Social Worker III - Foster Home Licensing and Recruitment

SW-III-Foster Home Licensing & Recruitment

Caldwell County Department of Social Services envisions a community where every person feels included, supported, and valued and every action we take intentionally contributes to the ongoing improvement and strengthening of our community. We strive to create a positive impact and are committed to ensuring the safety and improving the welfare of every citizen we serve.

If you are committed to supporting our mission and want to be a part of our dynamic workforce driven by teamwork and support to improve the lives of every person we encounter, we would love for you to come join our team!

Caldwell County offers competitive salary along with a benefit package that can be tailored to suit your family’s needs.

General Statement of Duties

A Foster Home Recruitment and Licensing Social Worker recruits and trains potential foster parents, facilitates the licensing process and provides on-going training and support for the family once they become licensed. The worker also implements retention efforts to help retain quality foster parents. As Caldwell County is committed to the Multiple Response System, a person in this position will use Family Centered Practice Principals to facilitate and implement Shared Parenting Meetings between birth families and foster families. The worker must be able to design and implement recruitment strategies, which educate the community about foster care and adoption and generate inquiries about the program. Counseling with families in order to help them ascertain whether foster care and/or adoption is the correct choice for their specific family. Screen potential foster care and foster-to-adopt parent applicants. Facilitate and speak at community orientation/information sessions about program requirements for foster and foster-to-adopt parents. Teach the Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting Class and/or the Deciding Together Curriculum to prospective foster and foster-to-adopt families. Formulate and present public programs about foster care to members of the community through churches, civic groups and schools. Possess the ability to speak and write clearly and be able to respond supportively in emotional situations. Write and present mutual home assessments to the licensing committee. Organize workload to meet designated responsibilities. Write, design, publish and circulate specific foster care informational materials. The following components are critical to this position: assessment and evaluation of the needs of children in the agency custody, community education and advocacy, media relations, recruitment of specialized foster parents and developing recruitment tool materials. Write monthly reports to management to keep them abreast of specific recruitment projects and recruitment trends. The social worker is responsible for developing, maintaining and implementing a comprehensive ongoing recruitment and retention program for foster and foster-to-adopt families.

Examples of Duties Performed

• Assist the family in the creation and publishing of a family welcome book.
• Conduct continual home visits with a family during the recruitment process.
• Publicize and generate awareness and interest in the foster care and foster-to-adopt programs of the Caldwell County Department of Social Services through the use of television, video, power point presentations, newspaper, radio, billboards, posters, pamphlets, church bulletin inserts, etc.
• Respond to inquiries about foster care and foster-to-adopt programs. Counsel with the inquirer to help them understand the steps and process.
• Create, assemble and mail letters and informational packets to people who inquire.
• Track the families’ progress through our program and update changes in the system as they occur.
• Conduct individual orientation and informational inquiry-recruitment meetings as needed for prospective foster and foster-to-adopt parents.
• Complete follow-up calls, design meeting notices, curriculum and meeting outlines. Review meeting participant applications, track attendee’s progress and follow-up with them throughout the program.
• Teach Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting class, and/or the Deciding Together Curriculum for foster and adoptive parents.
• Review strength/needs assessments of class members on a weekly basis and write evaluative remarks on each assessment.
• Provide ongoing in-service foster parent trainings on topics such as Shared Parenting, CPR/first aid/universal precautions, Lifebooks, child development, and other needed topics as requested or identified.
• Facilitate the licensure process with the family, complete the environmental conditions safety check, complete the family’s mutual home assessment, as well as other licensure paperwork as required by standards.
• Generate a monthly report which details foster home visits, inquiries, training opportunities offered, recruitment efforts and Shared Parenting Meetings.
• Review daily incoming mail and respond appropriately
• Return phone calls regarding inquiries, community questions, worker concerns and questions from private and public agencies.
• Appointments and interviews in and out of the office.
• Dictation, day sheets, time sheets, comp sheets, etc.
• Serve as a voting member on the Licensing Committee and express opinions and voice concerns in a professional manner.
• Present mutual home assessments and welcome books for potential foster and foster-to-adopt families for assessment and evaluation.
• Meet with the committee and assist the committee in making family approval/denial decisions.
• Monitor, review and maintain the foster home licensing record.
• Meet with supervisor to staff concerns regarding licensed foster families.
• Facilitate the foster home license increase, termination and relicensing paperwork to be completed including updates to the family’s mutual home assessment as needed.
• The agency director, supervisor and program manager periodically assign special projects. These include but are not limited to such things as designing, layout and printing of special procures, public programs, trainings, making reports to the board, representing the agency at community events and committee meetings, staff training and staff meeting presentations.
• Meet with both potential and licensed foster and foster-to-adopt families numerous times, both jointly and individually in order to assess their social skills, educational background, family history, medical history, marital history, type of child desired, parenting experience, discipline techniques, home inspection, etc.
• Check local criminal records, NC Department of Corrections records, NC Sex Offender Registry, national fingerprint records, verify marriage certificates, birth certificates, medical history, physicals, etc. and other background checks and references as needed/required.
• Conduct monthly to quarterly visits to the family foster home to ensure compliance with state foster home licensing standards, to ensure the family is receiving appropriate agency support and training, and that all other concerns are being addressed.
• Facilitate Child and Family Team Meeting when necessary to resolve conflict.
• Facilitate Shared Parenting Meetings between the foster parents and the child’s birth parents/relatives within seven days of custody. Facilitate and encourage ongoing shared parental responsibilities.
• Conduct church and community recruitment activities.
• Conduct retention activities to prevent high turnover of current foster parents, including but not limited to ongoing training and support, telephone contacts, home visits, CFT meetings, recognition of special efforts and birthdays, etc.
• Attend all training appropriate to the position.
• Attend agency and community meetings.
• Attend state seminar meetings and recruitment meetings, i.e. Recruiters Network Quarterly Meetings.
• Attend the Western Area Foster Care Association Meetings (held every other month).
• All other duties as assigned.

Recruitment Standards

Knowledge, skills and abilities.

• A person in this position will need to be comfortable using a computer for several different applications.
• A person in this position will need to be able to communicate with a variety of people, in a variety of settings, and must have some skills around de-escalation and problem solving.
• Organization of work is also a necessary skill for anyone interested in this position.
• A person should be able to have effective time management skills to handle a variety of job duties.
• A person in this position should have skills to manage crisis situations.
• A person in this position should be able to work effectively with co-workers.
• A person in this position should have knowledge of all areas of child welfare and be able to fill in for case management or an assessor if needed.
• Knowledge of Family Centered Practice and Child Welfare is helpful.
• Some lifting and carrying will be involved in this position.

Minimum Education and Experience

• A Master’s degree in Social Work or related field is preferred, but at least a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work or other Human Services field is required. Two years of experience in a Social Services setting is preferred; however, a combination of education and experience will be considered.