What are the responsibilities and job description for the Foster Care Licensing Specialist position at Caritas Family Solutions?
At Caritas we believe every life deserves LOVE! If you agree, then please consider joining our team!! Caritas Family Solutions is seeking a creative, detailed oriented Foster Care Licensing Specialist to serve at our Alton office. This position is perfect for passionate professionals who are highly organized and value being part of a great team. Most importantly, the work you’ll do helps misplaced children find permanent homes! If you’re ready to change the world, please apply today!!!
At Caritas, we know we’re competing with other employers for your services, and we want to win! It is our goal to offer competitive compensation and affordable benefits to all eligible employees. Caritas currently offers the following benefits to full-time employees:
- 403 B Retirement Plan (5% Employer Match)
- Generous Paid Time Off
- Health, Dental and Vision Insurance Coverage
- 12 Employer Paid State & Federal Holidays
- Telehealth Services
- Employer Paid Life Insurance
- Health Saving Account
- Employer Paid Short- & Long-Term Disability
- Tuition Assistance Program
- Real Work/Life Balance
Hours worked (typical): 40
Remote Work: Allowed (work arrangement can change depending on performance and/or needs of Caritas).
EEO Classification: Professionals
Job Tasks Typically: Structured - specific tasks will be assigned to the worker and monitored where the worker will be expected to follow prescribed plans.
Description of Typical Work Schedule: 40 hour workweek; schedule to be discussed with direct supervisor and may change as needs of the department change (Hours set based on necessity of department or office.)
PURPOSE: The Licensing Specialist collaborates with DCFS to provide appropriate licensing services to individuals and families in the Foster Care and Adoption program including initial application, home-study, compliance monitoring and investigations.
REPORTING STRUCTURE: Refer to the updated organizational chart for reporting structure and responsiblities.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
- Actively recruits new foster homes for all foster care programs and supports community awareness of those programs.
- Completes home studies and licensing process for prospective foster homes.
- Completes compliance records for new foster homes.
- Submits accurate documentation of licensing matters.
- Provides ongoing support and engagement with Unlicensed Home of Relative and Fictive Kin Placements to license the home in a timely manner
- Conducts 60-day and 6-month monitoring visits after placement. Assures that foster homes are current on all issues, i.e., medicals - every 4 years, well-water inspection – as required, pet vaccinations - every year.
- Maintains files, compiles new foster parent files, and updates computer data weekly including adoption licensing for all offices.
- Assists Licensing & Resource Development Coordinator with disseminating all agency licensing information including forms, training etc. to assure quality of service in this program.
- Files all licensing file documents on a weekly basis.
- Initiates all licensing investigations with an in-home visit to the foster home within 2 business days of notification by DCFS unless instructed otherwise by the Licensing Supervisor.
- Ensures all foster homes are in compliance of licensing standards which can include making recommendations on any needed changes to the home to meet compliance, documenting those corrections on a case entry form, staffing safety issues and placement of children immediately after investigating licensing allegations, and explaining the appeal process to foster parents if they are not in agreement with the licensing recommendations.
QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE REQUIRED/PREFERRED
Degree/Field Required: Bachelor's Degree in Human Service Related Field (Related fields will be considered.)
Degree/Field Preferred: Bachelor's Degree in Human Service Related Field (Related fields will be considered.)
Additional Fields of Knowledge Important for the Role: Communications and Media — Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media. Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. Psychology — Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders. Sociology and Anthropology — Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins. .
Experience Required: Minimum 2 years related experience (For positions that manage staff, the years specified need to be progressive years of management experience. For all positions, the years required can be interchanged with equivalent experience from an advanced degree related to this job and/or with other relevant experience verified by applicant/incumbent).
Licenses/Certifications Required: CWEL
Licenses/Certifications Preferred: CWEL, Passing Grade on Rule 402 Exam Passing Grade on Child Welfare Act Exam
SKILLS REQUIRED
Manager-specific: N/A
Basic: Active Learning — Understand the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making. Active Listening — Give full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. Critical Thinking — Use logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems. Learning Strategies — Select and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things. Mathematics — Use mathematics to solve problems. Monitoring — Monitor/Assess performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action. Reading Comprehension — Understand written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. Speaking — Talk to others to convey information effectively. Writing — Communicate effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience. Language — Able to read and write in English.
