Join our team at FSS and enjoy comprehensive benefits including but not limited to:

• Tuition Reimbursement: Earn up to $5,250 per qualifying year to invest in your education.
• Health Insurance: Choose from three comprehensive Florida Blue health insurance plans to keep you and your family covered.
• Dental Plan: Enjoy an employer-paid dental plan for our valued employees.
• Life Insurance: Your peace of mind matters to us. We provide employer-paid life insurance.
• Well-Being Program: Stay healthy and engaged with our highly interactive well-being program.
• Paid Time Off (PTO): Relax and recharge with our generous PTO plan. You can even earn three additional days per plan year!
• Bereavement Leave: We offer 3 paid days of bereavement leave annually to ease the burden during a family member's passing.
• Paid Holidays: Enjoy the 12 holidays without the worry of receiving a paycheck (to include 1 floating holiday) and unwind with family and friends to celebrate and rejuvenate!
• 401k Plan with Matching: Secure your financial future with our 401k plan and employer matching.
• Additional Benefits: Explore our range of benefits, including Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Vision Plan, Short & Long-Term Disability coverage, Employee Discounts, and more.

The mission of Family Support Services is to be the leader in providing safety, stability, and quality of life for all children by working with the community to strengthen the family unit.

Job Summary:

Provide Adoption Support Services to direct case management in order to facilitate the successful adoption of eligible children in DCF care.

Essential Functions:

• Participate in staff development opportunities and maintains child welfare certification through on-going training.
• Finalize a minimum requirement of adoptions set each fiscal year for children who are available for adoption.
• Register eligible children on the Adoption Exchange within 30 days of termination of parental rights and update as necessary.
• Provide information to the Revenue Maximization unit for Title IV-E and Medicaid Eligibility.
• Coordinate fingerprinting and criminal and CSA/FAHIS background checks on potential adoptive families in accordance with the requirements and timeframes outlined in F.A.C. 65C-16.
• Complete Preliminary and the final investigative adoptive home studies for non-relatives placements, relative placements, and foster home placements on jurisdictional and non-jurisdictional cases.
• Complete and organize all documents required for the maintenance adoption subsidy file.
• Perform a comprehensive child study within ninety 90 days of intake for each child referred.
• Coordinate associated legal services necessary for the adoption of eligible children to occur.
• Complete Adoption Assistance Agreement, Memo of Agreement and Consent for Adoption forms.
• Monitor post-placement supervision provided by case manager, and assist in deciding whether to continue supervision period or issue consent to adopt.
• Analyze demographic data of the waiting children and plans community awareness events to increase knowledge of the needs of children waiting for adoption. Works with community partners to locate forever families for children with unidentified families.
• Plan activities designed for targeted recruitment of potential adoptive parents for identified children.
• Assist in facilitating mandated informational/orientation meetings which must be held at a minimum of every three months and ensure that videos and photos of the waiting children are presented.
• Assist in the development of the annual recruitment plan mandated by law that must be representative of the needs of waiting children, Administrative Code 65C-16.004.
• Assist in developing child-specific recruitment plans for waiting children with an emphasis on the children who have been waiting longer than 6 months post termination of parental rights. Facilitate staffing for the longest waiting children to identify permanency for children in care.
• Assist in the preparation and presentation of unidentified children by facilitating bi-monthly staffing with each Adoptive Family Recruiter and Wendys Wonderful Kids. The staffing would include, but not limited to information regarding Independent Living staffing outcomes to assess appropriate goal status, monitor photo listings, videotaping and coordination of recruitment events.
• Ensure videos and photos of all current waiting children are presented during Professional Parenting Training classes and during appropriate community events.
• Monitor progress toward adoption for children registered on the statewide exchange. Add children to the regional and national exchanges.
• Assist in adoption process overview training to case managers, if needed.
• Provide technical adoption assistance to staff during the permanency planning process.
• Communicate on at least a bi-monthly basis with the ECA case manager and/or case manager supervisor to assess progress towards adoption and provide status updates.
• Attend Judicial Reviews, Case Management Conference Hearings and any other court hearings for children who have a goal of adoption when issues arise or as needed.
• Staff cases at least quarterly with the supervisor or designee to satisfy Adoption Rule 65C-16.
• Develop and complete any assessments/reports on the progress of the adoption process.
• Accurately complete case notes on a continual basis which are factual, up to date and descriptive. All case notes are entered into FSFN according to Department Policy and Administrative Code.
• Track the process of the termination of parental rights cases to determine children that are in identified placements.
• Establish and maintain relationship with children and families including awareness of and attention to achievement of permanency, satisfaction with services, and overall safety of children.
• Review and assess the adoptive family's progress made toward achieving the case plan goal of adoption.
• Attend individual staffings.
• Complete enhanced subsidy requests, sibling separation staffing referrals and adoption applicant review referrals.
• Negotiate subsidy agreements with adoptive parents.
• Other Duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education:

