Child and Family Specialist

Description

We are committed to supporting at risk children and families by providing them with tools and resources to help prevent children from experiencing child abuse, neglect and abandonment. We are a Christian agency that believes in living our mission: “to provide Christ-centered care and support to children and families in need.”

In response to this community-wide challenge, Presbyterian Children’s Homes and Services (PCHAS), provides 14 programs and services in 28 locations in Texas, Missouri and Louisiana. In all of our programs, we seek to provide children with permanent homes and adults with increased self-sufficiency. This is accomplished by the agency’s commitment to “The PCHAS Way” which inspires the agency to be strength-focused, family-centered, and goal driven with every client.

Benefits of serving children and families in need through PCHAS include competitive salaries, flex work schedules, paid time off, medical, dental and vision insurance options, voluntary life insurance options, paid holidays, and a very generous retirement plan (after one year of service and working 1,000 hours the agency matches an employee’s contribution).

Status: Exempt

Working Conditions: This position is most often housed in a Presbyterian church with normal office equipment (laptop computer, copier, office furniture). Much of the work other than scheduling and case documentation is spent outside the office doing home visits, face to face contact with clients, and resource networking with other community providers. This position must have reliable transportation and an acceptable driving record in order to provide in-home services to families.

Position Summary: This position will provide strength-based services to children and their families. This position reports to a Child & Family Supervisor and provides individual services that can include: in-home case management, attachment-based parenting curriculum and support as well as counseling services in certain locations.

Essential Job Functions

• To be knowledgeable of local needs and available services for children and families.
• To publicize PCHAS presence as a professional liaison with the social service community and speak at churches and community groups when requested.
• To make home visits to conduct need assessments, develop plans of service and provide holistic case management services to meet individualized needs of the family.
• To provide psychoeducational parent training to equip families in becoming competent in demonstrating these skills with their children.
• To assist and encourage families to advocate for and coordinate all needed services toward the goal of achieving self-sufficiency.
• To maintain all documentation in the CSWIS data system in an ethical and timely manner.
• To communicate, collaborate and organize with community partners to provide the best possible community resources for children and their families.

Requirements

The minimum requirements for this position include: BSW or equivalent with two-year experience of working with children and families. A master's degree and Licensure is Strongly Preferred and Clinical Licensure is encouraged.

This position must have competence in conducting assessments, service planning and providing case management and parenting psychoeducation delivery to families. The ability to work with a variety of human problems and competence in managing crisis intervention is required. Social work skills to promote empathy and positive professional/client relationships are required. Strong organizational skills, time management and flexibility in work hours are required. An ability to utilize computer skills and be efficient with documentation within a client-based computer system is essential. Essential to this position are excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to be efficient in recording case documentation.

Other Requirements:

Must hold a valid driver’s license, have and maintain a risk-free driving record. Must be willing to undergo initial and periodic child abuse/neglect, criminal history, sexual offender, and childcare/elder care disqualification list screenings. As requested, must submit fingerprints for review by the state of your employment and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Must undergo a pre-employment drug screen and a pre-employment physical with the results showing no evidence of communicable disease.

Christian Commitment:

Presbyterian Children’s Homes and Services is a faith-based Christian organization. We provide Christ-centered care and support to children and families in need. We strive to serve like Jesus. We meet our clients where they are and treat them with respect. We focus on our clients’ strengths rather than their problems. And we encourage our clients to focus on their future rather than their past. When we do this well, we help our clients find hope and know the love of God.