Youth & Family Specialist-Support & Stabilization

Safe and Stable Family Services—Ascentria will deliver services that assist parents/caregivers with growing their capacity to keep children safe in their homes to either prevent removal or support families after reunification. Motivational interviewing and parent coaching will be utilized to help develop and enhance the Five Protective Factors based on family strengths and individual needs. This service will primarily be delivered in person where the parent/caregivers are residing.

It will be important for families to receive services where they are comfortable, which will promote engagement, and the opportunity for change. Based on the family’s needs services may also be delivered in other locations including community-based settings such as public transportation, grocery stores, schools, banks, laundry mats, and doctors' offices. Ascentria’s vision is to ensure that settings for services will align with the unique needs of the family and promote knowledge of parenting and child development, building of social and emotional competence, parental resilience, social connections, and concrete supports.

• Demonstrate a human centered, strength-based, and trauma informed philosophy by treating all clients, families and collaterals in a non-judgmental and respectful manner while building on their strengths.
• Create a trusting and safe relationship with the client and encourages personal growth of the client
• Advocate for the youth’s needs to ensure equitable and quality care
• Demonstrate strong communication and organizational skills
• Capable of working independently and collaboratively in home and community-based settings
• Provide clinical case management working in multiple systems and settings providing services to foster children, foster families and biological families
• Depending on level of training, provides group and/or individual counseling and coaching services, mediation and guidance to children and their biological and/or foster families. (LISCW or equivalent)
• Facilitates supervised family visits, and provides parent coaching as appropriate
• Consistently demonstrate discretion and independent judgment with regard to assessing and making decisions around the best interest for children and families
• Undertake the responsibility of “on-call” duty as assigned and is responsive to crises independently either by phone and/or in person, demonstrating a calm and professional approach while assuring safety for all involved.
• Facilitate treatment meetings/ foster care review, and invites the appropriate attendees, while ensuring effective interagency collaboration
• Coordinate dental, medical, psychological and community support for youth
• Ensure that educational needs are met including advocacy for special education services
• Attend all meetings called by collaterals and support a team approach to best serve the needs of children, youth and families

• Support and participate in the development and implementation of strategic plans for program-specific foster care recruitment in conjunction with foster care recruitment across the Children and Families Service
• Recruit qualified foster homes on a continuous basis to meet the growing and challenging needs of clients
• Support foster families through the recruitment and training process
• Participate in “matching process” and prepares foster parents for their work with the child/youth and family of origin

Promote the program through community networking and positive representation to internal and external committees, government entities, etc.

• Maintain an excellent relationship with state or private funding sources and other state authorities responsible for regulating foster homes or child placing agencies
• Develop and maintain expertise regarding regulatory requirements for foster parent qualification and renewal including record checks, evaluations and updating of file materials
• Complete all documentation required by state licensing regulations in a timely manner, including but not limited to home studies, background checks, annual foster care review and waivers
• Perform other related duties incidental to the work described…