Case Worker

Arkansas Baptist Children & Family Ministries (ABCFM); Little Rock (AR); On-site; USD 38,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Arkansas Baptist Children & Family Ministries (ABCFM) seeks a Caseworker to develop children and families, increase placement numbers and stability, and promote permanency with a Christ-centered focus. This ministry role covers integrated services from placement to permanency and foster family support within Connected.

Responsibilities include case staffing, court hearings, license-compliant file maintenance, and collaboration with therapy providers and foster families to meet client needs in a

Responsibilities

• All placement services from the time a child is placed through a child’s final day of care with Connected.
• Attend court hearings as approved by your supervisor.
• Establish necessary services for clients as part of a team with the clients’ foster placement, therapy providers, and other providers to meet client’s needs in a timely manner.
• Assessment of applicant families to meet licensing requirements and alignment with agency mission.

Job description

The focus of this position is to develop children and families, to increase placement numbers and stability, permanency, and the best outcomes for children and foster families. All actions taken in this role are geared towards the best interest of the client and strengthening the family unit, through providing needed resources – while building and strengthening resource families for long-term stability serving in foster care ministry- all with a Christ centered focus. The Caseworker is responsible for integrated client services from initial placement to permanency as well as foster family services from family application, opening, and on-going family assessment and support. This is a ministry position where the main responsibility is to meet the above definition through service while sharing the Gospel in speech and action in alignment with all employment qualifications outlined in the employee handbook.

Responsibilities of Ministry Position:

Foster Placement Specific Responsibilities:

• All placement services from the time a child is placed through a child’s final day of care with Connected. Including:
• Placementinan appropriate ConnectedFosterHomeperpolicy. Meet with foster parents/placement providers to assess the provider and clients’ needs to address any concerns at least monthly.
• Facilitating andparticipatingin case “staffings”: both internal and held by external providers.
• Attend court hearings as approved by your supervisor.
• Establish necessary services for clients as part of a team with the clients’ foster placement,therapy providers, and other providers to meetclient’sneedsin a timely manner.
• Plan andcalendara minimum of 1 face-to-face visit per month for each assigned client in the client’s placement.
• Assistwith visitationplanfor client(s) and biological or adoptive family according to policy.
• Serve as the primary point of contact forany and allplacement changes including newplacements in,discharges out, and disruptions from the home.
• Maintain all child client files for compliance in the electronic record system. This includes:
• placement packet, assessment, case plan, visitation plan, plan of safe care, all placement documents, monthly note share and record request, and any on-going paperwork.
• Timelycompletion of all caseactivityaccording to licensing and policy due dates.
• 24 business hour turnaround for client contact notes.

Foster Home Specific Responsibilities:

• Assessment of applicant families to meet licensing requirements and alignment with agency mission. This is to include all necessary documentation to license or re-evaluate a resource family.
• Completion of home study within90 daysof application andon-goingevaluations arerequired.
• Facilitate andassistteaching resourceparentongoing service training classes as needed.
• Serve as the primary point of contact forany and allplacement changes including newplacements in,discharges out, and disruptions from the home.
• Placement Focused Services
• Prepare and coach families through theirinitialplacement as new resource families.
• Establish a trust-based relationship with resource families on assigned caseload to know the strengths, weaknesses, and needs of familiesin order toadviseplacement decisions.
• Remain aware ofplacementvacancies in assigned homes and provide updates tosupervisors, as requested.
• Responsible for filling vacant beds in assigned resource families within the families’ preferences or needs.
• Maintain files for complianceforall “family” files in the electronic record system. This includes:
• Responsibility for all compliance items for assigned resource families.
• Timelycompletion of all caseactivityaccording to licensing and policy due dates.
• 24 business hour turnaround for client contact notes.
• Establish and implement resource family CEUtrainingsin partnership with the Connected Team to meet a minimumrequiredper year for each assigned home.
• Foster Home Recruitment & Retention Responsibilities:
• Respond to, engage with, and document assigned inquiries within 1 business day.
• Engage with local churches to recruit potential Connected foster families and support systems within the churches that Connected foster families attend.
• Coordinate with local teams to ensureappropriate fosterfamily needs are metin a timely manner.
• Assist the Team in developing and executing one significant well-planned regional fundraiser per year.
• Other Responsibilities:
• Work peer caseloads during absences, vacations, or vacancies as needed. Caseworkers work on a team with all other positions on the Connected team. This position is expected to work closely with theirsupervisor and other Caseworkers.
• Participate in the agency-wide on-call rotationand/or training of foster parent applicants throughout the year.
• Participate in supervision with your direct supervisor as scheduled to discuss casework, Key Performance Indicators (KPI), and provide necessary case details as requested.
• Complete annual required Continuing Education Units (CEUs) of 24 hours per year andsubmitto supervisor for review.
• Provide excellent communicationtoall members of the team both internal and external asappropriate. Respond to email, voicemail, Microsoft Teams, and communication within a reasonabletimeframe.

The Caseworker position is expected to provide 40 hours or more per week including evenings and weekends as needed.