Licensing and Caregiver Support Specialist

Description

As a Licensing and Caregiver Support Specialist, you will work with other dedicated professionals who share your passion for helping individuals in need. We offer: 

• Opportunities to work with a mission focused organization and servant leader culture

• Unique rewards that come from seeing children improve and flourish in stable environments. 

• Salary for the Licensing and Caregiver Support Specialist position starts as high as $51,000 annually
• Excellent benefits including low-cost, high-coverage health insurance, generous time-off, and competitive retirement, to name a few

Communities Connected for Kids (CCKids) provides community-based services for children and families in the child welfare system, to ensure a community without abuse, neglect or abandonment. Based out of Port St. Lucie, FL, this position is responsible for serving as the agency liaison to foster parents, relative/non-relative caregivers, fictive kin, and case management. Additional responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Review foster care initial and re-licenses for compliance with FL statute, administrative code, DCF operating procedure, and submit attestation paperwork timely to the DCF SE region.
• Serve as back up to the licensing coordinators as needed which may include writing home studies, performing required licensing home visits, and/or completing other licensing requirements.
• Serve as the agency liaison for local and statewide recruitment initiatives, FFIC, All Pro Dad, etc.;
• Serve as the agency liaison among foster parents, child placing agencies, and case management staff;
• Serve as the agency liaison to foster parents to ensure population needs are met;
• Serve as the liaison to the Treasure Coast Foster Parent Associations, Florida Foster Parent Association and the National Foster Parent Association;
• Serve as the Quality Parenting Initiative Liaison;
• Serve as the Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP)/Extension of Guardianship Assistance Program (EGAP) Liaison;
• Participate in institutional staffings in partnership with the FL Department of Children and Families;
• Coordinate and provide ongoing in-service training for licensed foster parents;
• Assist in resolving foster care, questions, complaints, grievances, and board payment issues;
• Provide staff training and community outreach as requested or required;
• Complete reports and data tracking spreadsheets as requested;
• Participate in the quality improvement process and accreditation process; and
• Perform other duties as assigned.

#sponsored

Qualifications

Education: 

• Required: Bachelor's Degree in Social Work or Human Services related field. Florida Certification Board (FCB) Child Welfare Certification.

Experience: 

• Required:  A minimum of 3 years of professionally related post-degree experience, including experience with foster care, licensing, and dependency case management.  Must be able to work flexible hours that may include evenings and weekends.
• Preferred:  Ability to navigate the Florida Safe Families Network (FSFN).  Bilingual (English/Spanish) proficiency both written and spoken.

Company Overview

About Communities Connected for Kids

Communities Connected for Kids provides oversight and coordination of the child-welfare system in Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties. At any given time, there are about 1,300 abused, abandoned or neglected children in our care. We are responsible for the safety and well-being of each one of them. We meet this responsibility through a mix of direct and contracted services. If you think about it in terms of building a house, we are the general contractor of the child-welfare system. The system is the house, we are the contractor, and our network of service providers are the subcontractors we pull together to make the house strong and ready to live in.

Who We Serve

Communities Connected for Kids offers a full range of care for children, adolescents, young adults and family members in Okeechobee and the Treasure Coast. We offer our services through a wide variety of approaches including in-home parenting and prevention services, family preservation, case management, residential programs and extended foster care services for teenagers and young adults.

In the tradition of true partnership, Communities Connected for Kids works closely with several agencies that are funded through Medicaid, substance abuse/mental health or private funds to offer a continuum of treatment services otherwise unfunded by Community Based Care dollars. These partnerships help families strengthen their capacity to care for their children or help children heal from trauma they’ve experienced.

Mission

Our mission is to enhance the safety, permanency and well-being of all children in Okeechobee and the Treasure Coast through a community network of family support services.

Values

Communities Connected for Kids values are:

We are accountable to the children and families we serve and to the communities in which we live.  We ensure services provided are:

• Individualized, based on the strengths and needs of the families we serve
• Respectful and culturally sensitive
• Effective and accountable
• Evidence based and data driven
• Permanency focused
• Ensure financial and human resources are managed and maximized 

Our Vision

We envision a community without abuse, neglect and abandonment so all children grow to their full potential.