PERMANENCY SPECIALIST - SEGUIN/GONZALES

SJRC Texas Inc•Seguin, TX

6h•$48,000 - $55,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Permanency Specialist promotes the well-being of children in the Permanency Program and manages a caseload of children in care outside their homes. The role coordinates with agency staff and public and private agencies to assess placement and safety needs, support families and caregivers, and facilitate permanency, reunification, and adoption planning. Although classified as hybrid, the position requires travel up to 95% of the work week. The candidate must reside in Guadalupe County or surrounding areas and provide 24-hour, on-call support on a rotating basis. The specialist supports children, families, kinship caregivers, care providers, and adoptive resources through case planning, assessments, training, mentoring, consultations, and home visits. The role coordinates placement and adoption services, facilitates Permanency Round Tables, develops recruitment plans for children without adoptive resources, and supports youth preparing for independent living. It also maintains complete case records, prepares reports and statistical data, and provides crisis intervention as required. The position requires a valid Texas driver's license, safe driving record, personal transportation, and current automobile insurance. The employee may drive personal or agency vehicles to transport children or conduct agency business, and must meet agency underwriting standards when using an agency vehicle or transporting clients. Work may involve long days, long-distance driving, irregular hours, after-5 p.m. appointments, and home visits in isolated or high-crime areas or substandard and unsanitary living conditions.

Requirements

Associate's degree from an accredited college or university in Child Welfare or a related field plus two years of relevant work experience; alternatively, 60 accredited college credit hours plus two years of relevant work experience, or 90 accredited college credit hours plus one year of relevant work experience. Experience may be substituted for education.
Knowledge of child development and family dynamics.
Effective verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and use problem-solving techniques.
Ability to operate a personal computer.
Ability to travel and attend child and family visits, appointments, and meetings, including after 5 p.m.
Ability to work irregular hours and be on call on a rotating basis.
Ability to work in an emotionally demanding environment, including home visits in isolated or high-crime areas and locations with substandard or unsanitary conditions.
Ability to assess placement needs, safety, family strengths and needs, and placement resources, and to facilitate permanency and safe care.
Skills related to separation and loss, family systems, conflict resolution and mediation, loyalty issues, reunification, and adoption.
Ability to safely operate a motor vehicle and possess a valid Texas driver's license and safe driving record.
Ability to provide own transportation and proof of current automobile insurance; must meet agency insurance underwriting standards when applicable.
Ability to transport children or conduct agency business in a personal or agency vehicle.
Reside in Guadalupe County or surrounding areas.
Ability to stoop, kneel, bend, reach, walk, and walk briskly to interact with and monitor children.
Stamina to work long days and drive long distances.
Ability to lift up to 60 pounds.
Ability to communicate verbally and in writing and remain calm and adapt in fast-paced, emotional environments involving children with moderate to severe emotional and psychological needs.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in Child Welfare or a related field.
Master's degree from an accredited college or university in Child Welfare or a related field.

Responsibilities

Manage a caseload of Permanency placements referred after children enter CPS conservatorship and out-of-home care.
Assess placement needs, child safety, family strengths and needs, and placement resources for children and caregivers.
Plan and facilitate permanency and help care providers, kinship caregivers, and adoptive resources provide safe, nurturing environments.
Maintain working relationships and coordinate services with public and private agencies involved in Permanency and Adoption services.
Conduct and coordinate assessments and ensure child and family case records are accurate, complete, and substantive.
Conduct case planning conferences at required intervals.
Prepare children and families for permanency through training, family-to-family mentoring, assessments, consultations, and home visits.
Coordinate cases whose primary goal is adoption or that involve a Permanency Round Table, including PRT requirements through agencies and the court system.
Coordinate with Care Management, Foster Care and Adoption staff, the Adoption Accelerator, the resource exchange contractor, and the Independent Living Coordinator regarding placements, adoption resources, special-needs adoption, and independent living preparation and support.
Develop targeted recruitment plans for children without adoptive resources.
Provide 24-hour on-call support and crisis intervention when required.
Meet the needs of children in kinship care and support caregivers in providing stable homes.
Coordinate timely appropriate placements with Care Management staff, adoption planning, and adoption dissolutions.
Support the Post Adoption Case Manager in arranging follow-on services after permanency is achieved.
Compile monthly statistical data and reports and submit them to appropriate agencies.
Complete documentation and prepare descriptive, analytical, and evaluative reports.
Provide training as required on the process, skills, and practice of preparing children and families for adoption.
Advocate for children's right to belong to a family and, whenever possible, preserve family-of-origin connections and support reunification with biological families.
Practice cultural sensitivity and responsiveness and demonstrate respect for cultural diversity.
Attend work regularly and perform other related duties as assigned.