Bachelors Degree, from an accredited College or University, in a human services related field is required.

Experience:

Six months minimum experience working in Child Welfare and provisionally certified through the Florida Certification Board. Adoption and recruitment/experience, preferred.

Licensure, Certification, and/or Registration:

Valid driver’s license and provisionally certified through the Florida Certification Board.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The qualifications listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Ability to:

• Represent self and the organization in a professional manner
• Work independently with little direct supervision
• Think and write creatively
• Assess a situation and make appropriate recommendations/ decisions
• Research, organize and analyze data
• Solve problems and to think through critical, time sensitive issues
• Establish and maintain relationships
• Work collaboratively with staff at all levels in the organization
• Follow through on commitments, projects and responsibilities
• Read, research and interpret documents such as newspapers, contracts, manuals, journals, financial reports, etc.
• Communicate effectively through writing including articles, presentations, speeches, reports, correspondence, and documentation.
• Speak effectively before small and large groups.
• Calculate figures and amounts.
• Maintain confidential information

Skills:

• Strong Written and Verbal Communication
• Strong follow-up and follow through
• Strong organizational and time management
• Proficiency in Excel and Microsoft Word.

Other Requirements:

• Clear a Level II background screening.
• Clear a reference check.
• Clear a local background check from the County in which you reside.
• Clear a substance abuse screen.
• Provide a copy of all degrees prior to your first day of employment.
• Clear a Motor Vehicles Records check and must be insurable under the company’s automobile policy.
• Provide copy of automobile insurance.
• Provide proof of and maintain a minimum personal auto liability insurance level $100,000/$300,000 if deemed to be a driving risk.
• Clear an E-Verify check to substantiate that the successful candidate meets the Department of Homeland Security authorization requirements to work in the United States (for more information visit www.dhs.gov/e-verify).

Family Support Services team members follow 5 core values:

Partnership: At FSS, a belief that we are better together is core to who we are. Partnership is an essential component of a healthy system of care. Our team is committed to a respectful, open-minded, collaborative approach to co-creating solutions with the community. This extends to the children and families we serve as well.

Excellence:FSS challenges ourselves to always strive for better on behalf of those we serve. We foster innovative practices, encourage continuous quality improvement, and engage in strategic planning with our partners to achieve the highest possible outcomes for children, families, and the community.

Accountability: FSS recognizes our leadership role within the system of care and strives to be accountable to the community by being trustworthy partners. FSS is committed to ethical and transparent practices, and to operate with integrity as we pursue positive outcomes.

Compassion:We recognize that we often meet families at their most challenging moment and people are more than the sum of their circumstances. We provide trauma-sensitive care for the children and families in our system to reach their full potential. We embrace a service leadership approach and commit to finding the strengths in everyone we encounter while we foster resiliency.

Equity: Equity goes beyond the fair treatment of all people. For FSS, equity is the commitment to recognize the social justice issues intrinsic to our work with marginalized communities. We strive to amplify the voices of individuals and families impacted by poverty, racism, and discrimination in any form. We obligate ourselves to a belief that none of these factors should be a predictor of child welfare involvement or outcomes.

FSS is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information. FSS is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. If you require a reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to Human Resources at c6.hr@fssnf.org.