Part Time Parent Partner

Job Description:

We are seeking individuals who feel passionate about advocating for parents in crisis. At LEAF Wraparound, our Parent Partners work closely with parents in need to help guide them through transitional and long-term experiences within a system of care. Parent Partners act as a listening ear, advocate, and heartfelt support to clients to ensure that their needs are being met in a way that is in alignment with the goals of the organization. They offer unconditional acceptance and understanding, and a commitment to be part of the team finding ways to help.

Candidates for this role must have LIVED EXPERIENCE as a parent whose child has received services from child welfare, juvenile probation, children’s behavioral health, special education, substance use treatment, or other similar systems of care, and have experienced firsthand the challenges that this can bring. This lived experience is crucial to the success of our Parent Partners to ensure that they can provide true empathy and support to clients under our care.

Functions:

• Actively participate in the engagement process, providing reassurance that the circumstances and challenges that brought the family into service at this time will be handled confidentially, and listening non-judgmentally to discover needs, strengths, and people important to the parent(s) and youth.
• Help orient parents and family members to the Wraparound process and use their lived experience in helping them to navigate the system structures, identifying barriers that exist and helping to remove them.
• Assist in addressing parent’s needs through empathetic communication, ensuring they feel supported and have someone to talk to, are empowered and equipped to advocate for themselves, and linked to resources they can use.
• Help parents to understand how including, searching for, and connecting with extended family and other supportive individuals can ensure permanent supportive connections, help to understand their family’s history, and prepare for life after formal services are no longer needed.
• Provide opportunities for parents to prep before meetings and decisions so that they are prepared to advocate on their own behalf.
• Make certain that there is space for the parent to share their perspective during meetings and that their voice is being heard and their culture, interests and preferences are being honored in the plans and strategies that are developed to support change.
• Share observations when they see or experience practices that do not demonstrate fidelity to the core values and principles of the Wraparound process (e.g., team-based, strengths-based, outcome-based, persistent, needs-driven process).
• Provide direct services to implement CFT plan strategies, and in crisis situations. Support development of effective parenting and self-care skills from the perspective of someone who has been there, meeting 1:1 and in groups.
• Advocate within organizations and government systems to ensure and support that policy and practices of providers honor the vision, voice, and experiences of family members as the best experts about their own lives and full partners in their own care. Participate in evaluations and quality improvement efforts, consistent with Wraparound standards.

Minimum Requirements:

• Lived experience as the parent of a child who has received services from child welfare, juvenile probation, or children’s behavioral health.
• Writing skills adequate to complete documentation as required.

Skills, Copenencies, Attributes:

• Create a warm and friendly environment
• Empathic
• Non-judgmental
• Not afraid to speak up; advocate
• Optimistic, strength-based
• Comfortable as a teacher and learner
• Able to maintain right-sized relationship with team members and co-workers
• Able to strategically share parts of their own story where it is helpful to the other person
• Demonstrates cultural humility and curiosity; understands issues of implicit bias, diversity, equity and inclusion
• Seeks to understand the role of tribes and the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), as applicable to Wraparound
• Able to translate professional-speak to accessible language
• Ability to speak language(s) reflecting the community served, preferred Note: In best practice, parent partners should be supervised and/or supported by others who have experience as parent partners. Whenever possible, employers should appoint a dedicated staff member whose primary function is to supervise parent partners.

License/Certification:

• Driver's License (Required)

Job Type:

• Part-time

Pay:

• $23.00 - $25.00 per hour

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday
• Weekends as needed

*Please be advised that all candidates will be required to undergo a comprehensive background check as part of the hiring process. We are committed to maintaining a safe and secure work environment, and as such, individuals with certain misdemeanor convictions may not be eligible for this position. If you have any questions about the background check process or eligibility, please contact our HR Generalist at fariba.wazed@theleafcompany.com

Job Types: Full-time, Part-time

Pay: $22.00 - $25.00 per hour

Expected hours: 20 – 25 per week

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday
• Weekends as needed

Application Question(s):

• Do you have lived experience matching the job description?

Ability to Commute:

• Chico, CA 95929 (Required)

Ability to Relocate:

• Chico, CA 95929: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person

Salary : $22 - $25