Foster Care Outreach Spec.

City of New York•New York City, NY

10d

About The Position

THE SELECTED CANDIDATE WILL BE OFFERED A SALARY OF $62,868.00 The Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) protects and promotes the safety and well-being of children and families through child welfare and juvenile justice services and community supports. ACS manages community-based supports and foster care services and provides subsidized childcare vouchers. ACS child protection staff respond to allegations of child maltreatment. In juvenile justice, ACS oversees detention, placement and programs for youth in the community. The Recruitment Assistance Coordinator in the Office of Foster Parent Recruitment and Support works as an essential member of the team to deliver foster parent recruitment and support using the Home Away from Home (HAFH) framework. HAFH is an initiative designed to support foster care providers' ability to strengthen and enhance their practice around recruiting, supporting, and retaining foster parents. Using a formal approach, technical assistance is provided based on the agencies’ performance and organizational structure. The Division of Family Permanency Services (FPS) ensures that high quality services are provided to children in foster care by supporting provider agency staff with technical assistance and other services for children in foster care. FPS staff offer guidance to provider agencies on child welfare policies and procedures to improve service delivery and achieve safety, permanency, and well-being for children in foster care. Office of Foster Parent Recruitment and Support is a newly created unit, which merges two former units (Parent, Support & Recruitment and the Home away from Home Unit). The unit will incorporate a new framework in which will help develop and create individualized technical assistance (TA) for agencies to help with their recruitment efforts. Providing intensive technical assistance to agencies will help them in meeting their fiscal year home finding targets. TA does not solely focus on certifying new homes but also certifying specialized homes and increasing kinship capacity. Recruitment of foster homes is critical to the foster care system. The Foster Care Outreach Specialist in the Office of Foster Parent Recruitment and Support (OFPRS) works as an essential member of the team to deliver foster parent recruitment and support using the Home Away from Home (HAFH) framework. HAFH is an initiative designed to support foster care providers, strengthen and enhance their practice around recruiting, supporting and retaining foster parents. Using a formal approach, technical assistance is provided based on the agencies’ performance and organizational structure. The Foster Care Outreach Specialist will be responsible for, but not limited to, the following:

Requirements

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and two years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties described above; or
2. High school graduation or equivalent and six years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties as described above; or
3. Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" or "2" above. However, all candidates must have at least one year of experience as described in "1" above.

Responsibilities

Provide technical assistance to provider agencies utilizing the Home Away from Home (HAFH) Sustainability Phase technical assistance framework.
Act as the lead-liaison with foster care agencies to support recruitment efforts, quality customer service and effective communication.
Coordinate timely and appropriate responses, and follow-up to inquiries, policies, and procedures around foster parent recruitment as needed.
Attend community recruitment events and other forums to promote foster parent recruitment.
Draft letters, emails, and other correspondence aimed at ensuring recruitment target attainment, sustainability, and effective communication.
Flag performance concerns to leadership and support the development of improvement strategies include but not limited to staffing, training, recruitment and business processes.
Facilitate technical assistance sessions, workshops, and other forums relating to foster parent recruitment, retention and supports.
Actively engage and participate in team meetings and individualized professional development driven supervision
Disseminate, review, and monitor/track OFPRS’ Accountability Mechanisms such as Monthly Tracking Tools and Integrated Home List to promote foster home recruitment, support and retention.
Create Microsoft PowerPoint Presentations as needed