Director of Residential Services

POSITION SUMMARY

L’Arche Chicago is seeking a mission-driven, steady, and relational leader with exceptional skills in mentoring and coaching team members to be our new Director of Residential Services. This person will lead a team to oversee effective direct care services in our four residential group homes (CILAs) to ensure the health, safety, and wellbeing of the fifteen core members (people with developmental disabilities) living in L’Arche Chicago.

The Director of Residential Services leads a team of four House Managers, a Care Manager, and a Training & Compliance Manager who work together to ensure that high-quality service provision is a consistent standard in our homes. Additionally, the team ensures that the core values of L’Arche are effectively lived out in our intentional community of faith.

The ideal candidate will have experience developing teams and working together with people with developmental disabilities.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Responsible for ensuring compliance to relevant federal, state, and local laws and regulations and contract requirements related to core members and Assistants (DSPs), in particular Illinois DHS Rule 115 & 116.


• Supervise House Managers to support Assistants in the provision of services concerning medical, emotional, psychiatric, and physical needs of core members, using a person-centered, strengths and gifts-based approach to their development.


• Work collaboratively with House Managers in problem solving, information sharing, and team building.


• Ensure regular reviews of Assistants are being completed by House Managers.


• Host a quarterly parent/guardian meeting to facilitate effective collaboration with families.


• Lead weekly Leadership Team meetings and weekly 1:1s with House Managers.


• Attend weekly house team meetings, monthly professional services meetings (BST), and other meetings as needed to effectively support high quality care provision for the core members.


• Be present in our four homes to build relationships and to monitor services.


• Advocate on the behalf of core members with State case managers, families, consultants, and other professionals as needed to ensure the individual needs and desires of core members are met.


• Coordinate care-giving resources, ongoing professional development opportunities, and trainings for Assistants together with the Training & Compliance Manager.


• Attend professional network meetings to share best practices and to collaborate with other local agencies, networks, and membership organizations.


• Lead the screening process of potential new core members together with appropriate members of the Leadership Team.


• Seek out opportunities for personal growth. Model life sharing and the values of L’Arche for others.


• Assess changing needs of community in collaboration with Leadership Team. Participate in community-level decision-making.


• Maintain availability to coordinate staffing and support needs in emergency situations.
  

REQUIREMENTS:

• Shows up with kindness and strengths-based leadership; someone who sees value in every person and communicates respect and encouragement to people at all levels; exhibits a passionate investment in the well-being and success of staff and organization.


• Strategic leader who can effectively guide organizational change.


• Nurture the gifts and growth of all staff members and core members in L’Arche Chicago.


• Approaches work from an organizational perspective with an understanding of how individual actions can impact the whole; can hold the complexity of the needs of an individual and the needs of the team.


• Ensures that each core member has a voice in decision making and planning for his/her own life.


• Supports the development of each core member’s capabilities.


• Represents the mission, strategic plan, and work plan of L’Arche in meetings, in the community and events where appropriate.


• Good judgment to manage sensitive and confidential matters; high degree of personal integrity.


• Strong self-awareness, cultural competency, emotional intelligence, and humility; grounded and flexible with a high degree of integrity and transparency.


• Ability to adapt as needed, self-manage, and prioritize between and manage multiple demands.