Social: Coordination — Adjust actions in relation to others' actions. Instructing — Teach others how to do something. Negotiation — Bring others together and trying to reconcile differences. Persuasion — Persuade others to change their minds or behavior. Service Orientation — Look for ways to help people. Social Perceptiveness — Be aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Problem Solving/Decision-making: Complex Problem Solving — Identify complex problems and review related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions. Time pressure decision-making — Make decisions without much analysis or time to consider alternatives. Time pressure planning — Plan and be responsible for regularly meeting strict deadlines. Judgment and Decision Making — Consider the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one ensuring that decisions made have an impact on others, the image/reputation of Caritas, and/or the financial resources. Systems Analysis — Determine how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes. Systems Evaluation — Identify measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Resource Management: Personal Time Management — Manage one's own time and the time of others. Direct Report's Time Management — Manage the time of others.
Technical: N/A
Trauma-informed: Must display a willingness to adopt trauma informed interventions, principles, and practices as well as commitment to ongoing development of their capacity for application of trauma informed care. Realizes the prevalence of trauma among persons served by Caritas and the general population. Recognizes how trauma affects everyone involved-including clients, their families, staff, and community; and impacts behaviors. Responds to trauma by actively implementing the guiding principles of trauma informed care into their daily practice. Resists re-traumatization of persons served and staff providing services, by creating safe, welcoming, and supportive environments.
Proficient Computer Skills In: Excel, Outlook, Word, Database Management Software, Teams, Webex
Expert Computer Skills In: Excel, Outlook, Word,
MENTAL EFFORT/COGNITIVE ABILITIES REQUIRED: Concentration/intensity — Focus on higher order mental functions at average to high intensity when performing the majority of job tasks. Have limited opportunities for breaks. Deductive Reasoning — Apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense. Fluency of Ideas — Come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity). Inductive Reasoning — Combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events). Information Ordering — Arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations). Mathematical Reasoning — Choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem. Memory — Remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures. Performance of job tasks rely on memorization of tasks or sequences of events. Consider amount and type of information. Number Facility — Add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly. Oral Comprehension — Listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. Oral Expression — Communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. Perceptual Speed — Quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object. Problem Sensitivity — Tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem. Selective Attention — Concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted. Speed of Closure — Quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns. Written Comprehension — Read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. Written Expression — Communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: Light work. Exert up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects. If the use of arm and/or leg controls requires exertion of forces greater than that for sedentary work and the worker sits most of the time, the job is rated for light work.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES REQUIRED: Fingering/Grasping — Pick, pinch, type or otherwise work, primarily with fingers rather than with the whole hand as in handling. Applying pressure to an object with the fingers and palm. Feeling — Perceive attributes of objects, such as size, shape, temperature or texture by touching with skin, particularly that of fingertips. Standing — Particularly for sustained periods of time. Walking — Move about on foot to accomplish tasks, particularly for long distances or moving from one work site to another. Sitting — Particularly for sustained periods of time. Speech Clarity/Talking — Express or exchange ideas by means of the spoken word. Those activities in which they must convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly. Includes the ability to understand the speech of another person. Hearing — Perceive the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction. Ability to receive detailed information through oral communication, and to make the discriminations in sound. Repetitive motion — Substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers. Coordination, including eye/hand, hand/feet. Smell — Rely on smell to perform job functions safely.
VISUAL ACUITY: The worker is required to have visual acuity to determine the accuracy, neatness, and thoroughness of the work assigned or to make general observations of facilities or structures.
WORK CONTEXT/ENVIRONMENT: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
This position is based primarily in an office environment.
Subject to both environmental conditions. Activities occur inside and outside.Subject to an environment working in a vehicle. Subject to vibration — Exposure to oscillating movements of the extremities or whole body. Subject to exposure to diseases/infections or bodily functions (from contact with others).
Other PPE Required: N/A
VEHICLE RELATED REQUIREMENTS:
Access to reliable transportation to get to/from work: Required.
Access to a reliable automobile: Required.
Must provide proof of auto liability insurance (and continue to while working in this position): Required.
Must possess a valid driver's license: Required.
Additional license requirements that are necessary: N/A
Additional considerations for this position: N/A