Foster Care Worker - Burke County

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from an appropriately accredited institution; bachelor’s degree in a human services field from an appropriately accredited institution and one year of directly related experience; bachelor’s degree from an appropriately accredited institution and two years of directly related experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience. (Social Worker II)

Responsible to: Director of Foster Care and Adoptions

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Maintain a personal, active relationship with Jesus Christ and be a strong Christian witness in all interactions with youth, staff, donors, volunteers, and the general public so as to uphold Black Mountain Home’s mission of Glorifying God by caring for children and families.
• Commit to pray regularly for the youth, staff, and ministry.
• Work with Director of Foster Care and Adoptions to screen and facilitate foster care admissions.
• Serve on the Foster Care after-hours and weekend on-call rotation for support and guidance to foster children and foster families for behavioral incidents, mental health crises or medical emergencies involving foster youth or the foster family.
• Provide after-hours assistance for foster parents and agencies for after-hours placement when on-call.
• Complete 24 hours of training annually to meet licensing requirements (hours will include state-required Foster Care personnel training) and maintain certification in the NC DSS foster care personnel training pertinent to your assigned role.
• Represent the Home in professional community groups and help to increase the awareness of Black Mountain Home for Children and our need for Christ-centered foster families.
• Attend weekly staff meetings which include participation in a time of Christian devotion and prayer.
• Work with the team to conduct home-finding for children referred for placement to identify the best foster parent(s) to meet needs.
• Share responsibility with the Foster Care team for recruitment of resource parents, pre-and in-service training, and retention of foster parents.
• Network with other agencies to stay current and knowledgeable regarding resources and culturally relevant services in our area that support foster children and foster families.
• Problem-solve as needed.
• Other projects as requested.

For Foster Care Workers assigned foster youth case management responsibilities only:

• Provide intake and casework services for up to 15 children. This includes planning and coordinating the services and resources needed to support the child(ren) in placement (physical, mental and behavioral health) and their respective case plans.
• Complete required casework documentation in a timely manner.
• Assist with transportation for family visitation as needed when foster parents are unable to transport foster youth.
• Visit each assigned foster child at least one time each month but more frequently as necessary to support the case plan. Consult by phone as often as necessary to address new issues and facilitate designated tasks in the Case Plan and Person-Centered Plan (if applicable) to meet the needs of the child and foster family.

For Foster Care Workers assigned Foster Home licensing responsibilities only:

• Provide or co-lead pre-service training to potential foster parents. (This requires certification in TIPS-MAPP and PS-Deciding Together). Provide or co-lead training as needed to ensure that foster parents receive required in-service training. Alert foster parents of training opportunities in the community and online.
• Take on a percentage of families from pre-service training and work with them, in a timely manner, to complete a foster home license with Black Mountain Home.
• Maintain and complete all required documentation for the initial licensing and subsequent re-licensure of all assigned parents/families up to a caseload of 32.
• Provide opportunities for training hours for the foster families and attend foster parent support chats.
• Partner with the assigned BMH caseworker to provide support to the foster parents as back up for transportation and attending meetings.
• Provide licensing oversight to assigned families, including on-going foster home and vehicle safety assessment, completion of quarterly reviews and license updates as needed. Maintain all additionally required documentation for assigned foster home files.

For Foster Care Workers assigned a dual role of foster youth case management and foster home licensing responsibilities:

• Complete the combined duties of case management and family licensing work as necessary to meet the needs and requirements of the assigned dual role caseload.
• Serve no more than 10 children and 10 foster families.