IDEA Educational Advocate

GGRC is currently hiring for an IDEA Educational Advocate

This role is a full-time role working 40 hours per week in our Regional Center Services department. Primary responsibility will provide consultation and training to social work staff on consumer’s educational issue, educational advocacy services, mediation, or hearing management on related service issues and educate individuals served (and their families) on educational due process rights and participates in educational due process.

This position reports to the Director, Regional Center Services working out of our three locations in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin County with occasional travel to sites throughout California.

Salary Range: $68,522 - $82,226

Perks! We offer a comprehensive benefits package including:

• HEALTH BENEFITS:
  • Medical and Dental benefits with a generous employer contribution and additional employer paid H.S.A. contributions and Life Insurance, Long Term Disability and Vision coverage paid 100% by GGRC!
  • 10% employer contribution to a 403(b)-retirement account to help you save for the future!
    
• GENEROUS TIME OFF BENEFITS! No really, we mean “GENEROUS”!
  • 13 vacation days, 15 sick days, 10 paid holidays, 4 personal holidays, 3 winter holidays, and up to 5 paid days for continuing education
    
• FLEXIBLE WORK SCHEDULE

What You’ll Do:

Policies & Procedures | Research | Training | Representation

• Responds to staff requests for educational advocacy consultation, reviews files and research applicable laws, statutes, and court decisions.
• Identifies issues, develops advocacy strategies, advises and/or trains staff on effective IEP participation.
• When appropriate, directly advocates with schools and school districts.
• Provides group and individual advocacy training for staff, individuals served, families, and community partners.
• Research assigned cases prior to educational mediation or hearings. Reviews laws, statutes, legal decisions, case decisions, and makes recommendations on actions.
• Monitors implementation and supports the continuous improvement of the transition policies and procedures outlined in local memorandums of understanding (MOU) between the regional center and Local Educational Agencies; Acts as primary point person for GGRC with SELPA in each county for development of MOUs for Part C Early Start Services.

Relationship Building | Advocacy |Partnerships

• Creates and develops working relationship with schools and school districts within the counties that GGRC serves.
• Attends SELPA and other education meetings, identifies issues, proposes actions, implements approved plans.
• Assists with regional center efforts to improve family connections with Local Educational Agencies.
• May assist witnesses in preparation of testimony, present testimony or conduct the agency’s portion of the hearing.

• Assists the regional center with the development of materials that regional center staff can use to improve the transition process from secondary education to adult services; Identifies promising transition practices to assist the regional center.
• Provides group and individual advocacy training for staff, those served, families, and others.
• As the main point of contact with matters related to IDEA, relationship-building is necessary to partner with other Regional Center representatives, internally and externally and/or other IDEA resources within and outside of the community.
• Familiarity or established partnerships with school districts and/or services under special education.
• High level of comfortable communicating and interacting with parents and reporting to case managers.
• Performs other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Who You Are:

Experienced

• Experienced and have breadth of knowledge of IDEA. Understand the complexity of legalities of what is covered.
• Experienced in developmental disabilities, local school systems; educational options; laws, and statues
• Experienced with court decisions; ethical standards and regulations on education; educational hearing or mediation procedures.
• Experienced in work related to advocacy, research, critical review, conflict mediation; interpretation of complex legal; and
• Experienced in assessment, customer service and organizational management skills with proficiency communicating complex information both written and verbally.

Professional | Communicative | Culturally Aware

• High comfort level in dealing with regulatory material; making non-adversarial presentations; oral and written communications.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills.
• Skilled in written communication and verbal communication as it relates to needs of individual and communication with school districts.
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and cooperatively.
• Demonstrated cultural awareness and sensitivity, with the ability to work effectively with culturally diverse populations.

Knowledgeable | Informed | Thorough

• Knowledgeable with school IEP process.
• Knowledgeable of mental illness and residential placements is desirable.
• Knowledgeable of regional center case management decision-making is highly desirable.
• Knowledgeable of intellectual, developmental, or related disabilities including current values and best practices.
• Able to understand and apply regulatory and statutory information.
• Have basic familiarity with MS Word®, MS Excel®, MS PowerPoint®, MS Outlook® or similar software applications.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in related subject and years of experience; and/or
• Master’s degree in related subject (may be substituted for two years’ experience).
• Bi-lingual Spanish and/or Cantonese speaking (strongly preferred).

Minimum qualifications may be waived depending on the individual’s skills and/or the agency’s need for specialized skills (such as language abilities)

How To Apply:

GGRC VALUES DIVERSITY; people of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Please complete the application and submit your most recent resume. If you feel that the questions do not accurately capture what you have to offer Golden Gate Regional Center, you are also welcomed to attach a cover letter. Applications are being reviewed on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to submit yours soon. We look forward to reading your application.

Golden Gate Regional Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Employees are required to have the Covid-19 vaccine unless they have a religious or medical exemption.

San Francisco Applicants: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.