Foster Care Home Study Assessor - FT

Christian Children's Home of Ohio•Wooster, OH

About The Position

Encourage Foster Care is seeking a Home Study Assessor to facilitate licensing requirements for Encourage families, including home studies, half-ways, fast-track families, and re-certifications. The assessor facilitates approval of alternative caregivers for foster care homes and assists with adoptions in the department. The role includes completing home studies and other licensing needs for an assigned caseload, maintaining documentation in SACWIS and Extended Reach, and following required timelines for standard and fast-track licensing. The assessor attends Encourage Team meetings and participates in Quality Improvement activities. Employees are expected to support a team-first workplace, uphold the agency’s stated Christian conduct expectations and core values, and contribute to a safe and healing environment for clients and staff. This position has no supervisory responsibilities. It involves regular travel, including driving long distances at all hours and in varying conditions. Employment is contingent on satisfactory completion of required background and reference checks and a drug test.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in an accredited social work program and active Ohio LSW, or at least two years of current or prior experience as an Assessor with a public children services agency.
Level I Assessor Certification, actively maintained in Ohio.
Valid Ohio Driver’s License and a driving record that allows the employee to be insured under the agency policy.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to respond effectively to questions by telephone and email and present information to agencies, families, clients, donors, and the public.
Ability to read and interpret business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, and governmental regulations, and to write professional reports, correspondence, and procedure manuals.
Ability to work independently as directed, multitask, prioritize, and complete assignments.
Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail; ability to apply common sense.
Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions; ability to interpret technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and work with abstract and concrete variables.
Competency with a personal computer and Outlook, Teams, Word, and Excel, and ability to use or learn SACWIS and Extended Reach.
Ability to meet the stated physical requirements, including driving a passenger vehicle legally in Ohio and driving long distances at all hours and in varying conditions.
Satisfactory completion of required background checks, drug test, reference checks, Department of Justice National sex offender search, Ohio and other applicable states’ Alleged Perpetrator Search, and other checks required by the licensing agency.

Responsibilities

Complete new home studies and additional licensing needs for an assigned caseload, including sending out 1331s, recertifications, amendments, alternative caregiver approvals, rules investigations, and training-needs tracking.
Maintain required documentation in SACWIS and Extended Reach.
Follow home-study procedures and timelines, including initiating the process within one week of assignment and scheduling required visits.
Within 24 hours of licensing a family, email the team to introduce the family, attach the license in Extended Reach, and move the family to the open bed list in Extended Reach.
Send the family’s information to Cuyahoga County for approval within one week of licensing.
Facilitate the fast-track process by conducting two interviews before Pre-Service training is completed and one interview after training; license the family within 30 days after training, subject to the Director’s discretion regarding the timeline.
Facilitate approval of alternative caregivers for foster care homes.
Assist with adoptions in the department.
Attend and participate in Encourage Team meetings and Quality Improvement activities.
Maintain appropriate working relationships, promote collaboration, and contribute to a team-first workplace.
Carry out other duties as assigned.