About KIND:                                                                                                                     

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) is a global leader in the protection of unaccompanied refugee and migrant children. Launched in 2008, KIND champions a world in which every child’s rights and well-being are protected throughout their journey to safety. Since 2008, KIND has accepted over 23,000 referrals of children seeking legal representation in their immigration proceedings. KIND has welcomed more than 41,000 attendees to trainings since its founding, cultivating partnerships with over 700 law firms, corporate legal departments, law schools, and bar associations across the country.

KIND’s social services program ensures that migrant and refugee children – who have often endured trauma – receive counseling, educational support, medical care, and other comprehensive services.

To address the root causes of child migration from Central America and strengthen protection of unaccompanied children, KIND advocates for policy changes and educates lawmakers, the media, and the broader public on the conditions that drive these children to flee their home countries. KIND supports children returning to their home countries by connecting them to essential support services and sponsors gender-based violence prevention programs in Central America to protect children in countries of origin and transit.

KIND is also building upon its expertise in the protection of unaccompanied children to encourage the development of pro bono initiatives across Europe in partnership with European NGOs.

Position Summary

KIND seeks a Director, Reintegration Programs, to lead the Child Migrant Return & Reintegration Project (CMRRP), reporting to the Interim Senior Director, Latin America. The CMRRP has worked to ensure the safe return and reintegration of migrant children to Guatemala and Honduras since 2011.  The program provides assessment, orientation, service coordination, and long-term reintegration support through home and community visits, psychosocial support, and resource linkage.

The Director, Reintegration Programs leads KIND’s programs working with unaccompanied children returning to Central America following immigration to the United States or Mexico. Working closely with KIND’s Director for Gender & Migration Initiatives, the Senior Director for Latin America, and KIND’s reintegration partners, the Director, Reintegration Programs develops and implements program strategy, direction, and design. The Director identifies opportunities to scale up existing programming, as well as to implement the model in new geographic areas. 

Essential Functions

Program development:

• Provide expertise, leadership, and management across the areas of program development and implementation.
• Work closely with Senior Director for Latin America and Vice President, International Programs to define the strategy and direction for KIND’s reintegration programs.
• Provide ongoing assessment of country-conditions, migration patterns, service gaps and ways KIND programs can respond to these factors.
• Collaborate with International Programs leadership team and GMI Director to develop ideas for new projects in Central America to further rights and protection of Central American unaccompanied children in countries of origin and transit.
• Develop and maintain effective program reporting tools and analysis, in conjunction with the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Director for Gender and Migration Initiatives, and the Technology Solutions team

Program administration:

• Oversee administration of reintegration programs, including supervising KIND staff and managing implementing partner relationships.
• Work closely with Monitoring & Evaluation Officer to increase NGO partner capacity for monitoring and evaluation, create systems for NGO partners to collect and track reintegration activities, measure project impact, and collect feedback from NGO partners on lessons learned and best practices
• Maintain up-to-date materials on the CMRRP for both staff and external stakeholders, with support from Communications team.
• Coordinate with Director Gender and Migration Initiatives (GMI) and M&E Officer to adapt enhanced intake and assessment tools to identify evidence of violence and trauma for CMRRP participants.
• Collaborate closely with regional project partners to ensure compliance with project benchmarks, terms of sub-awards, and effective service provision. Identify gaps in services or structural challenges to the successful reintegration of returning children.
• Develop and implement sub-agreements for implementing partners, providing oversight and feedback to Senior Director Partnerships and Business Development. Cultivate, manage and oversee CMRRP’s day to day communications and relationships with NGO partners in Guatemala and Honduras including quarterly programming calls, M&E planning, and communication with KIND Partnerships and Finance departments.
• Collaborate closely with in-country partner NGOs and government agencies to ensure access to and identification of potential project participants
• Collaborate closely with KIND referring partners, including KIND’s legal services staff, Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelters in the U.S., The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, U.S.-based legal and social service providers to facilitate identification and referral of unaccompanied and separated children for return and reintegration support
• Plan and conduct training and outreach activities with a range of stakeholders to both generate CMRRP referrals and to promote communication and understanding around the removal and reception processes both in the US as well as in countries of origin (Guatemala and Honduras).
• Plan and facilitate twice-annual NGO partner meetings in conjunction with GMI Director to support collaboration and best practice sharing between NGO partners, as well as to offer external training and capacity building.
• Coordinate with Honduran and Guatemalan consulates, Guatemalan Secretaria de Bienestar Social (SBS), ORR shelter staff, and ICE Field Office Juvenile Coordinators (FOJCs) as needed, to ensure child-friendly return practices.
• Create quantitative and qualitative reports on program impact and outcomes for internal and external audiences; provide input into data management strategy.

