Child Protection Specialist II

Work Setup : Primarily office-based in Quezon City with some remote work; candidates outside Metro Manila may apply (remote with regular field travel)

Responsibilities

• Maintains a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Is a consistent witness for Jesus Christ, maintains a courteous, Christ-like attitude in dealing with people within and outside of Compassion, and faithfully upholds Compassion’s ministry in prayer.
• Acts as an advocate to raise the awareness of the needs of children. Understands Christ’s mandate to protect children. Commits to and prioritizes child protection considerations in all decision-making, tasks and activities across the ministry. Abides by all behavioral expectations in Compassion’s Statement of Commitment to Child Protection and Code of Conduct. Reports any concerns of abuse, neglect or exploitation of children through Compassion’s internal reporting process and appropriately supports responses to incidents if they occur.
• Facilitates appropriate response and reporting of all child protection cases and provides support to all stakeholders regarding effective child protection practices. Applies problem solving skills to the implementation of strategies / approaches, advocacy campaigns, prevention work, and / or case planning for child protection incidents from initial reporting through lessons learned.
• Leverages an expanding knowledge of evidence-based best practices for the prevention of and response to, and healing from child abuse, neglect and exploitation. Consults with partners on Compassion's child protection and child safeguarding policies, procedures, standards, and expectations, supporting partners to develop ownership of comprehensive child protection practices. Shares knowledge of legal frameworks, local resources, social service / child protection systems, investigation protocols and connections with national networks with partners, colleagues, and leaders. Engages in crucial conversations regarding the protection of children and youth, the necessity of reporting and intervention, the nature and complexity of trauma, and the critical nature of physically, emotionally, and spiritually safe and healthy environments to children's development.
• Applies basic consulting skills to share technical knowledge and expertise, providing advice that can be applied to specific prevention and response situations, and effectively support the party for whom they are providing consultation. Generally provides support to less experienced child protection staff, partnership facilitators, program support and implementation, and other stakeholders and leadership, and church partner members, including their volunteers, leaders, and board members. Includes direct visits to customer / constituent groups for technical assistance, support, and guidance.
• Conducts investigations into allegations of abuse of beneficiaries. Maintains responsibility for investigation completion. Wherever possible and appropriate, collaboratively engages with partners to empower them to complete investigation activities, but directly engages in action steps when necessary. May provide coaching to partners on survivor-centered best practices when completing investigations. Activities may include effective and appropriate interviewing of witnesses, victims, alleged perpetrators and / or others with knowledge of the case, making arrangements for the care and treatment of victims, effective case coordination and communication with relevant staff members, timely case documentation, consultation and work with external parties and resources. Makes recommendations to leaders regarding partnership statuses based on identified risks and organizational values, partner resources to cases and evaluations of beneficiary safety in programming.
• In partnership with training staff and partnership teams, assists in the delivery of training materials and curriculum on a broad spectrum of child protection topics, ensuring that stakeholders have ongoing, high-quality learning materials in the area of child protection and child safeguarding. Supports trainer preparation or the delivery of training materials as requested.
• Helps develop child protection strategy within assigned office and provides for local adaptation and implementation of strategy and plans of action, including engagement with all relevant partnership and program support teams and colleagues. Contributes towards continual improvement of strategy and plans of action.
• Conducts regular assessments to identify child safeguarding risks as well as guide partners in conducting assessments at the local program level. Performs child protection and child safeguarding assessments, mapping exercises and evaluates external country / sub-county level data to inform next steps. Conducts risk mitigation activities and interventions identified in risk assessment in collaboration with local partners.
• Completes documentation related to assessments, incident allegation reporting and case management, plans, needs assessments, risk assessment and mitigation efforts in a timely manner. Compiles documentation to be retained confidentially and / or shared in support of strategic activities, support to partners, advocacy, or team communication, according to established guidelines. Maintains records in accordance with Compassion standards, engages in appropriate file sharing system to ensure access to non-confidential information for others.
• Supports church partners in accessing and the effective use of the online reporting system. Reviews cases entered into the system for assigned area or region, makes assignments, case restrictions and / or notifications as necessary. Ensures appropriate follow-ups, case notes and other supporting documentation are entered by the relevant responsible parties. Completes and enters own case notes and other documentation into the system of record for cases s / he is responsible for in a timely manner according to Compassion standards.
• Helps build strong partnerships and relationships, engaging in active cooperation with government and non-government agencies, and develops strategic relationships to leverage Compassion resources to better protect children and respond to child maltreatment. Researches industry best practices, experiential learning, etc., and shares this expertise with others in the organization. May represents Compassion International by participating in inter-agency meetings.
• Implements organizational and industry policies for child protection. Supports training and educating staff, volunteers / contractors and church partners on child protection policies.
• May provide expertise to other professionals and support staff in this or a related discipline.

Culture

Qualifications