Scholarship Case Manager Staff Leader/NAZ

Think Small, Minnesota’s leader in early learning, is dedicated to advancing early childhood care and education.  We have worked for 50 years to support the full potential for every child, have committed to championing policies and practices of equity that empower a just, inclusive and equitable care and education system for children in their crucial early years. The quality of a child’s early experiences greatly influences his or her success later in life and that there is much that can be done to improve the quality of early childhood settings to optimize a child’s development.

This position coordinates the implementation of NAZ Early Learning Scholarships and state Early Learning Scholarship for NAZ-enrolled eligible children to ensure access to early learning programs by monitoring and maintaining compliance with Early Learning Scholarship and Northside Achievement Zone policies and procedures.

Responsibilities:
Determine and document family eligibility by reviewing NAZ referrals and applications
Follow the Scholarship Distribution Plan to Award Scholarships
Assist families with enrollment and renewal steps for NAZ scholarships
Monitor family compliance with program policies, rules, and procedures
Respond to inquiries regarding scholarship spending, absent days, enrollment and eligibility requirements
Direct families to Parent Aware Inform families of NAZ Anchor sites program and County based child care resources
Manage a large caseload of families utilizing scholarships
Communicate with, respond to inquiries from families, early learning programs, and the general public regarding Early Learning Scholarships
Communicate with and respond to inquiries from NAZ staff, and providers.
Work collaboratively with NAZ Early Childhood Director and other NAZ staff to award NAZ enrolled families with the NAZ Scholarships.
Communicate with programs and team regarding enrollment activity
Assist families in transitioning between State Early Learning Scholarships and NAZ Scholarships
Review and assist in updates to website and other scholarship messaging
Represent the scholarship program in community outreach activities
Coordinate with the NAZ staff and Early Childhood Director to ensure timely awarding of available funds
Maintain accurate data entry, scholarship records and case notes in NAZ Link
Requirements:
Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, social work, human services or related field or
Equivalent combination of education and experience
2 years’ experience in large case load management
Demonstrated leadership experience in program development, implementation and/or compliance
Demonstrated experience in working with diverse communicates, clients and staff
Ability to establish and maintain effective relationships with management, staff, community partners and public
Ability to handle a variety of tasks simultaneously
Demonstrated exceptional customer service skills
Good communication, organizational and time management skills.
Must be proficient in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook).
 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

This position is available immediately.

Wage hiring range: $38,000 to $45,000

Benefits:

Medical, dental, short and long term disability, life, vision, disability, critical illness; medical and dependent care flex, HSA, legal and ID protection plans.
Pre-tax and ROTH 401k with 5% employer match.
23 days of sick/vacation time earned the first year PLUS 8 scheduled holidays and 5 floating holidays for those whose needs don’t conform to the federal holiday calendar.
We recently introduced 2 new-parent benefits – 6 weeks paid parental leave and infants-at-work program (available after 1 year of employment.)
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Think Small building (located at 10 Yorkton Court, St Paul, MN 55117) is closed and the majority of our staff have been working remotely.  We are currently returning most positions to a hybrid (on-site and remote) in stages.

Think Small is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer