Community Responder - California

Who We Are

Think of Us (TOU) is a Research + Design lab on a mission to fundamentally re-architect the foster care system as we know it, powered by the data, leadership and insights of people with lived experience. The most challenging social problems we face – homelessness, mental illness, incarceration, and human trafficking – share a common intersection point: foster care. That’s why we are sparking, driving, and co-creating a nimble, responsive foster care system that will ensure every person has the conditions from which to heal, develop, and thrive. We partner with leading organizations driving change across the national ecosystem – from the White House to local providers and agencies – to identify leverage points and build solutions.

Think of Us is driving nationwide, catalytic change via multiple coordinated channels, including:

• Mobilizing and leveraging the collective voice of 38,000 former foster youth into over $400M in Federal pandemic relief funds
• Collaborating with three consecutive presidential administrations to improve Federal policy, participating in 26 engagements with the White House in the last year alone
• Inspiring 22 states to commit to eliminating group homes within 72 hours of releasing our groundbreaking Away from Home report, and partnering with six jurisdictions to make this commitment a reality
• Creating a new model for frontline support, TOU’s Virtual Support Services (VSS) connects individuals impacted by foster care with vital resources. Successfully operating in California, Georgia, and Boston, VSS boasts an <8 hour response time and 95+% of help seekers needs being met.

Our team members share a commitment to driving systems change through creative problem-solving, obsessive curiosity, and a love of quickly driving innovative, measurable, and impactful results.

At this time, Think of Us does not sponsor visas for candidates, and unfortunately cannot accept candidates in the US on Curricular Practical Training (CPT) or Optional Practical Training (OPT).

 

The Role

As part of our Direct Impact Team, we are offering Virtual Support Services (VSS), a digital resource navigation model that leverages tech-enabled strategies to give young people and families direct access to resources for kinship families in the state of California.

The Community Responder (CR) serves as a navigator - helping to research, call and vet resources based on what individuals tell us they need. The CR also researches and builds our directory of resources (traditional AND non-traditional), including partnerships with virtual solutions beyond the scope of traditional child welfare (e.g. education coaching, telehealth and more).   

Centering lived experience is core to everything we do, so experience with the child welfare system – professionally or personally – and living in the state of California is required.

 

Responsibilities

Direct Support (60%)

• Serve as the primary point of contact for VSS for the state of California.
• Provide real-time virtual support (phone, text, email) to connect kinship families with resources and services (e.g., completing a housing voucher application, identifying a local organization that offers counseling services and making the first appointment)

Researching and Vetting Resources (40%)

• Understands the needs data of kin families across VSS to identify local resources that could be a potential quality partner for the Local Partner Collaborative.
• Actively vets resources to provide warm-handoff referrals to for help-seekers.
• Identifies the access to care barriers and resource gaps across the state of California.
• Assist with communications and marketing of VSS efforts across providers and key stakeholders

 

Requirements

About You

• Good Listener: You allow others to fully express themselves, understand both the words and underlying feelings, and process impressions and information without rushing to a conclusion.
• Problem Solver: You overcome challenges to find a solution, take on demanding tasks to solve complex problems, find the right solutions where others have failed, and view problems as opportunities and take action.
• Handles Ambiguity: You work confidently with unclear or changing situations. You switch gears easily in response to unexpected demands. You deal with conflicting priorities successfully. You work well in an unstructured environment. Delivers results unde