The National Council for Portugal is pleased to announce its recruitment for the key position of Case Manager, of the Poverty Elimination project.
For more detailed information, please see the Terms of Reference (TORs) below. Interested candidates must submit their CVs and cover letters to [email protected] prior to the application deadline on 8 of May 2023.
TERMS OF REFERENCE: Case Manager - Poverty Elimination
1. Jamati Poverty Elimination Roadmap
At the direction of Mawlana Hazar Imam, the Ismaili Leaders International Forum undertook a comprehensive review of the causes and consequences of poverty in the Jamat, with a view to formulating a structured, coordinated, and focused method of permanently redressing poverty across all Imamat institutions and agencies engaged in this agenda.
Following various pilot programs and a greater urgency as a result of the pandemic, the Council for Portugal would like to engage a Case Manager to support a scale-up of family development programming in order to identify and engage the full target segment of families by December 2023.
To do this, the Council for Portugal has established a dedicated National Implementation Team - comprised of paid staff and volunteers (board/portfolio members, topic specialists) - to accelerate progress over the next 18-24 months.
2. Position Description
Case Managers support households to follow their development roadmap project and assist each family member’s own goals. Based on their skills, interests, and self-development goals, each family member is guided through training, literacy, and coaching to motivate behavioral changes where necessary and achieve a level of self-autonomy that will be met through a careful livelihood pathway that can bring a quality of life and the family self-sustainability.
The role of the case manager is also to serve as the single point of contact for families in the program and to empower families to articulate their immediate needs as well as their goals and aspirations. Once the family has a plan, the Family Mentor is their hand holder, connecting them to the support and services they need to achieve this plan, tracking progress, and providing emotional support through difficult periods
3. Reporting Relationships
Case Managers will report to the Poverty Elimination Director and may be responsible for managing 5-10 Family Facilitators (Volunteers) at any time.
4. Responsibilities
Case Managers provide holistic and comprehensive case management to families enrolled in the Poverty Elimination Development Plan including assessing needs, goal setting, case planning, monitoring and encouraging progress, advocacy, and referrals.
4.1. Community Engagement
- Build and nurture relationships with Jamati leadership and, importantly, the local community/neighborhood to foster a culture of open communication and responsiveness.
- Ensure all groups are represented and take ownership of community-level interventions such as sanitation improvements, school top-up programs, or youth activities.
- Be poverty scouts – looking out for people in distress who may need assistance but do not know who to ask for help, or are embarrassed to do so.
4.2. Family Support
- Build and nurture relationships with each member of a family to foster a culture of open communication and responsiveness.
- Support families through all stages of development (Crisis, Stabilization, Development, and Self-Sustained Progress) across all domains of need, including physical and mental health, Early Childhood Development and education, livelihoods development, and access to finance, safe and stable housing, food security, as well as participation in Jamati and community life, etc.
- Ensure that all members of the family – no matter their age, gender, ability, etc. – take ownership of their own progress and the family’s progress.
- Conduct regular home visits - weekly to start, and then biweekly or monthly – at the discretion of the Director, in consultation with the Case Review Committee.
- Look out for and immediately report any suspected, alarming, or known issues to the Director.
- Provide basic psychosocial support, financial literacy, and other types of counseling, such as hygiene/cleanliness, nutritious diet, cooking, etc.
4.3. Liaising with Boards/Portfolios and Service Providers
- Serve as a single point of contact for the family, ensuring access and coordination of the appropriate support and services at the right time.
- Refer, as necessary, unique or difficult cases to the Director for additional assistance and guidance.
- Raise any concerns or issues with regard to service providers to the Director immediately, in line with program Policies and Procedures.
4.4. Monitoring and Reporting
- Ensure comprehensive and consistent quality documentation of all elements of the program, from home visit logs and referrals to impact evaluation metrics.
- Keep a journal of experiences.
- Participate in reflection sessions convened by the Director on a regular basis for qualitative data gathering, enhancement of program design, and troubleshooting.
4.5. Volunteer Management
- Assist the Director in mobilizing, training, and managing volunteer resources.
- Complete goal setting and agree on key performance indicators with the Director.
5. Profile
- Resident at Site or nearby area.
- Professional or personal experience in dealing with issues of poverty and/or family distress.
- Leader in the community; enjoys trust from a variety of stakeholders.
- Experience and participation as a volunteer in Community or Jamati institutional projects are desirable.
- Comfort with mobile technology for data gathering and documentation.
- Practices absolute discretion and has the ability to handle sensitive information.
- Works effectively and collaboratively in teams.
- Self-Motivated, organizational astuteness, strong negotiating and writing skills
- Can accommodate a non-traditional work week, including working evenings and weekends.
6. Academic Credentials
- BA or BS in social work, psychology, sociology or a related field.
7. Language Proficiency
- Portuguese and English language proficiency and knowledge of Urdu or Gujarati are desirable.
