Youth & Family Specialist

Language Bank•Waltham, MA

About The Position

The Youth & Family Specialist serves in Child and Family Services, supporting youth in home-like settings and helping them achieve permanency, as well as recruiting and supporting foster families. The role may focus on youth or foster families, with each youth and foster family having a specialist. The position collaborates closely with school personnel and educational teams, child welfare staff, Family Networks lead agencies, therapists, lawyers, court personnel, the public, and internal agency partners. The specialist provides strength-based, trauma-informed support and clinical case management across multiple systems and settings. Depending on training, the role may include individual or group counseling and coaching, mediation, supervised family visits, and parent coaching. The specialist advocates for youth, coordinates health, educational, and community supports, facilitates treatment and foster care review meetings, and responds to assigned on-call crises. The position also supports foster care recruitment, screening, training, matching, and ongoing family support. It requires maintaining regulatory knowledge and complete case and foster care records, preparing assessments and home studies, service plans, progress notes and court updates, and keeping the supervisor informed of incidents or concerns. The specialist attends required meetings and completes mandatory annual training, including 20–30 hours of specialized training.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Social Work or a related field (listed for Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
Ability to work within the agency’s mission.
Possess a valid driver’s license and a good driving record.
Provide documentation of a valid driver’s license, automobile insurance, and a clear criminal record check.
Use independent, sound clinical judgment and decision-making regarding the best interests of children and families.
Work flexible hours and be available for emergency situations.
Manage client behavior effectively, foster independence, and maintain perspective and a sense of humor.
Handle people and situations with compassion, diplomacy, and tact.
Work independently by setting priorities, organizing resources, and completing tasks in a timely manner.
Work cooperatively in a team and calmly problem-solve unexpected or unpredictable circumstances.
Knowledge of federal, state, and local regulations, protocols, or procedures.
Computer skills.
Ability to travel to meet client needs.
Excellent interpersonal and written communication skills.
Use independent judgment and discretion to investigate, analyze, and draw professional conclusions.
Complete mandatory training, including 20–30 hours of specialized training each year.

Nice To Haves

Bilingual ability is preferred.
Significant experience working with children with social, emotional, or physical problems is desirable.
Mediation and conflict-resolution skills are helpful.
Word-processing and computer skills are preferred.
Openness to new ideas and a desire for professional growth.
Flexibility in thinking and scheduling.

Responsibilities

Build trusting, safe relationships with clients and encourage their personal growth.
Use a human-centered, strength-based, trauma-informed, nonjudgmental, and respectful approach with clients, families, and collaterals.
Advocate for youth to ensure equitable, quality care.
Provide clinical case management to foster children, foster families, and biological families across systems and settings.
Depending on training, provide group or individual counseling and coaching, mediation, and guidance to children and their biological or foster families.
Facilitate supervised family visits and provide parent coaching as appropriate.
Use discretion and independent judgment when assessing and making decisions in the best interests of children and families.
Perform assigned on-call duties and respond to crises independently by phone or in person, maintaining a calm, professional approach and assuring safety.
Facilitate treatment meetings and foster care reviews, invite appropriate attendees, and promote effective interagency collaboration.
Coordinate dental, medical, psychological, and community support for youth.
Ensure educational needs are met, including advocating for special education services.
Attend collateral meetings and support a team approach to serving children, youth, and families.
Support and participate in developing and implementing program-specific foster care recruitment plans in coordination with agency-wide recruitment.
Continuously recruit qualified foster homes to meet clients’ needs.
Support foster families through recruitment and training.
Participate in the matching process and prepare foster parents to work with the child or youth and family of origin.
Promote the program through community networking and positive representation to internal and external committees and government entities.
Maintain relationships with funding sources and authorities regulating foster homes or child-placing agencies.
Maintain expertise in foster-parent qualification and renewal requirements, including record checks, evaluations, and file updates.
Complete documentation required by state licensing regulations in a timely manner, including home studies, background checks, annual foster care reviews, and waivers.
Perform other related duties that support program or agency goals.
Document contacts and incidents and keep files up to date.
Develop and complete assessments, home studies, service plans, progress notes, and other required documentation.
Provide written and in-person updates to the court.
Maintain organized, current case and foster care files in accordance with contractual standards and state and federal law.
Keep the supervisor informed of incidents or concerns involving clients and foster families.
Attend weekly staff meetings and other agency-required meetings or events.
Complete mandatory training on time to meet certification standards, including 20–30 hours of specialized annual training in ethics, current practice, and service-population needs.