Foster Care Evaluation Specialist

Sevita•Columbia, SC

About The Position

South Carolina Mentor, a part of the Sevita family, provides Residential and Treatment Foster Care services to youth who may be facing out-of-home placements, transitioning back into the family home or independent living alternatives, or involved in the juvenile justice system. Through our personalized programming, we help youth gain stability, comfort and confidence to overcome all challenges and live well. If you are passionate about making a difference in the lives of individuals and families, join our mission-driven team and experience a career well lived. Foster Care Evaluation Specialist $55,860/annually (4,000 sign-on bonus) Members of the Mentor Recruitment Evaluation Team will steward interested individuals through the process of becoming a Mentor family. This state specific team will use their clinical expertise to focus on Applicant, Home Study, and Internal/External Review milestones, with the goal of reviewing mentors to determine appropriateness of being a foster parent and getting Mentors certified after they have submitted an application.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services field required
Three years related experience required, including writing home studies for foster care licensure.
An equivalent combination of education and experience which provides proficiency in the areas of responsibility listed above may be substituted for the above education and experience requirements.
Driver's License in good standing
Travel as needed
Light work. Exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects. If the use of arm and/or leg controls requires exertion of forces greater than that for sedentary work and the worker sits most of the time, the job is rated for light work.

Nice To Haves

Certified Investigator Certification, preferred (2 years of experience writing home studies required to obtain certification

Responsibilities

Identify safe, secure, and nurturing host home living environments in alignment with the company’s mission.
Responsible for the education, engagement, and selection of prospective Mentor foster parent candidates.
Complete the initial home inspection to assess the appropriateness of the physical environment and conduct all required in-home interviews with the candidate and all people living in the home
Conduct a preliminary evaluation of the candidates’ ability to meet the requirements of a Mentor foster parent, and ensure that all required documentation is collected to conduct all background screening, including references.
Complete a written Home Study/Psychosocial Narrative to document the findings of assessments of candidates; recommend or disqualify candidates for final disposition.
Responsible for actively raising community awareness of needs of children in foster care generating high-quality inquiries from individuals who are interested in becoming foster parents by leveraging a range of marketing strategies including hosting events
Collaborate with program operators to identify the needs of children and adults referred for services and to ensure that a clinically appropriate pool of Mentor foster parents is available for matching.
Maintain a pipeline of prospective Mentors to assure sufficient candidate flow and maintain contact with candidates throughout the process.
Facilitate and/or participate in pre-service orientation sessions. Remain the primary contact for the Mentor until the point of approval.
Establish positive working relationships with program operations by attending joint meetings and mutually sharing information regarding foster homes and substitute care homes, including program meetings to match referrals to approved Mentor homes.
Develop and maintain working knowledge of all licensing and regulatory requirements and company policies related to screening and selecting Mentors as well as Mentor records.
Maintain accurate data in required computer systems; complete reports as required. Manage and track all applicants in the CRM, in a comprehensive and timely manner, for use in metrics reviews.
Performs other related duties and activities as required.