Family Finding Specialist

Samaritas • Detroit, MI

1d

About The Position

Our Family Finding and Engagement Specialist supports youth in foster care by engaging their biological family and community members in a supportive network of connections. This position will lead our foster care program in advocacy efforts for relative placements and/or relative engagement. This position discovers any lost family/kinship connections and engages them to form a lifelong network for the youth. The goal is to preserve a child's cultural, ethnic, and familial connections to provide support within a kinship system. It is the specialist's role to identify and nurture family strengths and build upon natural support networks to enhance the safety and well-being of children in our care. If you’re passionate about relationship-building, driven to solve challenges, and committed to creating positive outcomes for young people, we’d love to hear from you. Welcome to Samaritas Nation!

The Family Finding Specialist works with youth in care in finding permanency through a supportive network of connections. This position discovers any lost connections and engages them to form a lifelong network for the youth; identifies and nurtures family strength building and other family attributes to enhance the safety and well-being of children.

Requirements

• Bachelors’ degree in a human services field required
• One-year experience working in child welfare or related service setting required
• Required to attend and participate in trainings and other professional development activity, including those outlined by the EFC contract and Council of Accreditation (COA) requirements.
• Unrestricted, valid driver’s license with good driving record.
• Reliable personal transportation suitable for safely transporting persons served; proof of current automobile insurance.

Responsibilities

• Completes a comprehensive, detailed genogram for each youth referred to include potential placement options
• Assumes primary responsibility for locating and tracking relatives, fictive kin and/or significant adults from the referred youth’s life
• Utilizes online databases, and other online search venues to locate relatives, fictive kin and/or significant adults for each youth
• Assesses potential placements following policy and makes recommendations to the foster care and licensing teams regarding these placements
• Takes responsibility for investigating/problem solving for identified family members/potential supportive adults using a strength-based approach
• Prepares members/potential supportive adults’ by determining their cultural and language needs, transportation needs, and confidentiality and safety issues
• Collaborates with the foster care and licensing teams to create plans for initial contact and ongoing rapport building activities between the youth and the family member/potential supportive adults
• Collaborates and takes primary responsibility in developing a transition plan for the youth if placement is recommended
• Maintains a sense of urgency throughout the process and motivates the team toward proactive action.
• Proactively identifies possible barriers and works with the team to collectively problem-solve and monitor possible solutions

Benefits

• comprehensive benefits effective the first of the month following 30 days of employment

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level