Foster Care And Adoptions Specialist

Position Description:

The CHRIS 180 Foster Care and Adoption Specialist will be responsible for the delivery of family-friendly

case management services for families and youth who have been approved to adopt or for foster care

placement and/or adoption support. The Foster Care and Adoption Specialist will manage the approved

home study families in the matching process by working with Regional Foster Care and Adoption

Specialist and DFCS case workers on matching available children with approved families. Foster Care

and Adoption Specialists will work together with state child-placing agencies to develop a family-centered

plan to address any areas of strengths and needs. Once a child is placed into the home of an adoptive

resource, the Foster Care and Adoption Specialist will maintain weekly to bi-weekly contact with placed

families to ensure that a proper match has been made and all standards are being followed and report out

the status of the placement every month. Continued assessment of needs and services are made

to identify potential disruptions and work with the families to prevent a disruption from occurring.

The Foster Care and Adoption Specialist will work with families to train them in areas of need to ensure

that the family will stay intact once all placement supervision and finalization supervision services have

ended.

The Foster Care and Adoption Specialist will work intensely with children placed in the Foster and

Adoption homes to establish rapport and assess needs. The Foster Care and Adoption Specialist will

develop a plan of need for any issues that may lead to a disruption and will be responsible for the plan

and the strategies identified.

The Foster Care and Adoption Specialist must be emotionally stable, able to handle high stress, relate

well to a wide variety of individuals, and be able to work as part of a team. The Foster Care and Adoption

Specialists must be able to follow, enforce, and implement program descriptions as outlined in the state

contracts. The Foster Care and Adoption Specialist must be able to provide one-to-one interaction with a

designated child/adolescent and their family; act as liaison and advocate for the client with other agencies

as needed, complete required paperwork, and perform other related duties as required. The CHRIS

Foster Care and Adoption Specialists must be flexible in working hours, be able to respond to crises effectively, and meet regularly with the Director of Foster Care and Adoptions.

Roles and Responsibilities

This position provides support to consumers/residents/partnering agencies/foster-adoptive families and the

primary duties include but are not limited to the following:

Maintains a caseload of up to 30 families in the matching process

o Report back to families on the status of their matches on a bi-weekly basis

Maintains a caseload of up to 15 families in the post-placement and finalization supervision

o Pre-placement visits will be once a week for the first month

o Additional months leading up to finalization will be seen up to twice per month

o Post-finalization support will be once per month for an additional 6 months post-adoption

Ensure that families in post-placement supervision or seen on an average of twice per month

Communicates weekly with the program director regarding the caseload status.

Becomes familiar with and follow all policy and procedures of the CHRIS 180

Ensures foster care and/or adoptive parents understanding of policy and procedures in

relationship to foster care and/or adoption of a child (ren) and progress toward permanency and

adoption.

Schedules, conducts and documents required home visits once a child(ren) is placed in a foster

home, adoptive home and/or Gateway to Adoption Home.

Actively pursue potential adoptive parents for children placed into Foster Care and Adoption

Home.

Prepares recommendations for child placing agencies concerning the matching of child(ren) for

foster care/adoptive placement and waiting families

Acts as a liaison between CHRIS Connections Services and various state child placing agencies/

offices concerning the introduction and selection of waiting families.

Ensure that families in post-placement supervision or seen on an average of twice per month

Communicates weekly with the program director regarding the caseload status.

Becomes familiar with and follow all policy and procedures of the CHRIS 180

Ensures foster care and/or adoptive parents understanding of policy and procedures in

relationship to foster care and/or adoption of a child (ren) and progress toward permanency and

adoption.

Schedules, conducts and documents required home visits once a child(ren) is placed in a foster

home, adoptive home.

Actively pursue potential adoptive parents for children placed into the Gateway to Adoption

Home.

Prepares recommendations for child placing agencies concerning the matching of child(ren) for

foster care/adoptive placement and waiting families

Acts as a liaison between CHRIS Connections Services and various state child placing agencies/

offices concerning the introduction and selection of waiting families.

Participate in the IMPACT/ NTDC panel discussion by being a part of the panel and assisting

with obtaining adoption professionals to attend on the panel as well.

Assists with co-facilitating pre-adoption and post-adoption family training series as needed.

Provides ongoing support services to foster and adoptive families.

