St. Jerome | Lead Foster Home Development Specialist

at  Catholic Charities Of The Archdiocese

Catholic Charities is looking for the right people;people who wish to serve their community as a part of a family friendly organization doing good within the Houston-Galveston area. We attract and retain the best talent by investing in our employees. People of all faiths helping people in need.
Lead Foster Home Development Specialist is responsible for the supervision of Family Home Developer(s) and will ensure compliance with Department of Family and Protective Services Minimum Standards for Child Placing Agencies. The successful candidate will also be tasked with developing and implementing a comprehensive recruitment plan approved by SJEHC Program Director and United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), designed to increase the capacity of foster families who provide a safe and nurturing home environment for minors in URM foster care. The successful candidate will oversee curriculum, and facilitate training program for, potential foster parents through PRIDE and pre-service trainings. Lead Foster Home Development Specialist will also oversee curriculum, and facilitate training program for, current foster parents.

The Expertise Were Looking For

• Bachelors Degree in Social Work or other human service field of study
• One (1) year of experience in a leadership role

TheSkills and AssetsYou Bring, and More

• You have experience in setting goals for performance and deadlines in ways that comply with company’s plans and vision.
• You have experience in organizing workflow and ensuring that employees understand their duties or delegated tasks.
• You have experience with supervising and monitoring employee productivity and providing constructive feedback and coaching.
• You have marketing and/or communication experience and knowledge.
• You have experience in communications, advertising, marketing and/or recruitment specializing in various cultural and ethnic groups in the community.
• You have the ability to communicate the mission, vision, and values of the agency as it relates to foster parenting refugee minors.
• You have the experience working with immigration related agencies and system.
• You have the knowledge of child development, grief and loss, attachment and bonding, family dynamics, behavior management, parenting education and techniques, various cultural beliefs, practices and traditions and foster care.
• You have good organizational, communication and planning skills with the ability to coordinate a variety of activities.
• You have the knowledge of social work principles and ethics.
• You have the ability to handle and maintain confidential information.
• You have the ability to work independently and manage time efficiently.
• You must be willing to work evenings and weekends to meet family schedule and training needs.

What you Deliver

• You will oversee the licensing process including documentation, foster parent annual training, home studies, etc. to ensure effective and efficient system. Develop and oversee a system to monitor foster parent annual training requirements and compliance. Oversee the foster parent files system to ensure compliance with licensing. Responsible for the coordination, updating and training of URM Parent Resource Information and Development Education (PRIDE) curriculum and other orientation topics ensuring all foster parents are meeting competency-based criteria. Provide on-going up-dates to materials to better meet the foster parents’ needs. Responsible for assigning home studies to self and FHD. Develop and implement system that provides licensing compliance information to case manager as it pertains to foster home licensing (training hours, compliance issues, and up-coming licensing visits.). Serve as coordinator and member of foster home approval committee. Accompany FHD on random quarterly and annual licensing visits to homes. Provide guidance to FHD on interpretation of licensing documentation. Responsible for maintaining costs within designated budget. Responsible for the collection, organization, and interpretation of key data points to manage department. Foster
• You will develop, schedule, coordinate and conduct PRIDE, pre-service, in-service and program trainings, and complete foster home studies to certify homes for child placement. Conduct quarterly home visits and revalidation studies on licensed foster homes to ensure continued compliance with standards for child placement. Work with agency Senior Management, Program Director, Quality Assurance Director and/ or licensing representative to investigate reports of abuse /neglect of children to assess current or future risk to children by interviewing parents, family members, and others, interviewing and examining children; assessing home environment; and gathering pertinent information from other sources. Provide consultation to program staff on licensing and contract related issues. Responsible for ensuring the required data entry is completed in a timely manner into designated data system. Communicate foster parent achievements, improvements, or concerns to designated case managers. Develop and implement system that provides licensing compliance information to case managers as it pertains to foster home licensing (training hours, compliance issues, upcoming licensing visits). Promote and demonstrate appreciate respect for cultural diversity among coworkers and all work related contacts. Must be able to work on a flexible and non-traditional schedule as needed to meet work, program, and project deadlines. Responsibleto attend individual and/or group supervision with team at a frequency indicated by direct supervisor. Assist with training for other program staff when appropriate. Oversee the licensing process including documentation, foster parent annual training, home studies, etc. to ensure effective and efficient system. Monitor a small profile of foster homes for compliancy with minimum standards. Conduct revalidation reports every two years on homes monitored. Provide consultation to program staff on licensing and contract related issues. Oversee the foster parent file system to ensure compliance with licensing. Communicate foster parent achievements, improvements or concerns to designated case manager. Provide consultation on issues related to program and agency policy and procedures to ensure compliance. Responsible for ensuring the required data entry is completed in a timely manner into designated state system, ETO, etc. Participate in licensing process including receiving documentation, pre-service training; participate in home studies, etc. to ensure effective and efficient system. Provide consultation to program staff on licensing- and contract-related issues. Collect and report key data points monthly to track families throughout the licensing process. Assess data for any patterns, trends and make recommendations as identified. Ensure that forms utilized are relevant and current.
• You will be responsible for the development of marketing strategies to implement an effective foster family recruitment plan and to achieve targeted recruitment goals. Responsible for development of recruitment plan focusing on the specific needs of children served (teenagers, foster family demographics, language, multi-cultural, etc.). Responsible for the preparation of recruitment materials. Oversees the data entry of recruitment information into agency’s ETO database and recruitment matrix. Assist in the development of policies and procedures related to the recruitment of foster families. Implement recruitment strategies which will include public outreach, speaking engagements, etc. Responsible for the tracking and reporting of recruitment performance data monthly. Assess and report on on-going basis any patterns or trends and make recommendations as identified. Serve on internal and external meetings relating to foster recruitment. Meet quarterly recruitment goals.
• You will attend designated ISP meetings when applicable.
• You will be responsible for knowing the minimum standard licensing guidelines. Be knowledgeable and follow all required agency, licensing and contract reporting guidelines as outlined. Maintains foster parent records to meet CQI, COA, USCCB, ORR and minimum standards, ensuring appropriate documentation in all identified licensing and agency related areas. Attend and participate in relevant foster parent meetings, if applicable. Responsible for knowing the minimum standard licensing guidelines. Be knowledgeable and follow all required agency, licensing and contract reporting guidelines as outlined. Attend and participate in relevant foster parent association meetings, if applicable.
• You will be responsible for developing and implementing trainings for development of staff and foster parents as necessary. Develop and oversee a system to monitor foster parent annual training requirements and compliance. Provide on-going post URM Pride training to foster parents (in home) per case manager including annual required training (psych meds, behavior management, etc.). Responsible for developing and implementing trainings for development of staff, prospective and current foster parents. Developing, scheduling, and coordinating foster
• You will be assisting in the development and coordination of program and foster home activities to include Family Picnics, Appreciation Dinner, and Christmas Party, National Foster Care and Adoption Month activities, newsletter. Manage and oversee the URM foster parent website (timeline TBA).
• You will perform other duties as required such as staff planning days, UW tours, agency fairs, speaking engagement, agency activities, disaster response, etc.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Catholic Charities is an equal opportunity employer. We actively foster an environment that is free of racism, discrimination, bias, and harassment where all individuals are treated with dignity, safety, and respect. Successful applicant must comply with federal contractor vaccine mandate requirements.
The work you do will help us advocate for the vulnerable among us, a network of support services to people of all ages and from all walks of life and religious backgrounds

Please refer the Job description for details