Family-based Intensive Treatment Family Partner

The Home for Little Wanderers•Somerville, MA

49d

About The Position

When you join The Home for Little Wanderers, you join a team of professionals dedicated to creating better, brighter futures for kids. For over 200 years, The Home for Little Wanderers has helped build stable lives and hopeful tomorrows for vulnerable children and their families. Our 25+ community-based and residential programs serve thousands of at-risk youths from birth to age 26. Many of these children have experienced abuse, neglect, trauma, or a disrupted family life. As the oldest child welfare agency in America, we provide them with safe surroundings, permanent loving relationships, and a secure path toward a better, brighter future. To learn more about the incredible impact our employees have on the lives of children and families, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXedSArtYbg About the Program At The Home, we believe strong families are the backbone of strong communities. Our Community Service Agencies (CSAs) provide individualized, family-driven coordination of care to meet the complex needs of children and families who are involved in child and family-serving systems and may be experiencing emotional, behavioral, safety or mental health difficulties. Each of our CSAs now offer a Family-Based Intensive Treatment (FIT) service which provides short-term, flexible, hands-on support at home, helping families navigate tough times, strengthen connections and keep kids in their communities. The FIT service is designed for MassHealth youth under 21 with serious emotional challenges. It is delivered by a specialized team of clinicians, paraprofessionals, family partners and includes access to prescribers and behavioral therapists How You Will Be Making a Difference Under the direction of the Program Director and Senior FIT Clinician, the FIT Family Partner provides support to youth under the age of 21 with a Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) SUD, ASD, IDD and their families under the CBHI framework. The FIT Family Partner uses their lived experience as a parent or caregiver of a child with emotional, behavioral, mental health needs to support caregiver to navigate systems to improve skill building, emotional regulation, and advocacy. The FIT Family Partner works closely with the FIT clinician and FIT paraprofessional to help implement identified tasks on the youth/family's treatment plan.

Requirements

To be considered, all applicants must have experience as a caregiver/parent of a child or youth with special needs and preferably with significant mental health needs
Required to operate a vehicle with a valid driver's license and satisfactory driving record.
Required to have access to a personal vehicle for work.
Personal experience as a parent/caregiver navigating child, family, or behavioral health systems, including advocating for family members.
Computer literate with the ability to learn new software applications
Excellent written and communication skills
High school diploma or HiSet and a minimum of two (2) years of experience working with children/adolescents/transition age youth; and experience navigating any of the child and family-serving systems and supporting family members who are involved with the child and family serving systems

Nice To Haves

Preferably knowledgeable about the communities we serve
Fluency in a second language (e.g. Spanish, Haitian Creole) is a plus
Experience with CBHI services preferred but not required
Knowledge of trauma-informed care service delivery and family systems theory preferred
Bachelor's degree in a human services field and one (1) year working with target population preferred
Associates degree in a human service field and one (1) year working with children/adolescents/transition age youth

Responsibilities

Provide caregivers with tools to build advocacy and navigate community resources and larger child-serving systems.
Support caregivers with advocating for the needs of their youth
Coach families on how to implement effective strategies to address emotional, behavioral, mental health needs
Provide education around child development, parenting strategies, mental health and trauma
Connect families to resources in their community to address the identified needs
Participate in monthly meetings facilitated by the FIT clinician
Complete progress notes in the electronic health record system
Maintain regular communication with FIT team regarding status updates on progress and challenges
Collaborate with CBHI service, emergency provider, families and other relevant supports identified by the family
Provide coaching in support of decision-making in both crisis and non-crisis situations
Work with assigned youth and family 3-5 times weekly managing a caseload of 5-6 families
Participates in individual, dyad, and group supervision, weekly supervision, and regular staff meetings and training as required.
Other duties as assigned

Benefits

Generous time off including up to 15 days per year for new full-time employees, plus 11 holidays, and 5 sick days
Health, Dental and Vision Insurance available
Extensive training to new staff
Tuition reimbursement of up to $2,400 per fiscal year
403(b) Retirement Plan with employer match
Employer paid Long-term and Short-term Disability Insurance, plus Basic Life and AD&D Insurance
And more!

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