Director, Case Coordination & Support

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is a district on the rise, serving over 325,000 students in 500+ schools and employing over 45,000 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. Aligned with our transformed philosophy, we are steadfastly focused on ensuring that the District provides resources equitably to support every student, every school, and every community. Six core values guide the work we do every day for our students – student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning. Each role in the district supports our vision that every student deserves a rigorous, joyful, and equitable learning experience.

The mission of the Office of Student Protections and Title IX (OSP) and the Equal Opportunity Compliance Office (EOCO) is to promote a District that is free from abuse, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. We engage collaboratively with our stakeholders to remove barriers to academic programs and activities to provide an equitable, inclusive, and safe learning and work environment. By working together to safeguard civil rights, we positively impact school communities affected by harm.

To fulfill this mission, the Office of Student Protections (OSP) and Title IX and the Equal Opportunity Compliance Office (OSP/EOCO) responds to, investigates, resolves, and transforms cases related to interpersonal harm toward individuals with an actual or perceived membership of protected categories under federal law and the district’s nondiscrimination policy as well as other forms of harm impacting students.

The Case Coordination and Support team is responsible for the proper receipt, triage, determination, initial documentation, and referral of every report made to the Office of Student Protections and Title IX. This includes intake and case coordination teams. The Intake team responds to all incidents of abuse, harassment and discrimination reported to the OSP and consulting with schools on next steps, best practices, and Title IX compliance. The Case Coordination team monitors the compliance of OSP-designated school-based investigations and provides guidance to school administrators on school-based investigation protocols, sharing resources, and ensuring that all incidents are properly resolved and documented.

Job Summary\:

Reporting to the Deputy Chief Title IX Officer, the Director, Case Coordination and Support manages the day-to-day operations of the Student Protections Coordination and Support team, ensuring the proper triage and response to every report made to the Office of Student Protections and Title IX, including all reported incidents of abuse, harassment and discrimination, and supports the team in consulting with schools on next steps, best practices, and Title IX compliance. Additionally, this role ensures the compliance of OSP designated school-based investigations and oversees guidance to school administrators on school-based investigation protocols, sharing resources, and ensuring that all incidents are properly resolved and documented. This is a full-time, exempt position that will be paid for time worked on salary basis.

The Director, Case Coordination & Support will be held accountable for the following responsibilities\:

• Supervise, develop, and manage the performance of a team of direct reports; Work collaboratively with OSP Leadership to ensure best practices and develop standard operating procedures
• Oversee the practice of guiding schools in next steps to address incidents, including connecting them with appropriate investigative tools or supports, sharing guidelines and policies, recommending best practices, and ensuring Title IX and Title VI compliance
• Ensure District practice alignment and compliance with the district’s Comprehensive Non-Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation Policy and develop and reinforce team practices and procedures that ensure every student involved in a case reported to OSP is treated fairly, appropriately, and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, Title IX, and CPS policies
• Oversee the school-based implementation of the investigatory, support, and response outlined in the Office of Student Protections and Title IX Procedure Manual and the Comprehensive Guide to School-Based Investigations, including the training and support of Student Protections School Representatives (SPSR)
• Develop and monitor the effectiveness of a centralized report tracking system to ensure each report is assessed, appropriately routed, receives timely response and decisions/rationale recorded, including with the Office of the Inspector General, other relevant CPS departments and external stakeholders such as the Department of Children and Family Services
• Ensure the team is responding appropriately and promptly to every relevant report by receiving, recording, determining follow up, documenting and referring cases to the appropriate team or office for next steps; Monitor the caseloads and case processing of the both teams and ensure the proper review and closure of all cases handled by the Intake and Coordination Team
• Create, develop and update tracking systems and metrics for Intake and Coordination teams to drive productivity and accountability and provide a mechanism to monitor timeliness of OSP response and utilize available data to identify patterns and/or systemic problems related to cases across the district and assist with the development of action plans to address trends
• Partner with Office leadership to develop reports to the CEO and Board of Education outlining data metrics, response and preventative measures
• Other duties and workstreams as assigned