Youth & Family Specialist

Ascentria Care Alliance; Worcester (MA); On-site; USD 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Ascentria Care Alliance is looking for a Youth and Family Specialist in Worcester, MA. This role involves providing clinical case management, advocating for youth, and coordinating care for foster families.

Qualified candidates should possess a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work or a related field and have experience working with children. The position offers a transformative opportunity to support vulnerable families in our community.

Qualifications

• Significant experience working with children with social/emotional/physical problems desired.
• Possession of a valid driver’s license and a good driving record.
• Ability to handle people and situations with compassion, diplomacy, and tact.

Responsibilities

• Provide clinical case management for foster children and families.
• Advocate for youth's needs and ensure equitable care.
• Facilitate supervised family visits and provide parent coaching.

Skills

Mediation skills

Conflict resolution skills

Clinical judgment

Interpersonal communication

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work or a related field

Job description

Location: Lighthouse at Ascentria, 18 Chestnut Street, Suite 410, Worcester, MA 01608, USA

AscentriaCare Alliance has been transforming underserved communities for over 150 years, providing a wide range of services to children, families, and seniors across five states. Recognized as one of the largest human services nonprofits in New England and one of the top 100 women-led businesses in Massachusetts, we envision vibrant communities where all individuals have access to resources to support one another to overcome challenges and seize opportunities.

The Youth and Family Specialist can serve dual roles in the Child and Family Services because the work supporting youth in home-like settings and achieving permanency, and the work of recruiting and supporting families, needs to be a shared responsibility across the team. Each youth and each foster family will have their own Youth and Family Specialist with differing roles. Both roles require close collaboration with school personnel and educational teams, child welfare staff, Family Networks lead agencies, therapists, lawyers and court personnel, the general public and intra-agency collaterals.

Primary Responsibilities

• Demonstrate a human-centered, strength-based, and trauma-informed philosophy by treating all clients, families and collaterals in a non-judgmental and respectful manner while building on their strengths.
• Create a trusting and safe relationship with the client and encourages personal growth of the client.
• Advocate for the youth’s needs to ensure equitable and quality care.
• Provide clinical case management working in multiple systems and settings providing services to foster children, foster families and biological families.
• Depending on level of training, provide group and/or individual counseling and coaching services, mediation and guidance to children and their biological and/or foster families.
• Facilitate supervised family visits, and provides parent coaching as appropriate.
• Consistently demonstrate discretion and independent judgment with regard to assessing and making decisions around the best interest for children and families.
• Undertake the responsibility of “on-call” duty as assigned and is responsive to crises independently either by phone and/or in person, demonstrating a calm and professional approach while assuring safety for all involved.
• Facilitate treatment meetings/ foster care review, and invites the appropriate attendees, while ensuring effective interagency collaboration.
• Coordinate dental, medical, psychological and community support for youth.
• Ensure that educational needs are met including advocacy for special education services.
• Attend all meetings called by collaterals and support a team approach to best serve the needs of children, youth and families.
• Support and participate in the development and implementation of strategic plans for program-specific foster care recruitment in conjunction with foster care recruitment across the Children and Families Service.
• Recruit qualified foster homes on a continuous basis to meet the growing and challenging needs of clients.
• Support foster families through the recruitment and training process.
• Participate in “matching process” and prepares foster parents for their work with the child/youth and family of origin.
• Promote the program through community networking and positive representation to internal and external committees, government entities, etc.
• Maintain an excellent relationship with state or private funding sources and other state authorities responsible for regulating foster homes or child placing agencies.
• Develop and maintain expertise regarding regulatory requirements for foster parent qualification and renewal including record checks, evaluations and updating of file materials.
• Complete all documentation required by state licensing regulations in a timely manner, including but not limited to home studies, background checks, annual foster care review and waivers.
• Perform other related duties incidental to the work described herein to help meet the goals of the program or the agency.
• Document all contacts and incidents and ensure files are up to date.
• Develop and complete assessments/homestudies, service plans, x plans, progress notes and any other necessary documentation.
• Provide updates to the court both in writing and in person.
• Maintain organized up to date case/foster care files in accordance with contractual standards, state and federal law.
• Keep supervisor updated on any incidents or concerns involving clients and foster families.
• Attend weekly staff meetings and any other meetings or events required by the Agency.
• Complete all mandatory training on a timely basis to meet certification standards, including 20-30 hours of specialized training each year including ethics, current practice and needs of the service population.

Qualifications

• MA - Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work or a related field
• NH - Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work or a related field
• Ability to work within the Mission of the agency.
• Significant experience working with children with social/emotional/physical problems desirable. Mediation and conflict resolution skills helpful.
• Open to new ideas and desire to grow professionally. Flexibility in thinking and scheduling.
• Possession of a valid driver’s license and a good driving record.
• Ability to utilize independent sound clinical judgement and decision making with regards to best interest of children and families.
• Ability to work flexible hours and be available to meet for emergency situations.
• Ability to effectively manage client behavior, foster independence, and maintain perspective and a sense of humor.
• Ability to handle people and situations with compassion, diplomacy, and tact.
• Ability to work independently by setting priorities; organizing resources and effectively performing tasks in a timely manner.
• Ability to provide documentation such as valid driver’s license, evidence of automobile insurance and a clear criminal record check.
• Ability to work cooperatively in a team environment and to problem solve unexpected/unpredictable circumstances calmly.
• Knowledge of federal, state and local regulations, protocols and/or procedures.
• Ability to travel to meet client needs.
• Excellent interpersonal and written communication skills.
• Ability to use independent judgment and discretion; investigate, analyze and draw professional conclusions.

Equal Opportunity Employer

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