SAP Coordinator in Chicago, Illinois at Casa Central

Casa Central’s School Age Program (SAP) provides out-of-school time enrichment programming for children ages 5-12 and their families. The Program Coordinator is responsible for orienting, training, coaching, and monitoring staff, volunteers, and interns; overseeing the daily schedule; supporting lesson planning; responding to child and family needs; and ensuring timely and accurate classroom documentation, including weekly club lesson plans, food logs, attendance/nutrition logs, child assessments, attendance, etc. The SAP Coordinator ensures the development of strategies for the active recruitment, eligibility screening, enrollment, and engagement of children and families. The coordinator provides support to the Director of the School-Age Program to ensure that the program is in full compliance with stakeholder expectations; a healthy working environment is in place for the exchange of communication, ideas, and support; and needs are responded to in a timely and effective manner. The School-Age Program Coordinator acts as Site Director in the absence of the Director; provides input into the evaluations of Group Workers; and provides classroom and other coverage when needed. This is a full-time, year-round position, with an expectation of working until 6pm most evenings.

Include the following, other duties as assigned:

Fiscal Management

Support with the planning, preparation, and management of the program’s budget. Monitor grant/contract budgets to maximize the utilization of resources and communicate the need for budget modification in a timely manner. Work with Finance, Kitchen, and Eligibility staff to ensure recovery of revenue and compliance with funder guidelines, particularly related to CACFP and the Childcare Assistance Program (CCAP). Exercise accurate cash handling and record keeping duties in relation to program fees collected and monetary donations generated via fundraising activities. Collect co-pays and transportation fees.

Participant Service Delivery

Ensure new children and families are oriented, welcomed, and integrated into the program. Lead the recruitment and enrollment efforts of children and families to the program. Assist in classrooms and with transportation routes, including working with children 1-1 and in small and large groups, providing homework help, leading lessons, supervising field trips, etc. Review child assessments for completeness and accuracy, two times a year, for each child. Support delivery of parent workshops & facilitation of parent meetings. In collaboration with the Director and team, plan special events for the program (holiday celebrations, Family Nights, etc.). Maintain a quality program that meets the needs of the children and families enrolled, including ensuring adequate staffing coverage plans to always allow for appropriate ratios and active supervision of children. Responsible for the integration of all program components and development of program schedule.

Performance & Quality Management

Implement the agency mission, philosophy, and core values to direct daily work and decision-making. Adhere to agency policy and support staff with understanding and adhering to agency policy. Be actively involved with, and knowledgeable about, the agency’s Performance Quality Improvement (PQI) structure and process. Using the Quality Improvement Cycle, develop, create, manage and execute annual work plans goals and objectives. Support the PQI system through engagement in committees and ensuring program compliance with PQI standards and schedules as it pertains to reports, evaluations and data collection. Oversee the completion and submission of timely reports, including participant demographics, program dashboard, and other information as requested. Keep abreast of economic conditions, trends, and developments in the sector, and inform administration of developments to ensure service quality and continuity. Responsible for promoting the achievement of program goals.

Personnel Supervision & team Leadership

Cultivate a professional and respectful work environment. Manage the selection, onboarding, ongoing training, and performance evaluation of staff. Develop and sustain a program meeting schedule that facilitates communication and support amongst program staff, whether in individual or group settings. Participate in interviewing, selecting, onboarding, training, and supervising Group Workers, as well as program interns and volunteers. With the Director, identify training needs of staff and support staff with registering for and completing appropriate conferences, seminars, and training. Train and coach staff on policies and procedures; developing activity plans; curricula; program model; daily schedules and routines; child observation; developmental expectations of each age group; assessments; and goal planning.

Program Operations

Lead the DCFS relicensing process every 3 years and ensure ongoing compliance with scheduled and unscheduled audits and site visits. Lead the ExceleRate Illinois renewal process on an annual basis, ensuring ongoing compliance with best practice guidelines and continuous quality improvement expectations. Lead the program through COA (Council on Accreditation) reaccreditation processes, ensuring ongoing adherence to identified best practice standards. Lead the program through all audit and monitoring visits, including securing documentation, coordinating with auditors/monitors, and collaborating with departments to demonstrate compliance and quality. Ensure participant and program-level employee files are kept current and in compliance with COA, licensing, agency, and other relevant standards. Ensure deliverables/indicators are delivered as agreed in executed contracts. Ensure that all required program databases are maintained. Develop and maintain record-keeping and management systems to facilitate communication, streamline reporting, and maximize outcomes. Approve time sheets and ensure compliance with agency and funder guidelines, ensuring that daily activities are within the allowable activities approved by the agency. Support ongoing recruitment and enrollment activities. Maintain knowledge in current field by attending seminars, workshops, and in-service training, completing and documenting at least 20 hours of relevant training per year. Provide program leadership and coverage in the absence of the School-Age Program Director.

Stakeholder relationships & Partnerships

Nurture positive and collaborative working relationships with other agency staff and outside stakeholders and partners. Maintain role as liaison with citywide, community and neighborhood institutions, organizations and groups. Maintain regular communication and strong working relationships with all of SAP’s partner schools. Formulate reports and communication pieces for program stakeholders.

Administrative Tasks

Approve time sheets and ensure compliance with agency and funder guidelines, ensuring that daily activities are within the allowable activities approved by the agency. Assist Director with programmatic reports and compilation of data. Review and process Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) Childcare Assistance Program (CCAP) paperwork, including initial and ongoing redeterminations, according to policy. Supports with the completion and monitoring of Monthly Enrollment Reports; communicates effectively with families, staff, and funders regarding the eligibility determination process; and works effectively and ethically within the guidelines of the CCAP program to resolve inconsistencies and offer assistance. Providing programming and clerical support, such managing databases, answering phones, typing, scheduling appointments, photocopying, faxing, filing, handling correspondence, organizing and maintaining paper and electronic files, greeting visitors, answering telephone calls and providing information to callers, collecting parent payments, supporting childcare and program eligibility determination, etc. Monitor data tracking in classrooms. Oversee documentation of classroom activity, planning, materials, and resources.

Performance & Quality Management

Cultivate a professional and respectful work environment. Be actively involved with, and knowledgeable about, the agency’s Performance Quality Improvement (PQI) structure and process. Invite and make use of staff feedback in program planning in order to improve collaboration and develop a healthy team environment within the program. Implement the agency mission, philosophy, and core values to direct daily work and decision-making; adhere to agency policy.

General requirements:

Sensitivity to cultural diversity is required. Will be subject to drug and alcohol screening, as well as aptitude and skills testing. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to perform the essential functions.

A minimum of an associate degree from an accredited college or university in child development or early childhood education; or B.A. in Education; Early Childhood Education; Child Development. Thirty semester or 45 quarter hours of credit from an accredited college or university with 12 semester or 18 quarter hours related to school-age child care, child development, elementary education, physical education, recreation, camping or other related fields; and at least 750 clock hours of experience in a recreational program or a licensed day care center serving school-age children or in a license exempt school-age child care program operated by a public or private school.

Language Skills:

Bilingual in Spanish preferred.

Not eligible for remote work. A personal mobile phone is not required and therefore not eligible for mobile phone reimbursement.

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

The statements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by the employee in this position. The content of this job description is not intended to be constructed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of a person in this position.