Open Society Institute
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program
Consultant Position

Background:

The Open Society Institute is a private operating and grantmaking foundation that promotes the development of open societies around the world. OSI is part of an informal network of more than 30 autonomous nonprofit foundations and other organizations created and funded by philanthropist George Soros in Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Guatemala, Haiti, and South Africa, as well as in the United States. In the United States, programs have been developed in the areas of criminal justice, drug policy, immigration, and death and dying, and new initiatives are under way in the areas of education and youth development, reproductive health and rights, media and journalism and professional ethics in law and medicine.

The Department of Children and Youth Network Programs operates a number of educational, developmental and cultural programs internationally for children from birth through secondary school, including the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program. This program aims at building a multi-disciplinary approach to the problem of child abuse, an issue of critical importance in Central Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States, where economic hardship, the collapse of social safety nets, and ignorance of the problem have contributed to the endangerment of children. Interdisciplinary teams of professionals brought together by the National Foundations in the OSI network have created non-governmental professional associations or treatment/training centers in their country that are devoted to addressing child abuse prevention and treatment issues and child welfare policy from a multi-disciplinary, systems perspective. The Professional Program Mentor works under the supervision of the Director of Children and Youth Programs to provide professional mentoring to 8-10 countries currently participating in the Open Society Institute's Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program.

Responsibilites:

OSI is looking for a person with significant professional experience in the area of child abuse, and the establishment of services for children and families affected by abuse. The person would mentor in-country teams on building services, establishing inter-agency relationships, and advocacy for appropriate legislation and court systems to address this issue, as well as strategic planning and sustainability. The person would be a mentor, advisor and consultant to these in-country professionals, from the date of hire, until December 2000, when OSI's involvement with the project would end.

This position requires significant travel to provide technical support and professional expertise to the designated professional team in each participating country. Participating countries include: Albania, Croatia, Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Slovenia, Yugoslavia. The Professional Program Mentor will be expected to visit each of the participating countries at least twice during the 18-month contract period and will have ongoing contact with each team between visits to monitor progress and provide professional support and advice. The Professional Program Mentor will also advise OSI about any training or technical support that would contribute to the development of the new child abuse associations or centers into sustainable, professional organizations that can take on wider issues of advocacy and systems change. At the request of OSI, the Professional Program Mentor would also seek appropriate people to provide these specialized training or technical services.

OSI will pay appropriate compensation and all expenses related to travel and related costs. The person may continue to live in their home country, but would be expected to spend significant time in the region, doing on-site work.

Qualifications:

Applicants must have a professional degree in a relevant field (social work, public administration, law, medicine etc..) and at least 10 years professional experience working with issues of child abuse and neglect. Applicants should have experience establishing, managing or overseeing a service delivery or advocacy organization in this field. The program promotes a multi-disciplinary approach to the subject and, therefore, applicants should have experience in working with professionals from different areas. Candidates with international experience are preferred.

Position Dates:

OSI is seeking a qualified candidate who can start as soon as possible. Candidates should indicate their availability in their application.

Resumes and cover letters should be sent to:

Elizabeth Lorant
Director, Children and Youth Programs
Open Society Institute
400 West 59th Street
New York, NY 10019
Tel: 212-547-6918
Fax: 212-548-4610
Email: [email protected]

Last updated:    October 1999

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