Ensures that all follow-up services are coordinated and provided according to any grant

opportunities

Coordinates additional services with contracted agencies to provide additional supports as

needed by the family

Ensures that services that have been provided are responsive to the familys needs and address

providers who are not meeting those needs and adjust service provision.

Counsels foster parents and adoptive parent(s) regarding child(ren)'s development, behavior and

special needs and assist foster parents and adoptive families in obtaining resources to meet the

needs of child(ren) placed in the home.

Assists with recruitment of prospective foster parents and adoptive parents.

o Plans events every quarter to provide adoption recruitment and/or support

Records and timely submits all required forms and written reports by Agency

policy and the requirements of various contracts, DFCS, DHR, or Superior Court.

Assess the families strengths and needs to develop a placement plan for the child transition to

foster home and/or adoption-to-adoption follow-up

Coordinates services with the DFCS Case Manager, foster parents or Preparation for adoption

home staff, the prospective adoptive parents, and community resources and the child.

Provide positive role-modeling to consumers/clients/members/residents/partnering agencies

o Promote self-esteem

o Promote healthy boundaries

o Promote good hygiene and appropriate personal appearance among youth and young

adults

o Reinforce socially acceptable behaviors (ex: manners, eating habits, safety)

o Teach and reinforce thoughtful decision making

o Model effective and consistent communication

Assessing residents/consumers/members/clients history

o Administer Parenting Stress Index (PSI)

o Aware of ACE score and implications on service planning

o Develop and monitor Individualized Service Plan/IRRPs

Coordinating Services and Collaboration

o Assist family and/or Gateway foster parents to make necessary referrals to meet youth's

health, well-being, education, mental health, and employment needs (i.e. Department of

Public Health, Department of Family & Children Services, Georgia Department of Labor,

employment staffing agencies, local colleges and tech schools, etc.)

o Facilitate and/or participate in Team Meetings for all

consumers/members/residents/young adults.

o Collaborate and communicate with other programs in the CHRIS 180 continuum in the provision of services to consumers

o Collaborate and consult with other providers and entities in the provision of best care

services to youth and families

o Monitor the provision of services provided

Additional Requirements:

o Maintain detailed files, documentation, and billing requirements promptly in

accordance with CHRIS 180 policy and compliance standards

o Attend and participate in all meetings and supervision as required and by

CHRIS 180 policy and procedures.

o Adhere to CHRIS 180 Code of Conduct, Code of Ethics, and GA Code

o Maintain consumers confidentiality

o Support and maintain an environment of emotional and physical safety for consumers,

staff, and other stakeholders at all times

Qualifications/Competencies:

Bachelors degree (Master's degree in Social Work preferred) in one of the social sciences or 3

years related field experience in child welfare or at least 4 years experience in foster care and

adoption required.

Ability to establish and maintain professional relationships with individuals in the community,

professional agencies, and state-level professionals, as well as the ability to interact with various

client populations.

Ability to express ideas effectively both verbally and in writing.

Dependable vehicle since the position requires travel and insurance coverage beyond the minimum

liability.

Excellent organizational skills to deal with scheduling, documentation time, and coordinating

services, etc.

Preferred qualification: certified and experienced in delivering IMPACT training for foster care

and adoption, as well as, having a firm understanding of Trauma Informed Care.

Other:

The ideal candidate will possess the following:

Technical expertise that allows well-informed decisions, usage of available tools and resources

and training to execute job responsibilities

Accountable for work being completed accurately and promptly as well as following up

as needed

Ability to collaborate with other staff to ensure best practices and sound decisions

Ability to communicate using an appropriate tone when corresponding verbally or written (as well as

proper usage of grammar and spelling)

Ability to adapt and adjust to the course and be open to new ideas

Ability to manage workload by having a clear understanding of task/project and set realistic

timelines and goals

Commitment to our vision and mission should be demonstrated in work

Benefits we offer:

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Short- and Long-Term Disability

Basic and Voluntary Life Insurance and AD&D

Employee Assistance Program

Flex Spending Account

Health Savings Account

403 (b) plan

Paid Time Off

Schedule:

This is a full-time position and typically works Monday Friday 8:00am 5:00pm hours may vary.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to

successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to

enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. While performing the duties of this

job, the employee is frequently required to sit, stand, and reach with hands and arms. The employee is

occasionally required to lift and/or move up to 20 pounds.