Senior Permanency Research Coordinator , Cape Town, South Africa

As the Permanency Research Coordinator, you will be responsible for developing and implementing a professional project that engages multiple stakeholders with diverse interests to identify barriers to efficient permanency for children in alternative care in Cape Town, South Africa. Having conducted such research, you will work with a team to facilitate the development and collective agreement of creative solutions amongst stakeholders. Finally, we will oversee the implementation of the strategy and formulate a comprehensive M&E plan that can be handed over to partners for continual improvement. If you have world-­-class skills, the determination to see an impossible task to completion, and a passion for seeing every child being raised in stable, thriving families, we want to hear from you!

At Arise, we believe that God desires families for children and that a loving, supportive, stable family environment is a tangible expression of God’s dream come true. Therefore, we ultimately desire to see every child being raised in a thriving family environment. We will work with Child and Youth Care Centres, churches, and families in Cape Town to promote foster care and adoption for children without a family structure with the aim that every child might have a family. We will also work with communities to increase their capacity to strengthen and support existing family environments.

Arise is creating the new post of "Senior Permanency Research Coordinator" to lead a team that will engage a diverse group of stakeholders to develp and implement a unified framework for moving children in alternative care toward family permanency as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Research:

Under general supervision, the Researcher is responsible for the design, day to day operational management and implementation of all activities pertaining to researching barriers to permanency for children in alternative care in Cape Town.

· To oversee development of research outline, timetable, activities, and outcomes in conjunction with the Director and Policy Facilitator
· Work in collaboration with government departments, statutory agencies, CYCCs, and community leaders to identify research goals and reach outcomes
· To work independently collating, assessing, and summarizing background research and relevant literature

Policy Development:

The Researcher is responsible for using the research outputs in support of the development of permanency policy in conjunction with the Policy Facilitator

· Build collaborative policy framework with all stakeholders
· Design and lead implementation and training strategy
· Oversee monitoring and evaluation of policy implementation
· Manage handover of continuing M&E to stakeholders

Person Specification:
Qualifications: Essential / Desirable

Qualifications: Research-based Masters or equivalent in Social Work, Public Policy, or similar field / Ph.D. or Post-doctoral research in field

Work Experience: Minimum three years research and project management experience in social work or public policy environment / Successful policy implementation experience working with multiple stakeholders; Published research and analysis papers in peer-reviewed journals

Competencies: Excellent written and oral communication skills, Strategic thinking, Excellent time management, Independent initiative / Demonstrated leadership in entrepreneurial environments, Financial or budgeting skills

Languages: English / Xhosa and Afrikaans

IT: MS Office expertise, data analysis / Statistical software expertise

Travel: License and has own car / Occasional weekend or evening 

Skills/Attributes: Essential / Desirable

Christian Belief: Mature Christian adhering to Arise’s Statement of Faith and Values / Evidence of growing and vibrant faith

Motivation: Highly self-motivated / Taking initiative

Team Building: Ability to work within and manage a team / Ability to lead others in difficult or new tasks

Management and Leadership: Leadership of diverse team of varied skill levels on as-needed basis / Demonstrated visionary

Technical Expertise: Proven ability in research and policy analysis; Proven written communication skills / Financial and budget management skills; Public policy development and implementation track record

Adaptability: Daily project flexibility / Manage multiple large projects 

Functional Links:
Internal: Director, Project staff
External: Government department staff/leadership, Social Workers and managers, CYCCs, research authors 


Job Commitment:
Remuneration: Up to R16k per month CTC depending on experience
Starting Date: 1 July 2013
Duration of Commitment: One year fixed-term contract, Renewable up to 7 years dependent on additional funding

Arise Permanency Research Coordinator – Research Motivation
Arise Believes in a Thriving Family Environment for Every Child

Arise shares your conviction that children are best served in secure, protected, thriving family environments. Permanency for every child living in institutional care in Cape Town must be a realistic and urgent goal. We are seeking to collaborate with Child and Youth Care Centres, statutory social work agencies, the justice system, and community networks to facilitate the development of policy guidelines to ensure that family permanency – whether through reunification, long-term fostering, or adoption – is achieved as quickly as possible for all children.

The global call for permanency is overwhelming, culminating in the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children (2010) which states as a first priority, “To support efforts to keep children in, or return them to, the care of their families or, failing this, to find another appropriate and permanent solution, including adoption...” As far back as 1995, Save the Children reported evidence of the long term developmental, social, emotional, and psychological harm to children raised in institutional care. Arise will sound a rallying cry for all stakeholders to move beyond rhetoric and take serious action to care for all of our children in permanent family structures.

Nations as diverse as Romania, Indonesia, Rwanda, and Ethiopia have developed strategies that support grassroots initiatives to provide families for children. They realise that children cared for by families within communities are more likely to thrive and contribute to the collective good than those raised by institutions.

Locally, research from 2007 by the University of Cape Town’s Children’s Institute reveals a complex and variable residential care system that does not uniformly move children into permanency in an efficient manner. Our Children’s Act and subsequent amendments position residential care as a short-term therapeutic intervention that must work with children to move them back into a family. It is clear from the Children’s Institute’s research that we are not meeting the challenge and that many children are staying in residential care for long periods.

Arise is committed to a comprehensive and participatory research project into the barriers to permanency for children in Cape Town followed by the collaborative formation of an effective policy infrastructure that promotes a pathway to permanency for all children. Together, our shared commitment to children in thriving families contributes significantly toward our common vision of a vibrant future for South Africa.

To request an application form, send your current CV and a sample of English language academic writing (preferably published) to careers@arisecapetown.org.za. Selected individuals will receive an application form to complete and return by 1 JUNE 2013. Arise reserves the right not to fill this post.