Family Engagement Specialist
Description
BENEFITS:
- Opportunity to help children and families!
- Health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, disability insurance, 401(k) with 4% match, life insurance, generous paid time off, employee assistance program, flexible spending account, professional development assistance
- SUMMARY: The Family Engagement Specialist is responsible for providing family services to children and families that have been referred to NTF’s prevention program. The primary role is to engage families and support them in being heard, meeting their goals, visiting, and responding to crisis situations. The Family Engagement Specialist engages the families by providing strength-based and solution-focused services aimed at restoring families in crisis to an acceptable level of functioning. The Family Engagement Specialist will also provide parenting services to the families.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
- Makes initial contact with new referrals within one day of intake.
- Develops positive relationships with birth parents that support their strengths and address areas of weakness through coaching, role modeling, direct communication, teaching and advocacy.
- Provides outreach services to parents.
- Interviews family to obtain family history and provides family impression to team.
- Provides recommendations regarding service needs and timing of interventions.
- Initiates family interventions as needed with families, parents and caregivers, and children.
- Responsible for making contacts with each family as assigned and as determined by the service plan.
- Plans and facilitates Family Team Meetings as needed and appropriate.
- Monitors child and family progress in the implementation of the individual treatment plan or service plan.
- Refers client to supportive services to supplement interventions provided by NTF.
- Develops working relationships with local community providers pertaining to substance abuse, domestic violence and other Family services.
- Follows all policies and procedures of the program to ensure the protection and safety of the children in the care of the program.
- Must be willing and able to work after hours, be on call, and deal with emergency situations.
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. A commitment to the goals and philosophy of Neighbor To Family.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: BSW or BA in social work or related human services field with 2 years’ experience in child welfare or a related human services field required. Master's degree in social work or other related human services field with 2 years’ experience in child welfare or related human services field preferred. Child Protection Professional Certification preferred. Prior training in parenting curriculum such as Nurturing Parenting preferred.
Basic skills and general knowledge include the following:
- Well-developed interpersonal and relationship building skills.
- Efficient time management and scheduling.
- Knowledge of the range of available community resources
- Small group meeting management and Family Team Conferencing
- Elevated knowledge of community services in all facets
- Proficiency in FSFN (Florida’s Safe Family Network)
- Ability to work effectively under high stress situations
- Training in abuse and neglect of children
- Competence in identifying risk and safety factors
OTHER REQUIREMENTS:
- Valid state driver's license, appropriate insurance and reliable car.
- Must submit to and pass a pre-employment drug test.
- Must submit to pass random drug tests during employment.
- Must successfully pass all background screens as required by the state.
- Must complete 40 hours of training annually.
REASONING ABILITY: Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions and deal with several abstract and concrete variables. Ability to formulate opinions and recommendations that are applicable over a wide array of programmatic functions.
CULTURAL COMPETENCY: Ability to relate, understand, accept and interact in a culturally sensitive manner.
LANGUAGE SKILLS: Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public.
MATHEMATICAL SKILLS: Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions, percentages, area, circumference, and volume. Ability to apply concepts of basic algebra and geometry.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made 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 fingers to handle or feel; reach with hands and arms; talk, listen and stand and walk to interact with the children. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and ability to adjust focus. The employee must be able to lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.
WORK 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.
The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.