Child Well-Being (Cwb) Specialists

Child Well-Being (CWB) Specialist

Strategic Resources, Inc. (SRI) is an international, ISO 9001:2015, 20000-1:2018, and 27001:2013 Certified, CMMI Level 3 Rated full-service provider with more than 35 years' experience in the Federal, Military, and Commercial Marketplaces. SRI is seeking committed and passionate professionals to provide critical services to the Department of Homeland Security.

Overview: The DHS Child Well-Being Program (CWP) provides, 24/7, trained Child Well-Being Professionals to strengthen the care and protection of children in custody of the DHS between the time of encounter and transfer to a long-term care facility (generally the first 72 hours post-encounter). The program augments existing resources and current services by providing structured programmatic support, clinical services, and technical guidance with the sole focus of ensuring the well-being of children in custody.

Scope: The professionals supporting the CWP will be complementary to U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) Agents, Processing Coordinators, Caregivers, and medical staff with the sole focus of child well-being. The Child Well-Being Professionals will regularly engage with children, provide coordination of care and escalation of issues related to well-being, and have the flexibility to provide interventions when required in surge or crisis state. In addition, the Child Well-Being Professionals will be integrated into daily operations with a daily presence in facilities, support tactical and operational execution of processes, and serve as the child well-being resource to staff in the field.

Tasks & Responsibilities:

• Serve as a point of contact for facility staff for matters related to child well-being.

• Be on call within each facility throughout their shift to provide support through professional opinions, technical expertise, and technical assistance regarding child well-being and trauma informed care to DHS staff.

• Primarily serve in U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) Central Processing Centers (CPCs). May be deployed to USBP Stations as required based on operational realities as well.

• When a child well-being concern is identified, proactively propose solutions which leverage existing services and coordinate among requisite facility staff.

• Participate in immediate interventions and case management activities as necessary to support a child's well-being.

• In all situations where immediate interventions or case management activities would require approval or discussion with CBP, seek out the federal facility point of contact to address and/or recommend action.

• Serves as the main point of contact providing direct trauma informed care to children in crisis and for facility staff for all matters related to child well-being.

• Moves throughout the facility independently while observing the physical environment, interactions between individuals, and verbal and nonverbal cues related to assessing child wellbeing concerns. Concerns may include a child experiencing distress, at risk of distress, or with an unattended need, as well as opportunities to support child-friendly, child-appropriate interactions between facility staff and/or family members and a child.

• Escalate information to CWB Lead Specialist to support coordination with USBP on Sector-specific needs related to child well-being.

• Supports USBP staff in making decisions around the care for children who are experiencing current and/or ongoing medical, psychological, physical limitations, developmental, behavioral or safety needs.

• Serve as a resource by advising and supporting facility decision making involving complex child well-being concerns (i.e. family separation decisions, isolation measures).

• Assists in the documentation and information transfer for individual cases due to the complex requirements for HHS placements of children with special needs, and for other downstream partners.

• Facilities referral and transfer of children to community behavioral or physical health providers, as necessary.

• Engages with children proactively to support their well-being including identification of children in distress or children at risk of distress.

• De-escalates a child or parent experiencing emergent behavioral or emotional distress and coordinate resources to intervene in emergent medical distress.

• Works with Agents to provide easily understood guidance to children and families, who may speak different languages to increase children's understanding of what is happening to them and why.

• Provides brief, ongoing education during musters and provides facility staff requested tools to respond to specific situations with children and provide other insights into culturally sensitive care.

• Proactively identify opportunities for continuous improvement and share with CWB Lead Specialist.

• Provide routine reports of process and outcome metrics to support monitoring and evaluating program success.

Required Skills, Education, Experience & Abilities:

• Master's or Doctoral degree from an accredited college or university in the field of Behavioral Health.

• Hold a full, current, and unrestricted license in one of the following or equivalent:

• Social Worker (LCSW or LICSW)

• Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT)

• Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)

• Doctor level prepared psychologists (LP)

• 2+ years' work experience post-full licensure including work experience in child development, culturally competent and trauma-centered care, and performing evaluations in direct engagement with children and their families, with experience in a clinical or immigration setting strongly preferred.

• Bilingual (Spanish and English in speaking, listening, reading, writing) due to the language barriers in communicating sensitive topics with minors. (DESIRED BUT NOT REQUIRED)

• Must have a minimum score of 3/5 on the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale or an equivalent of "High" on Private LTI.

• Experience working in a multidisciplinary team-based environment.

• Ability to operate in a dynamic environment within a developing new program.

• Superb written and verbal communication skills.

• Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office products including SharePoint.