Family Advocate I

FIVE18 Family Services; Lynchburg (VA); On-site; USD 23,000 - 29,000; Full time

Job summary

FIVE18 Family Advocates in Lynchburg, VA, seeks a Family Advocate to provide comprehensive case management, therapeutic intervention, and community advocacy for families in need. This role aims to strengthen family units by linking them to local services and resources, while maintaining a welcoming, professional demeanor.

You will coordinate services, maintain documentation, support caregivers, and participate in trainings, ensuring timely responses to referrals and contributing to quarterly

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in social work or related field preferred, with 1+ year of related experience.
• Associate’s degree in social work or related field with minimum 2 years of casework experience.
• High School diploma with minimum 5 years of related experience.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate services for and provide direct support to families, ensuring access to resources.
• Maintain accurate documentation and respond to referrals within 2 business days.
• Promote awareness of FIVE18 services through outreach and marketing.
• Lead training sessions and support group meetings.
• Produce timely reports and contribute to quarterly performance measures.

Skills

Active Listening

Client Oriented

Communication Oral

Communication Written

Multitasking

Organized

Time Management

Empathetic

Diversity Oriented

Conflict Resolution

Decision Making

Interpersonal

Education

Bachelor’s degree in social work or related field (preferred)

Associate’s degree in social work or related field

High School degree with related experience

Tools

Google Suites

Extended Reach

Job description

Reports To: Director of Family Advocacy

Grade/Level: Caseworker

Amount of Travel Required: up to 20% travel time required

Job Type: Full Time, Hourly

Positions Supervised: None

Work Schedule: 30-40 hours, Monday-Friday (with varied evening/weekend hours)

Position Summary

Are you looking for a career where you can make a difference? Are you looking for work that is relation-focused and not just a daily grind? We are looking for someone who is interested in coming alongside parents and caregivers to help strengthen their families. At FIVE18 Family Advocates guide their clients to resources, offer an ongoing connection and presence, and teach skills to equip. Does this sound like something that you would like to jump into? Then we would like to talk with you!

Job Summary

The Family Advocate provides comprehensive case management services, therapeutic intervention, and community advocacy for families in need, ensuring that FIVE18 delivers the necessary resources to support and strengthen family units. The purpose of this position is to enhance the well-being and stability of all families with primary relationship to a child by linking them to appropriate services and resources. This individual will communicate effectively with colleagues and consumers to create and cultivate a positive impression of FIVE18, striving to present a culture of hospitality and competence.

Essential Functions

Reasonable Accommodations Statement: To accomplish this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation, each essential function satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to help enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Service Coordination and Direct Support
  • Coordinate services for and provide direct support to families, ensuring comprehensive and continuous access to necessary resources.
  • Minimize fragmentation of care, reduce barriers, and link families with appropriate services.
  • Provide direct support to families, including goal setting and assisting them in skill growth and accessing benefits and services to achieve their goals.
  • Facilitate and support family caregiver support groups.
• Case Management and Documentation
  • Execute timely case management and maintain accurate documentation.
  • Respond to new referrals within 2 business days and follow a level-based contact schedule for established clients.
  • Maintain daily case records and prepare requested documentation promptly.
  • Contribute to regular outcome measures reports demonstrating the effectiveness of services provided.
• Promote awareness of Family Care Services
  • Contribute to direct and indirect marketing to promote awareness of FIVE18 services.
  • Connect with families through the website, direct referrals, and community outreach.
  • Facilitate and maintain an online resource directory to assist families in accessing local, state, and federal resources.
• Participate in and occasionally lead various meetings and training.
  • Attend TBRI training and advance through the Trauma Informed Care training.
  • Attend team meetings and participate in consultative supervision routinely.
  • Lead training at regular support group meetings.
• Create and cultivate a positive impression of Family Care and FIVE18 programming in all communication modalities and context, striving to present a culture of hospitality and competence. Produce accurate, timely, consistent, thorough, and concise efforts.