Supervision:

• Supervise the Reintegration Case Manager, including training and setting priorities, engaging in day-to-day oversight, conducting performance reviews, and connecting the case manager to all relevant stakeholders.
• Oversee staff in case identification and assessment, transition planning, resource identification, and client and partner communication, to support safe and successful return and reintegration.

Strategic partnerships and development:

• Cultivate and maintain strategic government relationships with child welfare agencies and ministries of foreign affairs in children’s countries of origin, ICE Field Office Juvenile Coordinators, reception center staff in countries of origin, and others.
• Participate in fundraising for reintegration and related programming, including contributing ideas, technical content, and writing to concept notes and proposals, budget development, and grant reporting, and including large U.S. government proposals.
• Meet with prospective and current funders, and engage in donor briefings.
• Represent KIND at regional conferences and utilize conferences to cultivate additional NGO, government, and potential funder relationships.

Technical assistance:

• Identify and track trends in referrals and returns, for use with possible policy, advocacy, and fundraising purposes. 
• Participate in relevant advocacy meetings related to return and reintegration, root causes of child migration, U.S. foreign assistance to Central America, and conditions and treatment of children in transit (in Mexico) and work closely with Director of Foreign Policy to develop recommendations on U.S. foreign assistance to Central America.
• Participate in drafting recommendations and best practice materials regarding return and reintegration.
• Provide technical assistance to KIND staff and other stakeholders on issues of child protection and family reunification.

Qualifications and requirements

• Graduate degree in Social Work (MSW), child development, human development and family studies, or related field; or 10 years of relevant experience with progressive leadership responsibility.
• Significant experience designing, developing and implementing programming for children and youth in a range of contexts, preferably in Central America and/or Mexico and preferably with immigrant and refugee populations.
• Passion for ensuring the rights of unaccompanied immigrant and refugee children with an ability to engage in both micro and macro level issues.
• Demonstrated experience working in areas of children’s rights or child protection, with a rights-based, trauma-informed approach; Ability to assess strengths and needs of individual children and families, and create effective transition plans for children, and an ability to advocate for children’s rights and best interests.
• Understanding of issues facing recently arrived unaccompanied migrant children and their families including barriers to social inclusion and implications of immigration removal proceedings.
• Experience directing or coordinating externally funded projects or programs; experience directing projects with United States Government funding preferred.
• Experience supporting successful programmatic fundraising efforts.
• Successful track record in representing and diplomatically communicating organizational interests with a range of stakeholders, including government, UN agencies, civil society.
• Excellent organizational skills.
• Ability to work independently on multiple projects in a deadline-oriented environment.
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills in English and Spanish and ability to draft high-quality externally-facing materials in English, such as reports, fact sheets, etc.
• Exceptional teambuilding skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively and provide leadership in areas of team building, change management, and interpersonal communication.
• Knowledge and understanding of the cross-cultural communications and cultural exchange aspects of the job
• Ability to communicate among diverse settings with tact and diplomacy
• Ability to regularly travel domestically and internationally (up to 20%)
• Ability to work effectively with people of diverse backgrounds, lived experiences, and communication styles.
• As a team leader, committed to prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as embracing transparency and authenticity in daily work life, across employees, team members, and partner organizations.
• Be disciplined and nimble to ensure delivery on our core mission of access to justice and protection of children’s wellbeing and rights.
• Showing the ability to multi-task and work with a sense of urgency in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Committed to practicing and supporting wellbeing and a work-home life balance.
• Experience working and communicating in a remote environment.

Salary Range: $93,440 - $116,800 depending on experience

KIND requires all staff be COVID vaccinated with the exception of those who have medical or religious beliefs exemptions.

Application Instructions:

Please be advised that an employment application will need to be submitted along with your resume and cover letter, in order to be considered for the desired role.

KIND has an organization-wide commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We strive to create a work environment where everyone has a sense of belonging. Individuals from historically underrepresented or underserved communities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Disclaimer: KIND is committed to an ethical recruitment and hiring process and maintains a firm “no fees” recruitment policy. We will never charge a fee or ask for money as part of the application process. KIND also conducts all interviews via telephone or video conference, and at no time will KIND engage in a text or mobile app-based application or interview process. For more information, please visit the following website: https://supportkind.org/join-the-team/kind-employment-practices/.