Foster Coordinator

Description POSITION SUMMARY

This position is responsible for providing exceptional customer service and care for our community. Areas of responsibility include, but not limited to recruiting, developing and maintaining a dynamic foster client base while managing the movement of animals from shelter to foster care to adoption. Promotes teamwork and maintains an optimistic attitude all while assisting in intake, surrender of animals, lost and found, return to owner, and adoptions.

This diverse role also includes educating the public regarding humane pet ownership, humane law and regulations, and the overall services and resources offered by the Louisiana SPCA.

• Be a consistent and visible presence with foster care providers; be available to answer questions, receive feedback, lend a hand, and ensure deep understanding of and compliance with the LASPCA foster program procedures and operations.
• Provide all foster families with direct, transparent communication about the purpose of their foster assignment and help those fostering animals with medical and/or behavioral risks to understand that humane euthanasia may ultimately be the appropriate outcome for that animal.
• Ensure that all foster volunteers receive any necessary supplies for an animal in their care and that volunteers are well informed about the animal they will be fostering.
• Support foster population while providing training, supervision, modeling, coaching and ongoing guidance to foster families.
• Provide top customer service toLASPCA’s foster families, respond to emails, text messages, Facebook posts and phone calls from foster parents in a timely manner and resolve issues as they arise.
• Provide all foster volunteers with comprehensive ongoing training in disease control and prevention in their home, animal handling and safety techniques.
• Schedule and facilitate foster drop-offs and organize transportation for offsite placement, transfers and consults.
• Promote, communicate and encourage all foster families to attend upcoming offsite adoption events/opportunities with their foster animal.

• Monitor daily the animal populations in foster care, with attention to volume, capacity for care, length of stay (LOS) and animal flow out of foster care and into adoption placement.
• In conjunction with the Pathway team, the Foster Coordinator identifies opportunities for positive outcomes, seek ways to increase capacity and annual foster placements, while being mindful of annual goals, capacity for care and LOS
• Maintain a “foster on deck” process to ensure timely and efficient flow of animals into foster care.
• Utilize innovative tools to contribute to foster recruitment, promote foster retention and streamline foster assignments.
• Continuously seek out, learn and implement best practices in the field related to foster care, animal relocation and animal placement.
• Maintain and update daily a foster tracking database that captures with precise detail intake, outcome, behavioral and medical data for each foster.

• Check in with foster families regularly and update staff and /volunteers with any important information.
• Partner closely with the Foster Vet Tech and Shelter Clinic team to manage daily incoming and outgoing animal population from the facility to foster care.
• Collaborate with the Adoptions and medical team to select animals from the shelter/rescue into off-site adoption spaces (e.g. pet supply stores) or into foster care.
• Cultivate positive and productive relationships with staff to promote positive outcomes, both through diversion and transfers.
• Ensure a respectful and welcoming environment, practice open and respectful communication, provide constructive feedback.
• Maintain positive and productive relationships with external partners that provide services to the foster population.
• Nurture a culture of growth and learning and actively participate in meeting mutual goals to increase the live release rate of feline shelter populations.

• High school diploma or equivalent required
• Bachelor’s degree or some college…