Family Finding and Recruitment Specialist

POSITION: Family Finding and Recruitment Specialist

QUALIFICATIONS: 

• Bachelor's degree in social work, other human service field, criminal justice, or communication.
• Experience in investigation and person location preferred.
• Strong communication, leadership, communication, and research skills.
• Experience working with children with special needs is a plus.
• Must have a valid Illinois Driver’s License

I. DUTIES:

• Understand implicit bias and how to work within a system that impacts decisions for youth and their families when locating placement options. Has the ability to have crucial conversations with staff and other child and family team members.
• May do extensive research, investigation, and outreach in locating absentee parents/guardians.
• Identify and locate potential extended family/fictive kinship relationships.
• May assist the family caseworker with facilitating the expansion of resources needed to better serve children and their families involved in foster care.
• Will drive to various locations to attend meetings, conferences, or to locate and assess family homes as needed.
• Will utilize a family-centered, trauma-informed, strength-based, and EDI lens through which youth and family needs are assessed.
• Have the ability to engage the youth (as age-appropriate), birth parents, family and social connections, foster parents, and staff to facilitate and support stability and permanency for the youth.
• Possess strong, creative problem-solving skills, and can use non-traditional search methods to identify and locate family members and supportive connections.
• Has strong data analysis skills needed to conduct diligent search activities across multiple databases, systems, social media, and other websites. Will complete required forms and SACWIS documentation, send written correspondence, and log/track data for use by the foster care team.
• complete legal screening packets and submit to DCFS.
• Placement disruptions
• Completed integrated assessments
• Complete initial reports of investigation for adoption and guardianship home studies
• Obtain birth certificates, death certificates, and social security cards for youth in care and their parents.

II. DIRECT SERVICE:

• Provide transportation for clients as directed by Family Permanency Supervisor.
• Supervise family visits as directed by Family Permanency Supervisor.
• Staff all new cases with the clients’ foster care worker and Family Permanency Supervisor.
• Check voice mail on working days and return messages in appropriate time frame.
• Contact parents and/or foster parents regarding appointments or visits.
• Contact other necessary parties for transports or visits.

III. OTHER DUTIES:  

• Actively participates in YSBIV’s Continuous Quality Improvement program
• Checks emails on a daily basis.
• Keeps outlook calendar updated on a regular basis and shares with supervisor
•   Comply with rules established for the position.
•   Submit service tickets and visitation records to supervisor on a weekly basis.
•   Attend agency meetings, trainings, events, and supervisory meetings as directed by Family Permanency Supervisor
• Other duties as assigned by Family Permanency Supervisor 

Core Competencies:

• Leadership
• Organized
• Communication
• Researcher
• Problem Solving

* Youth Service Bureau of Illinois Valley believes that all people deserve inclusivity, fairness, and justice.  We believe that both the success of our team and the wellness of our community is strongest by recognizing the qualities that make each person unique, including race, gender, age, sexuality, ability, religion, national origin, gender identity and other identities.  The YSB team values and respects each other and our community as we proudly serve.