Family Assessment Specialist

Starting Salary: $45,000/year

Position Summary: The Family Assessment Specialist provides care coordination for families with present danger due to mental health, behavioral health and/or substance abuse to assist, teach, and empower families in navigating the child welfare and behavioral health service system to achieve resiliency and recovery. The Family Assessment Specialist will provide community referrals, service authorizations and crisis intervention linkages to ensure family stabilization. This position also provides mentoring, support and advocacy to caregivers and children under investigation and engages, links, and monitors the family’s adherence to recommendations, including follow up for status reports with service providers. This position requires knowledge of Safety Decision Making Methodology and serve as a representative and advocate for families in a caring and respectful manner to promote engagement in services and treatment, as recommended. The Family Assessment Specialist works in partnership with DCF to link families to needed services and activities that promote recovery and resiliency based on their strengths, needs and desires while serving as a mentor or a role model of recovery and resiliency for caregivers and families.

Technical/Functional Expectations:

• 
  Educate, Supports and Guides Families- This position educates and supports families involved in the child welfare and the dependency system and guides families in navigating multiple service providers. This position assists caregivers and children in accessing community resources and navigating the system; accompany family as needed to hearings, appointments, and other recommended services.
• Creates Family Service Plans-This positions helps identify and build families’ social support, strengths, and needs while assisting families to identify and build natural supports as well as self-advocacy and self-efficacy skills. This includes helping families identify strengths and recognize successes to promote self-esteem and empowerment.
• Outreach, Family Engagement, and Intervention: This position provides outreach and family engagement of families determined to be safe that includes review and discussion of family situation and risk level, barriers, intervention, and options that would effectively lower current risk.
• Knowledge of Safety Decision Making Methodology: This position must possess strong knowledge of Safety Decision Making Methodology. This position receives referrals, assists with family engagement, and provides case consultation. This position engages in joint home visits with Child Protective Investigators when indicated.
• Intake Management and Timely Service Referrals: The Family Assessment Specialist is responsible for managing the intake of referrals and coordination of staffing with Child Protective Investigators. This position tracks the status of referrals and initiates a secondary review and staffing when indicated for families determined to be at risk.
• FSFN Documentation Case Activity: Brevard C.A.R.E.S. maintains a case record for each family served and documents all case activity into FSFN. This position ensures that case documentation complies with all legal requirements and contains information necessary to provide services. Brevard C.A.R.E.S. complies with case record guideline and best practice standards related to documentation of case elements. This position documents all telephone calls and/or visits with caregivers and families into FSFN, completes monthly status reports for each assigned family to document progress and barriers to family engagement and treatment. This position also participates in staffing’s/team meetings involving assigned families and complies with requirements for FSFN documentation based on policies and procedures including updates received via email, trainings, staff meetings, and other written communication
• Other duties as required: Performs other tasks to contribute to the team effort.

• Responsiveness: Able to take action to meet the needs of others; respond to solve problems; minimize delays or problems with little or no supervision.
• Attention to Detail: Able to be thorough and complete when working with assembling, processing, or providing detailed information; track details even when under pressure.
• Develop Relationships: Able to relate with others while building credibility and rapport; give personal support and reassurance; put others at ease; build cooperative relationships.
• Deal with Ambiguity: Able to maintain composure and handle frequent job changes or unexpected disruptions; work with conflicting, delayed, or unclear information; remain effective when faced with change and uncertainty.
• Adaptability: Able to adjust approach when dealing with arrogant or inflexible people; adapt to changes in situation, direction, or people; adjust to needs of others without losing self-esteem.
• Customer Service: Able to anticipate and respond to customer's needs, concerns, or questions to meet or exceed their expectations; help evaluate needs and options; show care and concern to demonstrate customer importance and value.
• Sensitivity: Work effectively with and show sensitivity to cultural differences and various socio-economic backgrounds of others.
• Ethics: Adhere to and model principles and values of Agency and System of Care by being strength- based, solution-focused, maintains highest level of integrity and ethical standards and work collaboratively with employees, partners, stakeholders, and clients in all interactions.

• 2 years of Child Welfare Experience: This position will act as a coordinator of services pending family needs as well as provide community linkages. Extensive knowledge of community resources is essential.
• Child Protection Certified state of Florida: This position will be co-located and work in conjunction with the Child Protective Investigators for children and families, whom are at risk for abuse, neglect, or abandonment.
• Superior verbal and written communication skills: Effective communication skills are essential to work within multiple parties, drive to consensus and support the needs of children and families.
• Clinical Oversight and Clinical Integrity: The Family Assessment Specialist is responsible for ensuring the clinical integrity of services authorized and provided to ensure that intervention matches family needs.
• Valid Driver's License-Essential: This position requires a valid Driver's License to travel within the County and for external meetings.

• BA/BS - Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent required.
• MA/MS - Psychology, Social Work or Human Services preferred.
• Minimum 2 years related experience required.
• 2 to 5 years of related experience preferred.

• Lifting 20 pounds
• 10 % Grasping
• 25 % Reaching
• 50 % Sitting
• 25 % Standing
• 10 % Stooping / Crouching
• 5 % Bending
• 30 % Reading
• 10 % Speaking
• 25 % Listening
• 10 % Typing
• 25 % Writing