteers
• Other duties as required

Educational, Experience and Skills Requirements

• Bachelor's degree plus at least 7 years relevant work experience in social services, or 10 years relevant work experience
• Strong program management skills with proven ability to manage several projects at once and respond to tight timelines
• Excellent manager of people and teams
• Demonstrated problem-solving skills
• Highly-developed attention to detail, with the ability to manage effectively in a fast-paced environment
• Strong cross-collaborator and team player with the ability and experience working independently
• Commitment to values of the agency and driven to contributing to the success of its goals and mission
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Experience with state contracts preferred
• Experience with the legal process a plus

If you are interested in the Guardianship Program Director position and have most, but not necessarily 100 percent, of the desired skills and experiences, we encourage you to apply. All applicants should submit a resume and a cover letter.

JF&CS is an equal opportunity employer who serves and employs people of all cultures and faith traditions and highly values diversity, equity and inclusion. Employment opportunities are available to all without regard for race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, disability.