Parent Advocate

The New York Foundling • Bronx, NY

20h

About The Position

At The New York Foundling, we trust in the power and potential of people, and we deliberately invest in proven practices. From bold beginnings in 1869, our New York-based nonprofit has supported hundreds of thousands of our neighbors on their own paths to stability, strength, and independence. We help children and families navigate through and beyond foster care. We help families struggling with conflict and poverty grow strong. We help individuals with developmental disabilities live their best lives, and we help our neighbors access quality health and mental health services—core to building lifelong resilience and wellbeing. Together, our interrelated programs provide a whole-person, whole-family, and whole-life approach that unlocks solutions for a lifetime. The Parent Advocate will support parents with children in foster care to understand and navigate the foster care system, make decisions for their families, remain hopeful, and address family challenges so that they can accomplish their goal of reunification. The focus of this job is building connections with parents and working collaboratively with case planners.

Requirements

• High School Diploma or GED equivalent
• Previous life experience being impacted by the child welfare system as a parent including having had a child placed in foster care or having had a court-ordered supervision case. Other prior child welfare involvement such as having personally experienced child welfare investigations may also qualify. Previous child welfare cases must be closed for at least one year.
• A natural collaborator.
• The New York Foundling is committed to attracting and retaining a diverse employee population, the Foundling will honor your experiences, perspectives and unique identity. Together, our community strives to create and maintain working and learning environments that are inclusive, equitable and welcoming.
• Demonstrated strong commitment to safety.

Responsibilities

• The Parent Advocate will support parents with children in foster care to understand and navigate the foster care system, make decisions for their families, remain hopeful, and address family challenges so that they can accomplish their goal of reunification.
• The focus of this job is building connections with parents and working collaboratively with case planners.
• Build relationships and support parents in coping with the trauma of foster care involvement, making decisions for their families, communicating effectively with those involved in their case, and maintaining relationships with their children during foster care placement.
• Prepare parents and participate in Case Planning Meetings, Family Team Conferences including but not limited to Transitional, 20 Day, Six Month Service Plan Review, Placement Change Conferences, Trial Discharge and Final Discharge conferences.
• Collaborate with foster care unit supervisor and work alongside case planners.
• Educate birth parents on the birth parent/client experience including what requirements of them are and the services they can receive
• Provide advocacy, support and referral services for Birth Parents in areas such as housing, public assistance and court preparation

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Education Level: High school or GED