Program Specialist

Position:
Program Specialist, Southern Minnesota

Location:

Southern Minnesota (based in Rochester, Mankato, or surrounding areas)

At clinics across the state, medical clinicians trained in the Reach Out and Read program give books to children and provide developmental guidance to parents and caregivers at their children's routine well-child visits from infancy through age 5. Our program gives young children and their families both the resources and knowledge they need to build a foundation for a healthier and happier future.

Reach Out and Read is active at over 300 clinics across Minnesota, serving nearly 170,000 annually. Reach Out and Read Minnesota is an independent 501(c)(3) affiliate of the National Reach Out and Read network.

The Program Specialist is a professional who provides support and leadership to Reach Out and Read program sites by fostering engagement and assuring quality. The Program Specialist is a valued contributor to the team and works closely with the Reach Out and Read Minnesota Program Manager and team to sustain, expand, and support Reach Out and Read program sites. The Program Specialist cultivates relationships with clinics and strategic community partners to help further our impact and reach.

The Program Specialist is a problem solver eager to learn new skills and systems, adapt to an evolving and growing organization, and work as an effective team member with colleagues and medical clinic partners in virtual and in-person working environments. The Program Specialist role requires a commitment to equity, ability to influence without direct authority, and diagnosing systems challenges, while respecting and supporting clinic and family cultures.

The position provides a unique opportunity to contribute to taking a nationally proven program to scale, while simultaneously providing creative, collaborative leadership to engage the health care system in broader efforts to support child, parent, and community well-being. This role reports to the Program Manager.

This role will be responsible for completing in-person site visits at clinics across southern Minnesota. The candidate must have access to a vehicle and be available to travel throughout the year.

• Supporting High-Quality Program Implementation
• Collaborate with ROR clinic teams to support high quality implementation of the ROR model. Conduct meetings to assess adherence to the model, identify strengths to enhance engagement and support to families, identify opportunities to overcome barriers, and develop and monitor continuous quality improvement plans to assist clinics in achieving improvement goals.
• Develop relationships with clinical and administrative staff to cultivate Reach Out and Read champions and advocates.
• Offer ongoing support, including regular communications, in-person and virtual connection opportunities, and technical assistance to all sites in the determined geography.
• Build partnerships with health systems through interactions with clinic contacts, articulating best practices for program sustainability, and supporting the engagement of system leaders and decision makers.
• Program Data and Reporting
• Assure clinics’ completion of twice-yearly progress reports. Analyze, understand, and address barriers to accurate and timely completion.
• Review progress report data and use it to inform improvement plans, quality ratings, and clinics’ understanding of program performance.
• Continually track and document program data using established tools and databases, and maintain accurate data within the database.
• Gather, analyze, and report data to support funding applications, partnership development, and advocacy activities.
• Partnership…