Kinship Navigator Explorer

A SECOND CHANCE INC•Philadelphia, PA

11d•$25

About The Position

This position is responsible for providing kinship focused services that ensure safe and stable placements for children and youth. The Kinship Explorer Navigator will assist DHS in identifying appropriate kinship options in situations where a child has the potential to be removed or is in the process of an emergency removal. The Kinship Explorer Navigator will be responsible for identifying and engaging a robust network of kinship supports for youth entering out-of-home placement, placed in foster care, or stepping down from congregate care settings.

Requirements

A Bachelor’s degree in social work or other Human Services discipline is required.
Must have at least three years of direct experience with children/families in either a job related or volunteer capacity.
Must have excellent organizational and interpersonal skills.
Must demonstrate leadership skills and qualities; must possess the knowledge of foster care services and client/family needs.
Must possess excellent clinical skills.
Must possess a passion for kinship care and ability to work collaboratively with DHS.
Registered and insured vehicle
Certificate of Insurance for vehicle
Valid Driver’s License
Current Act 33, State Police and FBI Clearances
Available to work flexible schedule and after 5:00pm
Work on-call hours

Responsibilities

Collaboratively work with DHS (Hotline, Intake, and Ongoing Service Region) to help identify all prospective kinship resources.
Strong applicants will be those that incorporate new and innovative methods that align with best practices for identifying and engaging kinship resources.
Collect and verify all information needed to begin the process of licensing (i.e., Childline/Criminal clearances).
Maintains in-person connections with youth and families through active field work, ensuring meaningful engagement and support.
Conduct home assessments to ensure the home is appropriate.
Connect with youth entering out-of-home placement for the first time so that youth are initially placed and remain with kin until reunification is appropriate.
Connect with youth who have been in non-kinship placement settings to identify and explore kinship resources so that youth can be placed with kin.
Connect with youth in congregate care settings and explore potential kinship resources so that youth stepdown from higher level settings to be placed with kin.
Capable of managing emergency cases while working within limited timeframes.
Provide all required training needed for licensing and ongoing annual training.
Continue the exploration of additional kinship resources for children and/or youth, even after the child or youth is placed in a kinship home to build additional supports for the children and/or youth.
Strong applicants will be those that propose evidence-informed, theory-driven strategies to broaden and strengthen informal supportive networks for children and youth, beyond the identification of a single placement resource.
Contribute to Family Engagement Initiative (FEI) meetings to continue to gather additional information for kinship exploration.
Strong applicants will be those that possess a robust understanding of FEI and seek to leverage existing FEI practices and processes to support the identification and engagement of kin.
Assess kinship caregiver needs and provide ongoing support and resource connections for kinship caregivers to promote safe, stable homes for children to thrive.
Strong applicants will be those who propose best practices to supporting kin caregivers.
Working in the field, after hours and weekends per caseload availability.