Program Design and Management (PDM) Qualifications

Summary of Responsibilities
The PDM Reviewer is accountable to the Team Leader for completing the eight subsections of the PDM protocol: Governing Body, Policy Council, Planning; Ongoing Monitoring, Communications, Record-Keeping and Reporting; Human Resources, and Grantee Strengths.

Conducts a pre-site examination of the Grantee's Community Assessment, Self-Assessment, and Program Service Plans to create and present a pre-site Sunday Summary report to the review team.

Tasks include:

• Prepare a pre-site Sunday Summary report
• Collect information:
  • Regarding how the governing body functions
  • That relates to Grantee management of Head Start programs to ensure effective and efficient operations, reliability of financial reporting, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations
  • About the program’s process for self-assessment, including the program’s corrective action plans and actions taken from the assessment to improve the program
  • From observations, interviews, and document reviews and entering all notes into the “Notes” section of the OHS Monitoring Software
• Verify that the Grantee has working partnerships with the policy groups, parent committees, and key management staff
• Ensure the Grantee knows how to identify areas needing improvement or correction and have a system in place to make the identified improvements and corrections
• Identify the extent to which a program is serving eligible children and their families
• Review the program’s written plans for implementing services and its process for conducting and using Community Assessments to determine community strengths and needs
• Assess how information is exchanged and used to ensure quality outcomes for children and families
• Understand how regular reports inform decision-makers and how they ensure accountability
• Verify that the program has a mechanism in place to ensure it has staff with the qualifications to fulfill their job responsibilities and are adequately trained and do not pose any health or safety threat to children or other staff
• Work collaboratively with the Team Leader and Report Coordinator to conduct interviews with the Governing Body, the Policy Council, and other grantee stakeholders
• Complete common assignments and writing preliminary areas of noncompliance

Minimum Requirements

Education:
Bachelor's degree in public administration, business administration, human resources, early childhood education, child development, health services, or social services

Work Experience:

• Head Start experience is preferred but not required.
• At least 3 to 5 years of experience serving in an administrative or management-related position with an organization serving families with young children (birth to age 5).
• Work experience that involves integration of management systems and program services.
• Relevant work experience must be within the last 15 years.
• Provision of supervisory/management-level responsibilities in organizations that serve families with young children that address at least three of the following six areas of responsibility:
Working with governing bodies
1. Strategic Planning
2. Development and implementation of communication
3. Record-keeping
4. Reporting and implementation of self-assessment/quality control systems
5. Meeting fiscal/budgetary requirements

Other Requirements:

• Must be able to demonstrate through a specified writing sample the ability to write clear and concise reports supported by appropriate evidence.