ICWA Advocate I

Association of Village Council Presidents•Bethel, AK

65d

About The Position

Summary Job Goal: This position provides intensive ongoing ICWA Advocacy services for all assigned ICWA Compacted Tribes. This position manages, coordinates, and supports child welfare casework and carries potentially very high caseloads across a broad spectrum of state and sometimes tribal child welfare settings. The primary goals of this position are to gather, document, and provide assigned tribal ICWA programs concrete and complete information about the status of their ICWA cases and tribal children/families involved in the state child welfare system. This position will present and share all information in a way that assists the tribe in determining their position for their ICWA cases, and, will represent and advocate for the tribe’s position across the child welfare system (admin reviews, court hearing, TDMs, trials, etc.) This is a career ladder position with a level I and II. Level I is an introductory/trainee position with limited independence. Level II includes additional responsibilities and increasing independence.

Requirements

High School diploma or GED is required.
An Associate’s degree or its equivalent and relevant work experience is required.
Must have at least two years of direct related experience in lieu of the Associate’s degree.
Proven ability to read and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical and governmental regulations.
Proven ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals.
Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers and the general public.

Nice To Haves

Fluency in Yup’ik, Cup’ik and English is strongly preferred.
Must have strong analytical; organizational; written and verbal skills.
A Rural Human Services certificate and/or a HUMs degree is highly preferred.

Responsibilities

Maintains strict confidentiality of the department and clientele.
Responsible for ongoing case work management for all assigned cases where an AVCP ICWA compact tribe has requested the assistance of AVCP (as indicated by AVCP’s filing of an Entry of Appearance).
Basic ICWA knowledge and skills or the ability to learn and apply basic ICWA skills quickly.
Accepts, intakes, and fully processes and manages all incoming paperwork related to state child welfare cases for ICWA compacting tribes.
Accepts, intakes and fully processes and manages all paperwork related to assigned tribal cases
Responsible for maintaining the ICWA calendar for all assigned cases and providing the ICWA workers and tribal leadership reports about the progress of their ICWA cases on a regular basis.
Initiates regular (weekly) telephone and email contacts with village-based ICWA workers in order to provide on-going assistance with child welfare cases.
Initiates all necessary files/paperwork for new ICWA cases
Copies all court files soon after AVCP files an Entry of Appearance and provides those documents for the Bethel office and distribution to the assigned ICWA tribal office.
Maintains accurate data on all case activities and reviews.
Maintains detailed records for all cases, including, but not limited to, case notes, telephone logs, reports of contact, identifying data, referrals made, services provided, and related recommendations.
Attends all OCS reviews and related meetings, TDMs, case meetings, etc, on all state cases where AVCP has filed an Entry of Appearance.
Builds a positive and effective working relationship with ALSC.
Appears in court when needed for all ICWA cases assigned and works collaboratively with ALSC in all legal proceedings for assigned ICWA cases.
Assists ICWA compact tribes in reviewing and providing input into OCS safety plans and case plans for families in the state system.
Documents in all case file records all requests made to OCS and follows-up on those requests to determine if they were implemented by the state and if assistance needs to be provided.
Documents OCS’s active efforts for all assigned cases.
Provides updates consistently for all assigned cases (ROC notes, pleadings, etc. ) for the Bethel office master files.
Participates in all Tribal Title IVE activities: time studies, QARs, Candidate for Care, etc and has the ability and interest to expand knowledge and skill about IVE to include, but not limited to: participate in IVE training opportunities, continuously improve time study skills, participate in and support IVE reimbursable activities,etc.
Initiates prevention case work to help prevent children being removed from their home and families
Other case work management duties as assigned or needed
Travels as needed to facilitate reunification/permanency; ICWA compliant placement or other child welfare needs as requested by the Tribe.
Continuously and consistently works to build a positive relationship with OCS and commits to working in partnership with OCS in implementing services for families in need.
Acts as a liaison between ICWA foster families and OCS in order to provide support to the foster families.
Works on recruiting and retaining native foster homes.
Participates in Tribal-State, Tribal Caucus meetings and shares information with assigned tribes and tribal ICWA workers.
Works in partnership with other programs, such as TANF, Child Care, Head Start, etc to identify and support families.
Assists with tribal jurisdiction case transfers and the tribal jurisdiction case process from the transfer or opening of a case, ongoing case management support and referrals/coordination for family services with the ICWA/Tribal worker, and case closure process.