JOB TITLE: Family Foster Care Supervisor
DEPARTMENT: Family Foster Care
LOCATION: Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island
The Family Foster Care Supervisor provides an opportunity for experienced professionals in the field of Child Welfare to lead a unit of Youth Skill coaches and up to 4 caseworkers in providing comprehensive casework and support services for children and families involved in the foster care system. Utilizing the ChildSuccessNYC and Solution Based Casework models, the Supervisor will guide and instruct their unit in engaging with and building partnerships with each family that pragmatically focuses on the necessary skills that account for safety and restore the family’s sense of confidence and competence. Supervisor will oversee the development of specific action plans with their Caseworkers to address the relevant concerns of the families that lead to placement of the children, so that they can work together to create meaningful change so permanent solutions for children can be achieved.
Ensure compliance with all rules and regulations of the agency, NYC Children’s Services, NYS Office of Children and Family Services, and all other regulatory and accreditation bodies. Attend 20 days of training on the ChildSuccessNYC components and subsequently ensure implementation of: KEEP (Keeping Foster and Kinship Parents Supported and Trained), PTC (Parenting through Change), YDSC (Youth Development Skills Coaching), R3 Communication strategy, and Family Finding. Ensure fidelity to the Solution Based Casework model within unit. Maintain a time oriented, deadline focused approach to documentation for your unit, especially regarding progress notes within CONNECTIONS. Ability to motivate and lead unit to keep a 100% on-time rate for Permanency Hearing Reports and Family Assessment and Service Plans. Create a clear set of job expectations for all staff within the unit and hold staff accountable for those expectations. Reinforce and apply appropriate communication strategies during interactions with case planners. Conduct structured reflective supervision consistently around both issues of compliance and permanency timelines to give workers feedback, provide motivation, insight, and constructive criticism. Ability to step into difficult or hostile situations, model behaviors to handle difficult situations, and provide mediation. Attend to workers’ concerns and assist struggling workers by creating corrective action plans or other developmental plans when necessary for changes to occur. Provide overall structure and organization to unit to develop the skill set of staff, so they can create positive solutions for families. Meet regularly and collaborate with Program Director Act as an effective and professional liaison between all internal staff and external organizations. Ensure timeliness of Youth Development checklist submission for youth over the age of 17.
Ensure coordination of all specialists’ contacts into the case plan and foster good team work among case planners and specialists of other staff with whom they share a case.
Education/Degree: MSW strongly preferred. Related field may be considered
Years of Experience: Some relevant experience required
Other Skills and Requirements:
Commitment to the mission and programs of SCO Family of Services. A high level of knowledge of the field of Social Work, a strong sense of empathy towards our populations served, and a high level of passion for child welfare. Ability to handle a large volume of emails, phone calls, and written correspondence in a highly response and effective manner. Ability to work varying schedules that may cause you to work in excess of your regularly scheduled hours or weekends if necessary. Desire to work with children and families that have histories of chemical dependency, mental illness, neglect, physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse, different cultural backgrounds, and varying socioeconomics statuses. Work competently, compassionately, and without judgment with individuals who may identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, who may be in different stages of discovering or disclosing their sexual orientation or gender identity. Proactive approach towards enforcing deadlines and addressing concerns. Ability to hold staff accountable, demonstrating managerial courage, while still respecting the staffs’ knowledge, and maintaining a positive office atmosphere. Willingness to be patient and teach new workers the proper rules and protocols of the Child Welfare system. A desire to be collaborative, creative, and innovative with the unit to develop unique solutions to difficult problems. Proficient in Microsoft Word. Experience with CONNECTIONS necessary. Valid NY State Driver’s License preferred. Bilingual applicants strongly encouraged to apply.