Family Advocate

SUMMARY:  The Family Advocate serves as a liaison and support staff between the family caregivers, NTF staff, and other resources. The primary role is to engage families and support them in being heard, meeting their goals, teaching life skills, responding to crisis situations.   Family Advocates partner with the Case Manager, Care Manager and Clinical Therapist (where applicable) to ensure children and families are supported in meeting their needs across all relevant life domains. They help identify family caregivers' desires, skills, and encourage their development to successfully maintain children in the home.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following.  Other duties may be assigned.

• Assist case managers, care managers and caregivers in all aspects of implementing services for children in care or at risk of coming into care and their families
• Assist with the supervision of children during service implementation processes, when needed
• Develop positive relationships with birth parent's that support their strengths and address areas of weakness through coaching, role modeling, direct communication, teaching and advocacy
• Make regular monthly contact with birth parents and aggressively attempt to engage birth parents who are uninvolved in services
• Provide outreach services to parents and extended families of children in care
• Share essential information about children and their families with care managers and caregivers
• Work as a member of the interdisciplinary team to ensure well-defined rights, responsibilities, rewards, and resources
• Assist in monitoring and supporting visits between children and parents
• Assist in Safety Plan management
• Provide transportation for children and families to visits, activities, appointments, and services
• Assist in interventions necessary to prevent crisis and potential placement disruptions
• Assist in providing for, arranging, or coordinating services required by children and their families
• Prepare and maintain records, data, forms and documents pertinent to these job responsibilities
• Develop a working knowledge of and support birth parents in Juvenile Court System processes as needed and/or required.

QUALIFICATIONS:  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:  High School diploma or the equivalent required. Six months to one year related experience and/or training preferred.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

• Must submit to and pass a pre-employment drug screening.
• Must submit to and pass random drug screening during employment.
• Must successfully pass all background screens as required by the state.
• Must complete 40 hours of staff development annually.
• Must have and maintain an excellent driving record history.
• Must carry a valid and current driver’s license and required insurance for the state (Florida/Georgia/Maryland).

Georgia:

General Liability insurance with the following limits:

$100,000/claim & $300,000/incident

Florida:

Bodily Liability insurance in the amount of:

$100,000/claim & $300,000/incident

Maryland:

$500,000 combined single occurrence

REASONING ABILITY:  Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.

CULTURAL COMPETENCY:  Ability to relate, understand, accept and interact in a culturally sensitive manner

LANGUAGE SKILLS:  Ability to read, analyze and interpret professional journals, technical procedures and governmental regulations.  Ability to write reports and to effectively present information and respond to questions from clients, co-workers, managers, and the general public.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS:  Able to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, proportions, and percentages.  Ability to assist clients with basic consumer math.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:  The physical demands described are representatives of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit; use hands and finger to handle or feel; reach with hands and arms; talk, listen and occasionally required to stand and walk. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, and ability to adjust focus. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

WORK ENIVRONMENT:  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 to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently exposed to outside weather conditions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Salary : $100,000 - $500,000