Social Worker III – Foster Licensing & Placement

Job Opportunity

Are you passionate about supporting families and making a meaningful difference in your community? We're seeking a compassionate, dedicated professional to join our team in a vital role focused on the recruitment, training, and support of kinship, foster, and adoptive families. In this role, you'll collaborate closely with a team of committed professionals and behavioral health partners to ensure children in foster care are placed in safe, nurturing homes.

We offer excellent benefits, a strong emphasis on work-life balance, and opportunities for ongoing professional development in a supportive, trauma-informed environment. If you're looking for a career that values teamwork, personal growth, and the chance to truly impact lives, we encourage you to apply.

The primary functions of this position are the recruitment, training, and licensure of new kinship, foster, and adoptive families using trauma-informed practices. This position provides ongoing support and education to kinship and licensed foster families with children placed in their homes. This position works collaboratively with others on the team and behavioral health partners to identify appropriate placements for children in foster care.

The position is required to competently and accurately complete home visits and the relicensing process with families within the required time frame. This position prepares foster families for placement and the court process. This position provides ongoing counseling to support the parenting of children who have experienced trauma.

Essential functions include participating in the planning of and attending activities and events for the recruitment of new foster and adoptive families; providing training for kinship and foster families using approved and trauma-informed practices; providing ongoing support, education, and training to kinship families with children placed in their homes; conducting all required background checks, producing well-written and accurate pre-placement assessments and home studies, and assessing the parenting capabilities of potential foster and adoptive parents to ensure the safety of children who may be placed in the home;

conducting initial licensure and re-licensure processes within required NC DHHS policy and time frames; conducting all required quarterly home visits, addressing issues or concerns, ensuring all safety and licensure requirements continue to be met, and providing ongoing support to families with children placed in their homes; collaborating with other team members, foster care social workers, and behavioral health professionals to identify appropriate placements for children and youth in care;

assisting with the facilitation of shared parenting with placement providers, and family time between children, parents, and siblings; working collaboratively with a wide array of partners including the kinship and foster parents, foster care social workers, Guardian ad Litem program, and treatment providers to ensure the safety, health, and well-being of children placed in foster care; providing ongoing emotional support and education to help placement providers effectively prepare for and parent children who have experienced considerable trauma, to understand child welfare policy and practice, the juvenile court process and time frames, and to prepare for separation of children from their care;

attending Child and Family team meetings, Shared Parenting, Permanency Planning reviews, court hearings, and other required meetings as needed as a support to placement providers; thorough and timely documentation of case information per policy; participating in the rotation for on-call for children's services; participating in shelter operations or other weather-related incidents as needed; performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum qualifications include a Master's degree in social work from an accredited school of social work;
Bachelor's degree in social work from an accredited school of social work and completion of the Child Welfare Collaborative (Child Welfare positions only);
Bachelor's degree in social work from an accredited school of social work and one year directly related experience;
Master's degree in a human services field and one year of directly related experience;
Bachelor's degree in a human services field from an accredited college or university and two years directly related experience;
Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university and three years of directly related experience, or an equivalent combination of training and experience. Certification in TIPS-MAPP and/or other approved licensure curricula is preferred but not required.

Knowledge, skills, and abilities include considerable knowledge of child welfare practice and policy including abuse, neglect, and dependency; thorough knowledge of social work principles, techniques, and practices, and their application to complex casework, group work, and community problems; considerable knowledge of a…