As part of its Child Protection in Emergencies programming, World Vision will be managing the reunification, social and economic reintegration of an est. 500 children affected by armed forces and armed groups (CAAFAG) in Yambio, former Western Equatoria State. This will include management and coordination of two Interim Care Centres in Yambio as tracing and reunification activities go on, and community-based support for reintegration through ongoing FTR case management, comprehensive case management and delivery of community-based psychosocial support activities from Child Friendly Space (CFS) sites.
The Child Protection Specialist will be responsible for overseeing all psychosocial support (PSS) activities within the two Interim Care Centres and community-based CFS sites, supervising social workers in the ICC and CFS sites, and providing on-going/on-job coaching and mentoring of social workers and FTR Monitors responsible for FTR case management, case management for GBV survivors, and case management for other child of concern affected by child protection issues. With regards to Level 2 (basic) PSS, this position will help social workers to develop weekly activity plans that are age and gender appropriate; these activities will be run by the social workers and community volunteers.
Regards Level 3 PSS, this position will be responsible for supervising social workers as they conduct individual assessment, development of case management and counselling / therapy plans, delivery of PSS services, and case follow up /monitoring. This position will also be responsible for mentoring and coaching the social workers to build local capacity. The Child Protection Specialist should be available to conduct formal trainings to develop skill sets as necessary, in addition to on-job coaching. Finally, the Child Protection Specialist will be responsible for engagement and/or management of complex CAAFAG cases (Level 3 or Level 4 MHPSS needs), and specifically complex case management / PSS needs for GBV survivors or other children of concern.
This is a component of a larger, multi-location Child Protection in Emergencies project; the Child Protection Specialist will also spend time after the key phases of release / reintegration to provide technical support, coaching and quality monitoring to other project implementation areas.
- Provide senior technical and management leadership to the delivery of psychosocial support services and case management for a major CAAFAG caseload reunification, working from two Interim Care Centres and supporting/supervising community-based CFS sites.
- Supervise a team of FTR Monitors & social workers in their development of case management plans, counselling / therapy plans, delivery of PSS services based on case assessment, follow up and case management (at Interim Care Centres and community-based sites) as a form of on-job coaching, mentorship & to ensure a high quality of case management & PSS service delivery.
- Support a team of social workers and community volunteers to develop weekly age / gender-appropriate Level 2 (basic, recreational) PSS activities; Provide senior oversight to these activities to ensure identification of specialized needs, quality of services.
- Take lead in complex / specialized mental health or PSS needs, either by directly leading on case management and/or overseeing referral to specialized services or care, where available Support CAAFAG reunification component and other project locations with technical guidance, provision / facilitation of formal training, on-job coaching, performance / quality monitoring to ensure high quality case management and delivery of PSS services.
- Provide senior leadership to Yambio-based Child Protection team, leading coordination of various actors contributing to the management of the Interim Care Centres (i.e. INGO & NNGO partners, State Ministry of Education (incl. Directorate of Gender) & coordination with UN Partners (UNICEF, WFP, UNHCR).
- Project reporting (weekly activity updates, monthly reporting, donor reporting) & other duties as required by the overall Project Manager.
- The Child Protection Specialist should have an academic and practical experience background in child psychology, preferably child psychology or social work in conflict, post-conflict or major displacement contexts. Experiencing working in a care facility for adolescents and youth is strongly preferred.
- Certificate courses in MHPSS, UNICEF PSS or similar humanitarian psychology courses.
- Work experience with children in interim care, long-term care, boarding / residential school, juvenile rehabilitation or detention centre, etc strongly preferred OR - Practical experience with CAAFAG release caseloads and the provision of related PSS services strongly preferred.
- Practical experience with PSS / Social Work in humanitarian and/or complex settings including FTR Case Management, GBV Case Management, Comprehensive Case Management for children of concern preferred.
- Must have strong working understanding of rights-based approaches that support and protect the best interests of children.
- Working knowledge and understanding of GBV survivor-centred approach and familiarity with GBV case management.
- Must have a love for children and demonstrate patience, tolerance, problem solving, open-mindedness and interest in social justice.
- English writing / speaking skills.
- Competent computer skills for report writing.
Working Environment/Travel:
- Work environment: Interim Care Centres (60%); Day travel to Community Sites (30%); Support to other locations within the project (10%).
- Competitive benefits, including hardship pay and R&R.