Adoption Specialist

Our Community Our Kids•Fort Worth, TX

just now•Hybrid

About The Position

The Adoption Specialist is responsible for ensuring children are placed in permanent homes. This role involves monitoring a child's welfare while in conservatorship, working with prospective adoptive families, child placing agencies, and legal parties to ensure safe and permanent placements. The position also includes recruiting, training, studying, and licensing foster and adoptive homes, as well as providing support to families and children navigating separation and attachment issues in preparation for permanent placement. The role may also involve participating in abuse and neglect investigations related to foster and adoptive families.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a human services field (social work preferred).
Two years of experience working within human services.
Adoption Specialist Caseworker experience is preferred.
Specialty areas of focus and therefore more specific experience is preferred such as: Experience working with children and youth through the adoption process and / or Experience working with older youth in permanency preparing for adoption.
Case management of permanency with PMC background is required.
Knowledge of good child placement practices.
Skills in preparing children for adoption.
Skills in developing and maintaining professional working relationships.
Ability to support prospective adoptive families in preparing to welcome these children into their homes as some may be dealing with separation and attachment issues.
Ability to assess child’s needs and process in the placement.
Ability to maintain timely documentation and effectively manage caseload.
Knowledge of agency policies, procedures, and regulations.
Knowledge of laws and regulations to child care, abuse, and neglect.
Ability to assess current life situations of children to determine the home is a good match.
Ability to articulate an understanding of the intersection between race and poverty and the different outcomes and conditions that exist among specific groups as compared to other groups due to unequal treatment of services, if it applies.
Ability to negotiate available services.
Ability to gather, assemble, correlate, and analyze facts.
Ability to prepare clear and concise reports.
Ability to travel locally, within the region, and out of state, as needed, to best support clients and client needs.

Nice To Haves

Adoption Specialist Caseworker experience
Experience working with children and youth through the adoption process
Experience working with older youth in permanency preparing for adoption

Responsibilities

Coordinates and/or participates in meetings with collaborating partners and agencies as assigned, as well as prospective adoptive parents.
Participates in other administrative and planning meetings as needed to facilitate placement and adoption.
Maintains high ethical standards outlined in the ACH Child and Family Services Code of Ethics.
Establishes a respectful relationship with persons served to help them gain skills and confidence.
Intervenes appropriately to meet service goals.
Sets appropriate limits.
Performs other duties as assigned and required to maintain unit operations.
Attends work regularly in accordance with agency leave policy.
Receives cases from PMC Units within OCOK.
Determines each child’s needs and ensures appropriate referrals for testing, evaluations, records, or further assessments are made.
Ensures all services are focused on achieving positive permanency through adoption.
Identifies potential permanency resources for the child through ongoing contact with prospective adoption families and other individuals the child and family identify as important.
Collaborates with a Placement Team, including Kinship staff, for placements, as needed.
Participates in meetings and conferences at times and places convenient for the prospective adoptive family and all involved with the case.
Visits child(ren) monthly to assess their feeling of safety in their current home, plan for adoption, and discuss their needs, wishes, and progress.
Attends and participates in court hearings about the child and family, including contacting parties, preparing court reports, and testifying.
Keeps the child’s team (adoptive family, court-appointed attorney, guardian ad litem(s)) informed about the child’s circumstances and significant events.
Works with the department’s attorney to prepare for contested court hearings and trials.
Works with adoptive families to ensure they have what they need to care for the child or youth placed with them, including keeping them informed about case developments and returning phone calls.
Supervises adoptive placements until the adoption is final.
Documents case records by completing forms, narratives, and reports.
Coordinates and assists in locating appropriate services.
Serves as a liaison for all Agency children placed in residential and psychiatric facilities.
Ensures services adhere to applicable OCOK policy and procedures and other Contract outcomes.
Ensures an accurate system of identifying available resources to satisfy youth placements and services.
Maintains an up-to-date listing of all Agency network providers and services.
Ensures youth are placed in properly trained and licensed facilities with appropriate capacity to provide services.
Handles crisis calls as they relate to the provision of services.
Reviews youth’s Serious/Critical Incident Reports.
Requests documentation to ensure psychological and/or psychiatric services are being provided as needed.
Tracks length of stay for youth placed with OCOK.
Completes Utilization Review for clients in residential facilities.
Ensures children/youth who are free for adoption move through the adoption steps in a timely manner.
Makes referrals for services and follows up on services.
Completes all care management/coordination documentation for the youth and forwards reports.
Reviews documentation provided for youth’s and family’s Service Planning.
Ensures child assessment tools are properly used to correctly evaluate children referred to the Agency for placements or services.
Ensures quantified and measurable data is used during the child assessment phase to make appropriate decisions regarding placement type and level, and to identify needed family services.
Maintains contact with provider liaisons on a regular basis for each youth placed in a residential or hospital setting to monitor treatment goals, progress, discharge dates, and service recommendations.
Ensures youth placed in higher level settings are properly placed and stepped down to a less restrictive setting in accordance with treatment goals and length of stay compliance.
Promotes safety and encourages the least-restrictive and shortest length of out-of-home placement for children.
Communicates youth’s needs and concerns to residential program and/or child placing agency.
Ensures contract outcome measures are met with emphasis on case management activities.
Ensures families referred to OCOK receive timely services from child placing agencies and other service providers in the network.
Refrains from assuming any duty that is unrelated to and/or interferes with the responsibilities of the position.
Advocates, promotes, and practices cultural sensitivity and responsiveness in all day-to-day interactions.
Develops, promotes, and practices teamwork in all activities.
Completes other duties as assigned.
Attends continuing education necessary to expand knowledge and maintain certifications or licenses.
Communicates regularly with supervisor and seeks supervision when appropriate.
Participates in in-service training.