Job Opportunity - Licensed Facilitator
Seeking
Licensed social worker, counselor, therapist, or parent educator to facilitate weekly peer-based support meetings serving grief and loss needs of people whose children are parented by others - through termination of parental rights, transfer of custody, adoption, parental alienation, and other circumstances.
About the opportunity
Bellis will contract a facilitator for up to 1-2 hours a week at $50/hour, with the opportunity to increase hours as needed by the organization. Each meeting generally runs for 1 hour. Additional time allows for preparation and evaluation for each meeting. Participation in monthly facilitator meetings (1 hour) is required.
Online via Zoom and potentially on location at partnering organizations
One facilitator manages one or more weekly meetings, with the ability to have substitutes as needed
This position reports directly to Kelly Tronstad, Executive Director of Bellis, and will have collaborative relationships with other involved professionals.
The ideal candidate will have
Facilitation experience with a population of individuals managing ambiguous grief/loss related to family complexities
Expert understanding of termination of parental rights, adoption, and foster care
Drive for orchestrating healing conversations in a peer-based and trauma-informed environment
Unbiased views related to people whose parental rights have been involuntarily terminated and general agreement with Bellis mission and guiding values
Professional expertise to deliver a first-of-its-kind endeavor in support of women
About the program
The Stronger Together Peer Support Model™ by Bellis is an expert-led peer support program which addresses four common factors experienced by people who are separated from their children: shame, grief, isolation, and loss of control. Societal judgement and stigmatization compound these factors, often leading parents to spiral into addiction, mental illness, or criminal activity. The goal of the model is to help people whose children are parented by others address their trauma and grief so they can increase self-understanding, build resiliency, make positive social connections, and develop greater agency in their lives.
About Bellis
Established in 1983, Bellis served for many years as a trusted source for adoption education and support for birth mothers, adoptees, and adoptive families. In 2019, social workers approached Bellis leadership seeking support for mothers who had experienced a termination of parental rights or a transfer of legal custody. Research showed that no such support existed in the state of Minnesota or anywhere in the U.S. (Wilder Research, 2019).
In response, Bellis expanded its mission and created the Stronger Together Peer Support Model™ to support a broader population of people experiencing separation from their children. Today, Bellis provides compassionate support to people whose children are parented by others, no matter how that came to be.
The model, the only of its kind in the U.S., integrates culturally sensitive, trauma-informed, facilitated peer support to address ambiguous loss and disenfranchised grief. Through structured group settings, participants process grief, build connection, and strengthen their sense of self.
Bellis offers free, low-barrier programming through weekly online groups, a monthly in-person group in Saint Paul, a daily support call/text line, a participant portal, and annual retreats. With participants in nearly every U.S. state, Bellis is addressing a critical gap in care while working to expand access to this specialized support nationwide.
Please submit a resume and cover letter to Bellis Executive Director Kelly Tronstad at kellyt@mybellis.org.