Program Manager, Children and Family Benefits Unit (CFBU)

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the third-largest school district in the United States, serving over 340,000 students in 600+ schools and employing nearly 36,000 people, most of them teachers. CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life. In order to fulfill this mission, we make three commitments to our students, their families, and all Chicagoans: academic progress, financial stability, and integrity. Six core values are embedded within these commitments - student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning.

The Office of Student Health and Wellness (OSHW) aims to remove health-related barriers to learning such that students may succeed in college, career, and life. The Children and Family Benefits Unit (CFBU) Program Manager leads all enrollment, engagement, and utilization activities of the District's SNAP (Food Stamps), Medicaid/CHIP, and Medicaid health plan care coordination initiative. They provide direction and support to the Children and Family Benefits Unit care coordination team to connect students enrolled in Medicaid managed care to health care services. They monitor the coordination of supports and services while prioritizing leading a team on achieving performance goals. The CFBU Program Manager participates on committees and maintains partnerships with families, schools, IDHS, IDHFS, and other stakeholders. The CFBU Program Manager will coordinate communication between IDHFS, Health Choice Illinois, IDHS, CPS leadership, CPS students, their families, and other health systems to provide excellent customer service to achieve the goal of ensuring that all students have a medical home.

The CFBU Program Manager will be responsible for the following:

• Direct and oversee all daily activities of a cross-functional team of office-based and remote staff that consists of 2 CFBU Specialists and 17 CFBU Coordinators.
• Onboard, train, and retain new and existing Children and Family Benefits Unit staff to streamline enrollment, care management, workflow, and tools while providing ongoing performance outcome supervision and professional development to strengthen the effectiveness of the CFBU.
• Monitor workload of the team, hold team meetings, develop program standard operating procedures, conduct performance evaluations, and implement disciplinary actions.
• Maintain compliance with all eligibility/care management grants and program contracts related to SNAP, Medicaid CHIP and MCOs, while focusing on special populations and other high-risk student groups. Specifically provide oversight for yearly SNAP Administrative Outreach Claim and other relevant grants by assisting in writing, monitoring staff inclusion, and reporting on monthly/quarterly metrics.
• Develop strategies and tools for risk stratification as well as models of enrollment and care coordination for all student risk groups.
• Lead eligibility, enrollment, and health risk screening initiatives by supervising the completion of proactive student outreach efforts, completing gaps analysis, and implementing performance management projects.
• Develop collaborative relationships with community-based organizations, social services agencies, and health and hospital systems to improve enrollment, engagement, and utilization initiatives and implement care coordination for high-risk individuals across the continuum of student health care.
• Collaborate with other CPS departments on initiatives to help address social determinants of health and CPS student engagement in care coordination.
• Conduct inter-governmental activities and collaborative initiatives with city, state, and local governmental agencies, particularly the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) and the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (IDHFS), to address barriers to enrollment and maintenance of benefits.
• Collaboratively develop the production of monthly and quarterly reporting systems for senior management to determine the effectiveness and develop strategies to improve deficiencies.
• Assist with related duties, special projects, and extra duties as assigned.
• The Program Manager may work beyond the hours of 8:00 am to 4:30 pm to meet the needs of the families.

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Children and Family Benefits Unit (CFBU) Program Manager must possess the following qualifications:

Type of Education Required:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university
• Master's degree from an accredited college or university in Public Health, Health Administration, Education, or Social Work preferred

Type of Experience Required:

• Minimum of five (5) years relevant work experience in program management, supporting executive leadership
• Minimum of three (3) years of supervisory experience leading teams
• Prior CPS experience is highly preferred
• Experience managing multiple levels of staff
• Government healthcare programs experience
• Experience working in a community, healthcare, or education environment
• Community engagement experience
• Thorough understanding of income support programs and policies specifically, All Kids, Medicaid, SNAP, and Medicaid managed care
• Experience working consultatively and collaboratively with a team of professionals
• Experience managing multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Bilingual English/Spanish preferred
• Must possess a valid driver's license
• Strong leadership and team-building skills, e.g. ability to develop high-performing teams united around a clear vision for serving schools and achieving program success
• Expertise in staff and leadership development
• Ability to coach all levels of staff toward excellence, build the capacity of content area teams, and develop meaningful and high impact professional communities
• Ability to communicate effectively to all stakeholders as it relates to policy, regulatory affairs, administrative processes/strategy, data, and legislative change
• Demonstrates understanding of business operations for multiple clinical and non-clinical departments
• Demonstrate computer proficiency, including knowledge of word processing, spreadsheet, and database software
• Employs strategies to organize and communicate complex information clearly and simply to drive actions
• Ability to use a range of technology and tools, including but not limited to InContact, Service Now, Oracle, ASPEN, Microsoft Office, and Google.
• Ability to work independently as well as to function effectively and collaboratively in a team environment
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to effectively multi-task.

Residency Requirement:

As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and must maintain residency throughout their employment with the district.