Adoption Director

HOLT INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S SERVICES INC•Eugene, OR

About The Position

The Programs and Services Department at Holt International serves over 1,000,000 children, family members, and individuals with family strengthening, orphan care, and adoption services in more than 15 countries. Approximately 110 children are placed with international adoptive families annually. The department collaborates with partner agencies, orphanages, government child welfare agencies, and local officials to expand and deepen services while maintaining high standards of quality and transparency. The Adoption Director plays a crucial role in ensuring successful home finding and providing clinical support to adoptive families throughout the adoption process. This involves assessing children, reviewing their information for potential adoptive placement, and coordinating with various Holt staff. The Director also conducts clinical assessments of prospective adoptive families, offers parent preparation, and assists with adjustment issues, primarily through phone, video conference, and email. A key responsibility is the continuous assessment and improvement of Holt’s parent preparation program in collaboration with the team and Supervisor.

Requirements

Master’s level Clinician, LCSW or equivalent preferred
Minimum five years of post-graduate clinical experience providing services to children and their families
Thorough understanding and application of ethical clinical service to parents on behalf of their children
Ability to understand the issues presented by families, assess their level of stress, and determine what interventions would be most effective with their learning style, willingness, and ability to learn and retain working knowledge of new models.
Leverages current technology to support performance and efficiency in accomplishing assigned responsibilities.
Ability to work independently, respond to families within one business day, know when to seek supervision, and keep apprised of new interventions in attachment and trauma.
Ability to work with a wide variety of individuals, families, Holt staff, and outside agency staff.
Ability to support other clinicians by providing constructive feedback.
Maximizes the success of older child placements by providing necessary clinical support to Holt families.

Nice To Haves

Adoption experience and/or training in TBRI are advantageous.
15 continuing education hours per year on adoption issues.
Required to complete and record with HR a minimum of 30 hours of training every two years on emerging adoption practices.

Responsibilities

Identifies qualified and prepared adoptive families for waiting children by reviewing the child’s medical and social history to determine the profile of the type of family needed to ensure successful placement.
Conducts assessments of families considering adoption of a waiting child and provides ongoing education and support as needed via Child Specific Questionnaire, Child Rating Tool, and Child Specific Preparation Tool to families to help prepare them for a successful adoptive placement.
Attends team meetings to provide a clinical perspective and consultation on potential child referral matches.
Completes home study reviews by utilizing the state and country program home study checklist.
Coordinates with Home Study Coordinator, branch staff, program staff, and cooperating agencies.
Ensures psychological evaluations meet country-specific requirements and home study reflects consistent information.
Completes child specific preparation and education.
Meets with families on a consistent basis to plan and review the family’s identified local resources and professional providers to meet the child’s unique needs.
Continues ongoing education and preparation on topics specific to the family and their adoption.
Proactively supports assigned families pre- and post-placement.
Participates in collaborative conference calls with overseas partners when asked to ensure continuity of care for children post placement.
Supports families and overseas partners while the family is in the country for the placement of their child.
Assists in coordinating, planning, and facilitating ongoing support groups for families matched with a child and preparing for travel.
Assists with assessing and monitoring parent education curriculum, program, and processes by ensuring adequate preparation of families to meet the child’s needs.
Continuously reviews education and preparation to ensure families are prepared to meet the needs of the current child profile.
Promotes ongoing education and preparation pre-adoption and encourages participation in continuing education through Holt’s Post Adoption Services program options.
Provides clinical support to families in cooperation with the supervisor, responding within 24 hours of receiving the referral.
Suggests interventions, connects families with resources both local and online, including “mentor families,” and refers to adoption competent therapists if needed.
Offers availability for crisis situations where families need additional support, including travel in country and post placement.
Identifies and ensures adoption eligibility of waiting children by coordinating with overseas partners to assess waiting children living in institutions, reviewing child information, and approving the release of older children.
Ensures quality social work practice and adherence to social work principles by ensuring Holt coaching and education services adhere to best practice principles and utilize the most current research and educational tools to guide and support families.
Maintains knowledge on issues relating to adoption, including trauma, attachment, grief and loss, identity, behavior challenges, neurodevelopmental problems, sensory integration, eating and sleeping challenges, sibling adjustment, parenting, and other issues as needed.
Maintains knowledge and understanding of each country’s and international partner organization’s adoption policies/processes by maintaining regular contact through email, letters, reading materials, meetings, and consulting regularly with the country program team in Eugene, and traveling to the country to visit partner organization and children referred for adoption as may be relevant.
Contributes to team effort by working cooperatively with the Adoption team members and other Departments at Holt.
Responds positively to challenges, assignments, inter- and intra-departmental requests; sees beyond own tasks to help fulfill the organizational goals.
Demonstrates adaptability in a changing environment by taking on new projects as assigned.