Permanency Support Specialist bei The Children's Shelter

Description

PRIMARY FUNCTION/PURPOSE

The provision of therapeutic trauma focused case management services to children and families receiving foster care and adoption services. Strategize to promote Foster Care and Adoption Programs in the community. Responsible for completion of all aspects of the recruitment and verification process for families.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Responsible for all aspects of case management of children placed in the home that are assigned.
• Promote the retention of current foster, respite, foster/adopt and adopt families by providing supportive services to these families.
• Conducts preliminary service plans for foster care and adoptive placements, completing all appropriate foster care and adoption assessment forms.
• Prepares children and children’s prospective foster parents for placement.
• Coordinates foster care and foster/adoptive placements with all parties involved: e.g. birth parents, foster parents, adoptive parents, other caseworkers, etc.
• Develops children’s permanency planning goals, treatment goals and treatment plans for with other parties involved.
• Conducts supportive casework (crisis intervention, referrals, etc.) for children and families as needed.
• Conducts quarterly evaluations and corrective actions with foster homes to monitor for risk and safety as needed.
• Assess families and develops family service plans on voluntary cases.
• Assures compliance with TDFPS Licensing, Youth For Tomorrow and Council on Accreditation standards.
• Supervises children in foster care and foster/adoptive placements on an individual basis by conducting home visits and maintaining contact with the therapeutic foster or foster/adoptive parents in regards to the child. Works with foster and foster/adoptive parents to ensure that children’s needs are met.
• Maintains case records on all clients through chronological recording, obtaining required documentation and agency forms.
• Participates in interdisciplinary team meetings such as staffing's, treatment reviews, court hearings, school meetings and ARD staffing's as needed.
• Fulfills the annual minimum requirements for staff training with at least 20 hours a year.
• Participates in on-call rotation.
• Attends agency staff meetings and participates in program development.
• Document work in the agency’s computer system, Kale, and other computer programs.
• Promote positive working relationships with staff from DFPS or other agencies and community organizations.
• Maintain overall compliance of 95% monthly with work assignments.
• Engage in and follow strategic planning initiatives of the agency, which includes working to integrate and collaborate with other agency programs.
• Demonstrates strong commitment to meeting the needs of our customers (children, community members, co-workers, donors, managers and volunteers), in a friendly, outgoing and professional manner.
• Responds to customers in a timely and thorough manner; does what is necessary to ensure customer satisfaction; prioritizes customer’s needs and follows up to evaluate customer’s satisfaction.
• Carry out and adhere to The Children’s Shelter policies and procedures of Trauma Informed Care.
• Responsible for own personal safety, your co-workers, and others that might enter your work area.

GENERAL EXPECTATIONS

• Effective application of the knowledge, skills, values and ethic of social work practice with children in foster care and foster/adoptive placements, and their families.
• Meet recruitment and verification goals for new families.
• Represent the agency in an informative, professional, and positive manner.
• Be able to participate in developing community awareness of Foster Care through public speaking engagements or other marketing tools.
• Provide culturally appropriate services to children and their families
• Work to provide a program that meets the emotional, intellectual and social needs of both the individual and the group in accordance with the policies and philosophies of the agency.
• Be consistent and reliable with punctuality and attendance.
• Contributes to building a child welfare system that is safe, secure, and stable; family centered; connected to the community; which relies on evidence-based practice necessary to support contract services in Bexar County.
• Adheres to all policies and procedures of the agency and its accrediting and standard setting bodies, such as Council on Accreditation (COA) and state licensing.
• Maintains client confidentiality per The Children’s Shelter standards and all applicable codes of ethics
• Learns, understands, supports, and demonstrates The Children’s Shelter mission, vision, and values.
• Demonstrates the Trauma Informed Care principles and practices with peers, clients, and external stakeholders.
• Promotes and demonstrates appropriate respect for cultural diversity among coworkers and clients.
• Attends mandatory trainings as defined in positions training matrix by the assigned deadline.
• Uses outside professional collaboration and intra-agency teamwork appropriate to the agency.
• Skilled in organizing work in an environment with multiple challenges and priorities.
• Avoid all conflicts of interest, real or perceived.
• Attends work in accordance with agency leave policy.
• Performs other duties as assigned to ensure continuity of operations.

Requirements

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor’s degree in social work or other human service related field. BSW or MSW preferred.
• Prior child placing experience preferred
• Proficiency in assessment and writing which allows for completion of a Home Study.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Skilled in organizing work in a responsible way in an environment with multiple challenges and priorities.
• Knowledgeable of cultural diversity and able to provide culturally competent service to children and adults.
• Knowledgeable of principles of human development, including the importance of maintaining family relationships and issues of separation and loss.
• Ability to seek supervision and use it constructively.
• Ability to identify and respond to the training, education and ongoing support needs of foster and adoptive parents.
• Ability to collaborate with foster and adoptive parents as members of the professional team to protect and nurture children while strengthening families.
• Bilingual strongly preferred
• Valid driver’s license
• Must maintain a current drivers' license and auto insurance. Must have access to reliable and safe transportation. Willingness and ability to use personal vehicle for work activities.

DESCRIPTION OF WORK ENVIRONMENT

Position is assigned to the Permanency Support Program in the Home Development Department. Many work assignments are completed outside of the office setting, including visits to foster/adoptive homes. Scheduled for a minimum of 40 hours per week, but may necessitate additional time in order to complete assigned work. Some weekend and evening work is required. Regular work hours are 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, but can be adjusted due to scheduling of visits, as approved by a supervisor.

EEO STATEMENT:

The Children’s Shelter is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Please let us know if you require reasonable accommodation to complete the application or any part of the hiring process.

DISCLAIMER:

This is not an all-inclusive list of job-related responsibilities, duties, skills, efforts, requirements, or working conditions. While this is intended to accurately reflect the current job, The Children’s Shelter reserves the right to revise the job or to require other or different tasks to be performed as assigned. Employee (s) must be able to perform the position's essential functions satisfactorily. If requested, a reasonable accommodation will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential function of their job, absent undue hardship.