Non‑Essential Functions

• Other administrative duties as necessary or assigned
• Other hospitality and/or housekeeping duties as necessary or assigned
• Other tasks as needed to support the overall mission and operations of FIVE18

Deliverables

• Maintain a caseload of 2.5 units/hour of work.
• Lead at least 1 training session quarterly.
• Maintain favorable, proactive relationships with local DSS agencies.
• Achieve Teaching Family Model Lighthouse Certification within 1 year of hire.
• Provide support to at least 30 families annually.
• Produce accurate, timely, ongoing documentation and contribute to quarterly reports indicating high-quality services rendered.
• Be aware of and appropriately share upcoming events and training opportunities.
• Participate as an active and collaborative member of the Family Care team.

Work Contacts/Employees Supervised

Communicates with:

• Colleagues, volunteers, and varied community stakeholders - collaborating with other team members and interacting with client families and volunteers on a daily basis
• Immediate supervisor, reviewing activity via email and personal meetings
• Peers and managers in other programs, as well as program directors and chief officers as necessary for effective program implementation

Direct Supervision Over

• N/A

Decision Making Authority

This position will be responsible for the successful coordination, training, and support of services provided to families, impacting all Family Care services, and thus uses a MODERATE level of decision-making authority.

Competency Statements

• Accountability - Ability to accept responsibility and account for his/her actions.
• Accuracy - Ability to perform work accurately and thoroughly.
• Active Listening - Ability to actively attend to, convey, and understand the comments and questions of others.
• Client Oriented - Ability to take care of client’s needs while following company procedures.
• Communication, Oral - Ability to communicate effectively with others using the spoken word.
• Communication, Written - Ability to communicate in writing clearly and concisely.
• Conflict Resolution - Ability to deal with others in an antagonistic situation.
• Decision Making - Ability to make informed, objective, critical decisions while maintaining integrity and following company procedures.
• Diversity Oriented - Ability to work effectively with people regardless of their age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, or job type.
• Empathetic - Ability to appreciate and be sensitive to the feelings of others.
• Energetic - Ability to work at a sustained pace and produce quality work.
• Honesty / Integrity - Ability to be truthful and be seen as credible in the workplace. Representing original work accurately.
• Interpersonal - Ability to get along well with a variety of personalities and individuals.
• Multitasking - Ability to manage multiple responsibilities at once; focusing on one task while keeping track of others; meeting the demands of several clients and volunteers without missing details or tasks.
• Organized - Possessing the trait of being organized or following a systematic method of performing a task, including prioritizing
• Time Management - Ability to utilize the available time to organize and complete work within given deadlines.

Working Conditions/Physical Effort

• This position requires minimal physical effort
• Includes operation of general office equipment and driving an automobile
• Primarily office setting/indoors

Position Qualifications

Knowledge of:

• Best practices in child welfare
• State and federal agencies/regulations/laws pertaining to child welfare
• Virginia LCPA licensing standards (required after hire)
• Teaching Family Model (required after hire)
• Trauma-informed modalities of care (preferred upon hire)

Job Competencies

Upon hire, the Family Advocate must:

• Be committed to diversity
• Be passionate about this work
• Exhibit discernment, empathy, and compassion
• Work well with others

After Hire, The Family Advocate Must

• Commit to the Mission and Vision of FIVE18

Tools And Equipment Used

• Computer
• Telephone
• Scanner
• Copier
• Printer
• Vehicle

Requirements

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in social work or related field (preferred) - with minimum of 1 year of related experience
• Associate’s degree in social work or related field - with minimum of 2 years of casework and related experience
• High School degree - with minimum of 5 years of related experience

Experience Defined:

Providing case work services to children and/or families, working on an interdisciplinary team, providing direct trauma-informed care to children and/or families.

Technology Skills:

Competency with using computers, scanners, copiers, fax machines, and telephones; proficiency preferred in Google suites, Extended Reach

Certification & Licenses:

Virginia Notary Public Commission (preferred)

Other Requirements

• Knowledge of child development and trauma-informed modalities of care.
• Demonstrated ability to come alongside with a family who is distressed and assist them in navigating resources/processes to provide adequate support for their family to thrive.
• Authentic passion for working with a team to collectively effect change in families.
• Must have a valid driver’s license and an acceptable driving record, with safe and reliable transportation for work related purposes.

Salary Description

17.00 - $21.00