Family Services Specialist II

A Family Services Specialist II provides intensive and specialized, culturally competent social work services to individuals and families. Alexandria DCHS utilizes a racial equity approach in all decision making.

This position uses social work theory to provide intensive and specialized culturally competent social work services to identify, engage, assess, and train prospective resource families. Resource families—which include foster parents, foster-to-adopt families, and kinship caregivers—are critical partners for child welfare professionals because they provide care for children who cannot live with their parents, and they can play a supportive role in reunification.

Telework may be available with appropriate consideration given to work assignment location, and in accordance with current City policy.

Examples of Duties:

• Provides approved curriculum to resource parent and fictive kin applicants;

• Assesses applicants understanding of training materials, assess their ability to participate in the resource parent program and their ability to provide a safe, nurturing home for a child in need;

• Prepares written resource home assessments and ICPC assessments utilizing information gathered through training, face to face interviews, collateral interviews and visits to the home and monitors homes after initial approval;

• Provides case management of resource homes including entering contacts into OASIS statewide system, teaming with the placement coordinator on placement options and support of families, adding families to the Resource Home data base, and gathering statistical data;

• Provides supportive counseling to resource families in identifying and resolving emotionally challenging decisions;

• Provides crisis intervention on a timely basis to resource families who are caring for children placed in their home;

• Makes presentations to community groups, schools and other professional groups on the need for resource parents in the City of Alexandria;

• Participate in the development and implementation of a recruitment plan to increase the resource families of color;

• Assist in the development of agency approved resource home recruitment materials such as brochures, media campaigns and events;

• Responsible for the recruitment, marketing materials and posting info meetings (city website, one church one child, Alexandria Gazette, etc.); holding on a regular basis, timely in person, community, or virtual foster parent information meetings; ability to work evenings and weekends at community recruitment events for effective recruitment;

• Represents the agency by serving on community workgroups and regional professional groups;

• Teams with Resource Parent Placement Coordinator, as needed, on placement decisions;

• Assists unit in organizing special training and recognition events for agency approved resource parents;

• Conducts reassessment visits with approved resource families to maintain certification;

• Participates in the Adoption Placement Panel process;

• Serves as a policy expert in the area of resource home approval guidance;

• Teams with unit members to develop recruitment and training materials;

• Participate in Family Partnership Meetings, Treatment Team Meetings, and case consultations as requested to support resource families and help team in making decisions;

• Provides after hours on-call on a rotating basis;

• Performs related work as required.