Caregiver Advocate & Peer Support Partner

Family & Children Services, Inc.; Kalamazoo (MI); On-site; USD 32,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Family & Children Services, Inc. in Kalamazoo, MI seeks a Parent Partner to provide peer-based support, advocacy, and mentoring to caregivers involved in the child welfare system.

Using lived experience, you will build trusting relationships, help families navigate services, participate in meetings, and coordinate with the MI Family Together team to promote family stability. This on-site role offers meaningful community impact, requires weekly contact with families, and compliance with program

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED equivalent.
• Lived experience as a parent or caregiver involved with CPS, foster care, prevention services, and/or the public behavioral health system, with successful case closure.
• Stable family situation with no current CPS substantiations related to child safety.
• Willingness and ability to share lived parenting experience as a learning, engagement, and support tool for others.
• Ability to build respectful, nonjudgmental relationships with families, community partners, and service providers.
• Eligibility for and participation in all required MDHHS-approved Parent Partner training and certification curricula.

Responsibilities

• Provide ongoing peer-based support to caregivers through phone, virtual, and face-to-face contact in accordance with program requirements, including required weekly contacts and at least one monthly face-to-face contact.
• Meet, greet, and welcome families to the MI Family Together program and build trusting, respectful, and nonjudgmental relationships.
• Utilize lived experience to provide encouragement, mentorship, and peer support to caregivers.
• Coach parents on child welfare processes, expectations, and self-advocacy.
• Help caregivers build confidence, recognize self-efficacy, and use their voice to advocate for their needs.
• Communicate hope, celebrate successes, and reinforce progress toward family goals.

Skills

Lived experience

Peer support

Advocacy

Mentoring

Communication

Education

High School Diploma or GED

Job description

Family & Children Services, Inc. in Kalamazoo, MI seeks a Parent Partner to provide peer-based support, advocacy, and mentoring to caregivers involved in the child welfare system.

Using lived experience, you will build trusting relationships, help families navigate services, participate in meetings, and coordinate with the MI Family Together team to promote family stability. This on-site role offers meaningful community impact, requires weekly contact with families, and compliance with program