Specialized Foster Care Case Manager

JOB DESCRIPTION Specialized Foster Care Case Manager Foster Care Status: EXEMPT (salaried) Full-time Hours worked (typical): 40 Remote Work: Allowed (work arrangement can change depending on performance and/or needs of Caritas). EEO Classification: Professionals Job Tasks Typically: Unstructured - worker will be allowed to determine/plan the order of tasks, priorities, and goals. Description of Typical Work Schedule: Schedule varies as they may be required to work evenings and weekends to attend meetings or to be on call in case of emergencies. They may also be required to work extended hours to complete paperwork or to meet deadlines. (Hours set based on necessity of department or office.)   PURPOSE: The Specialized Foster Care Case Manager will collaborate with DCFS, youth, birth families, foster parents, and other identified supports to facilitate the achievement of permanency for specialized youth in care. Specialized Foster Care Case Managers will visit with members of the child and family team as required and work to identify any barriers to permanency and help secure supports and services to overcome identified barriers. REPORTING STRUCTURE: Refer to the updated organizational chart for reporting structure and responsiblities. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

• Provides case management services to children and families in foster care
• Maintains and monitors youth in care placements to ensure safety, permanency, and well-being objectives are met as well as compliance with contract/program plan requirements.
• Maintains current and accurate documentation of contact notes, case notes, and client records.
• Coordinates and provides linkage to appropriate agency and community resources necessary for effective, efficient achievement of the permanency goal by established timeframe.
• Establishes a therapeutic alliance and engage families, caregivers, and other service providers in the treatment process.
• Maintains effective, consistent contact with therapists, attorneys, CASA, and/or any other community service providers, which includes facilitating and attending Child and Family Team meetings.
• Prepares for and actively participate in all required meetings with DCFS
• Attends and testifies in court hearings, as necessary
• Meets with foster parents, birth parents, and youth monthly as required by policy, at minimum.
• Develops & maintains service plan outcomes and interventions in correlation with the recommendations of the integrated assessment, needs of the family and youth, and timely permanency achievement, as well as family progress in reunification efforts.
• Develops and maintains specialized treatment plans that addresses youth strengths, needs, promotes placement stability, minimizes youth’s special needs, and adequately supports the caregiver.
• Collaborate with licensing department on implementation/completion of specialized foster parent training.
• Partners with Licensing Specialist to ensure professional collaboration with foster parents
• Maintains communication with Foster Care Case Assistant to ensure an appropriate visitation plan for the family and youth.
• Participates in on-call system and schedule, as necessary
• Attends and participates in supervision to ensure monthly supervision occurs on all cases with assigned Foster Care Supervisor
• Completes all Caritas paperwork and complies with program expectations as related to the position
• Identifies learning needs to develop and actualize educational and/or professional development goals.
• Willingness to travel as this position requires frequent travel and vehicle use; follows agency and state guidelines regarding driving, rules of the road, and safety.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements 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. EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE REQUIRED/PREFERRED Degree/Field Required: Bachelor's Degree or Masters Degree in Social Work (Related fields will be considered.) Degree/Field Preferred: Bachelor's Degree in Social Work or in Human Services (Related fields will be considered.) Additional Fields of Knowledge Important for the Role: Administrative — Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology. Law and Government — Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process. Psychology — Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders. Sociology and Anthropology — Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins. Therapy and Counseling — Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance. . Experience Required: Minimum of 2 years child Welfare experience or Masters Degree in social work or related field. Licenses/Certifications Required: Child Welfare Employee License Licenses/Certifications Preferred: Child Welfare Employee License SKILLS REQUIRED Manager-specific: N/A Basic: Active Learning — Understand the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making. Active Listening — Give full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. Critical Thinking — Use logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems. Learning Strategies — Select and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things. Monitoring — Monitor/Assess performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action. Reading Comprehension — Understand written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. Speaking — Talk to others to convey information effectively. Writing — Communicate effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience. Language — Able to read and write in English. Social: Coordination — Adjust actions in relation to others' actions. Instructing — Teach others how to do something. Negotiation — Bring others together and trying to reconcile differences. Persuasion — Persuade others to change their minds or behavior. Service Orientation — Look for ways to help people. Social Perceptiveness — Be aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do. Problem Solving/Decision-making: Complex Problem Solving — Identify complex problems and review related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions. Time pressure decision-making — Make decisions without much analysis or time to consider alternatives. Time pressure planning — Plan and be responsible for regularly meeting strict deadlines. Judgment and Decision Making — Consider the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one ensuring that decisions made have an impact on others, the image/reputation of Caritas, and/or the financial resources. Systems Analysis — Determine how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes. Systems Evaluation — Identify measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system. Resource Management: N/A Technical: N/A Trauma-informed: Must display a willingness to adopt trauma informed interventions, principles, and practices as well as commitment to ongoing development of their capacity for application of trauma informed care. Realizes the prevalence of trauma among persons served by Caritas and the general population. Recognizes how trauma affects everyone involved-including clients, their families, staff, and community; and impacts behaviors. Responds to trauma by actively implementing the guiding principles of trauma informed care into their daily practice. Resists re-traumatization of persons served and staff providing services, by creating safe, welcoming, and supportive environments. Proficient Computer Skills In: Outlook, Word, Database Management Software Expert Computer Skills In: Outlook, Word, Database Management Software MENTAL EFFORT/COGNITIVE ABILITIES REQUIRED: Concentration/intensity — Focus on higher order mental functions at average to high intensity when performing the majority of job tasks. Have limited opportunities for breaks. Deductive Reasoning — Apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense. Fluency of Ideas — Come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity). Inductive Reasoning — Combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events). Information Ordering — Arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations). Memory — Remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures. Performance of job tasks rely on memorization of tasks or sequences of events. Consider amount and type of information. Oral Comprehension — Listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. Oral Expression — Communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. Perceptual Speed — Quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object. Problem Sensitivity — Tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem. Selective Attention — Concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted. Speed of Closure — Quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns. Written Comprehension — Read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. Written Expression — Communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand. PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: Light work. Exert up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects. If the use of arm and/or leg controls requires exertion of forces greater than that for sedentary work and the worker sits most of the time, the job is rated for light work. PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES REQUIRED: Reaching — Extend hand(s) and arm(s) in any direction. Fingering/Grasping — Pick, pinch, type or otherwise work, primarily with fingers rather than with the whole hand as in handling. Applying pressure to an object with the fingers and palm. Feeling — Perceive attributes of objects, such as size, shape, temperature or texture by touching with skin, particularly that of fingertips. Standing — Particularly for sustained periods of time. Walking — Move about on foot to accomplish tasks, particularly for long distances or moving from one work site to another. Sitting — Particularly for sustained periods of time. Speech Clarity/Talking — Express or exchange ideas by means of the spoken word. Those activities in which they must convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly. Includes the ability to understand the speech of another person. Hearing — Perceive the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction. Ability to receive detailed information through oral communication, and to make the discriminations in sound. Repetitive motion — Substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers. Coordination, including eye/hand, hand/feet. VISUAL ACUITY: The worker is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: analyzing data; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; visual inspections; inspect machines. WORK CONTEXT/ENVIRONMENT: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Subject to environmental conditions. Protection from weather conditions but not necessarily from temperature changes.Subject to an environment working in a vehicle. Other PPE Required: N/A VEHICLE RELATED REQUIREMENTS: Access to reliable transportation to get to/from work: Required. Access to a reliable automobile: Required. Must provide proof of auto liability insurance (and continue to while working in this position): Required. Must possess a valid driver's license: Required.