Family Advocate

Description

Job Title: Child Specific Recruiting Family Advocate

Program(s): Child Specific Recruitment

State: Arizona

Population Served: Child Welfare

Reports To: Child Specific Recruitment Supervisor

FLSA Status: Exempt

Summary

The Child Specific Recruitment Youth Advocate provides individualized, child-centered recruitment services to support children and sibling groups involved with the Arizona Department of Child Safety in achieving legal permanency through adoption, guardianship, parental restoration, or transition to a family-like setting. This position develops and implements Child Specific Recruitment Plans, identifies and engages relatives, fictive kin, supportive adults, and prospective permanency resources, and collaborates closely with ADCS, caregivers, service providers, and Child and Family Teams to promote stable, permanent connections for children in out-of-home care.

• Provide culturally relevant, linguistically appropriate and gender responsive services procedures and forms.
• Accepts assigned Service Approvals and supports timely acknowledgment, assignment, documentation, and service delivery in accordance with contract requirements.
• Reviews and analyzes current and historical case information, including available records, prior cases, birth files when applicable, kinship home studies, and other relevant documentation to identify lost connections and permanency resources.
• Develops a proposed Child Specific Recruitment Plan within required time frames using information gathered from case research, interviews, team collaboration, and the child’s unique needs, interests, culture, preferences, and permanency goals.
• Engages relatives, fictive kin, former caregivers, siblings’ caregivers, teachers, coaches, mentors, behavioral health providers, service providers, Tribal representatives, CASA, attorneys, and other significant adults to identify possible adoptive families, legal guardians, supportive relationships, and permanency supports.
• Conducts direct monthly contact with each assigned child or sibling group for a minimum of one hour to build rapport, provide age-appropriate updates, support recruitment readiness, and prepare the child for adoption, guardianship, parental restoration, or family-like placement as appropriate.
• Uses ADCS-approved curriculum and child-focused recruitment strategies to help children understand permanency, participate in recruitment planning, and prepare for transitions.
• Creates, coordinates, and implements individualized recruitment activities beyond standard recruitment efforts, including outreach to groups, organizations, and communities aligned with the child’s needs, interests, culture, and preferences.
• Develops creative recruitment strategies and materials, which may include social media content, brochures, flyers, posters, letters, articles, photos, profiles, and other approved media or marketing tools after verifying applicable releases and approvals.
• Creates and updates Children’s Heart Gallery and AdoptUSKids profiles, including narratives and photographs, in accordance with contract requirements and ADCS expectations.
• Shares recruitment information with foster licensing contractors, adoption placing agencies, community organizations, and approved online forums in alignment with the child’s preferences and confidentiality requirements.
• Maintains regular communication with the assigned ADCS Specialist and responds to ADCS requests for updates within required time frames.
• Attends and participates in Child and Family Team meetings, court hearings, professional staffing meetings, recruitment events, family selection meetings, full disclosure meetings, and other required meetings to provide updates and support permanency planning.
• Identifies barriers to permanency and communicates concerns to ADCS within required time frames while collaborating with team members to develop strategies to address barriers.
• Supports current and prospective caregivers before, during, and after placement transitions to promote stability and reduce the risk of disruption.
• Supports transition to a family-like setting when adoption or guardianship has not yet…