Case Manager (Houston)

Position Summary

Case Managers are responsible for a child's welfare whenever they are removed from their home. They work closely with parents, extended family, and legal parties to help children find a permanent, safe place to live. Case Managers also provide leadership in partnering with families and appropriate others in the community to assure that the therapeutic needs of a designated caseload of children are adequately addressed. The Case Manager will assure the services delivered both to the child/adolescent and to the family are individualized, appropriate to need, child centered, family focused, culturally competent, strengths based, and goal driven.

Essential Roles and Responsibilities

• Work with children, families, and communities to plan for a child’s permanency. The Case Manager will ensure all work is geared toward positive permanency for the child/youth/family.
• Supervises activities related to the treatment and needs of children/youth in care through regular home visits and phone calls.
• Creates and monitors a plan of service for each family and involves the family in the creation of the plan. Modifies the plan of service as needed to address current needs.
• Provides ongoing advocacy and support for the child’s educational needs.
• Uses tools and training to determine the child and/or parent’s needs and makes appropriate referrals for testing, evaluations, records, or other assessments.
• Coordinates regular contact between the child and his/her biological family as appropriate.
• Participates in on-call rotation and duties.
• Utilizes tools such as Collaborative Family Engagement to identify resources for the child/youth/family and to ensure connections are maintained with individuals the family identifies as important to them.
• Identify potential kinship/fictive kin placement options and request home studies as needed.
• Participate in meetings and conferences at times and places that are convenient for the family members, as well as everyone involved in the case.
• Monitor child/youth placement needs and collaborate with the Placement staff as needed.
• Meet with parents, at their residence, at least monthly, to assess risk and safety issues; identify behavior changes necessary to achieve child safety; refer parents to appropriate services/resources to address the identified needs; discuss parents progress toward goals and behavior changes.
• Meet with the child(ren)/youth, at least monthly, in their placement, to evaluate safety, services/resources, discuss their wishes, provide case updates and plan for permanency. Assure all policies, procedures, and standards relating to child safety and well-being are followed.
• Attends and participates in court hearings about the child and family. This includes contacting the parties in the case before hearings, preparing timely court reports, and testifying in court on the child’s needs, the family’s progress, and the department’s efforts to achieve permanency for the child.
• Provide, at least monthly, updates to the attorney representing DFPS, attorneys for parents, Attorney Ad Litem, Guardian Ad Litem and/or CASA.
• Provide notifications, in accordance with policy, regarding significant case events, court hearings, meetings, and child/youth updates.
• Utilizes effective time management skills and tools to work efficiently and effectively to achieve positive outcomes for children/families.
• Document case records in accordance with policy.
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships between TFCN staff, law enforcement, judicial officials, legal representatives, medical professionals, community partners and other professionals.
• Adheres to mandated child abuse reporting laws.
• Transitions children home during reunification services and provides support to the family until the legal case is closed.
• Works with kinship/fictive kin caregivers and foster parents to ensure they have what they need to care for the child/youth. Case Manager will keep them informed about developments in the case, return phone calls, and ensure the family is aware of how they can assess assistance outside of normal business hours.
• Performs other duties as assigned and required to maintain unit operations.
• Assure continuous professional growth and development by:
  • Actively participating in individual and/or group supervision and staff meetings.
  • Attends and participates in all required and other professional trainings.
  • Independently seeks out resources and learning opportunities to foster ongoing professional growth.

Essential Qualifications

Education/Credentials/Licensure:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
• 1-2 years relevant work experience preferred.
• Valid driver’s license and current auto insurance.
• Clearances: State, FBI, and Child Abuse and Neglect Clearances; Mandated Reporter-Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse training per state regulation.

Working Conditions

• Physical Demands:
  • Requires vision, speech, and hearing and a moderate to high level of physical activity including: sitting, standing, walking, lifting and carrying as required. Must be able to meet the demands and complete Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI).
• Environmental Factors:
  • Indoors/Outdoors: School, community, residence, office, in-home.
• Working Hours:
  • A non-traditional work schedule as defined by service needs and crisis “on-call”.