Vacancy expired!
Part-time Adoption, Child & Family Specialist Job Announcement
TEXARKANA TEXAS ONLY
This is a part-time position and it is not anticipated to ever become a full-time position.
It is not a position that is compatible with having other full time employment.
ABOUT OUR ORGANIZATION
Children's Connections, Inc. is a non-profit organization, founded in 1987, that works with adoptive parents, birth parents, child care providers and other professionals to improve the quality of care for children. We provide adoption and embryo adoption, parenting support, pregnancy support services, child care nutrition services, respite care, education, and professional development, along with occasional special projects that benefit children, families and/or child care providers throughout Texas.
WORK ACTIVITIES
Working with families:
Schedule and conduct home visits in families' homes and other locations, conducting interviews in person and via telephone, email, and texts (part of most assignments)
Conduct and prepare home study, post-placement and other reports for all types of adoption, surrogacy and custody issues, utilizing formats, guidelines and required forms, writing reports and participating in the report review process, all within designated time frames (most frequent assignment)
Working with pregnant women:
Provide case management services to women and teens with high risk pregnancies, assessing needs and connecting them to community resources (can only be conducted by licensed social workers with two years experience working with pregnant women or special needs children)
Provide mentoring and support for women and teens, including those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy, educating on adoption and decision making skills for those considering adoption or selecting prospective adoptive parents (occasional cases assigned, usually for the duration of several months)
Work with pregnant birth mothers to implement placement plan for their baby or child assisting them in accessing needed resources and obtaining services, such as medical care, housing, transportation, food and other support services, as needed (occasional)
Develop and implement hospital plan, including contacting collaterals, acting as liaison to hospital staff involved with the baby and birth parents; facilitating and monitoring the contact between the birth and adoptive families during the hospital stay; and coordinating baby's release from the hospital (occasional; may require CPR and First Aid if baby is discharged to Specialist rather than adoptive parents)
Develop and implement plan for relinquishment and placement, including reviewing and executing legal paperwork with the birth and adoptive families; scheduling notary public services and witnesses, coordinating and managing the birth mother's relinquishment and placement with the adoptive parent (occasional, requires working at 48 hours after the baby's birth)
Transport the infant or child from the hospital, home or other location (rare assignments which require CPR and First Aid)
Provide grief and loss counseling and assist birthparents after placement with setting goals; making referrals to community agencies to help meet unmet needs for housing, transportation, food, education, therapeutic counseling and other support services (occasional)
Working with Family Child Care Homes, Child Care Centers, and/or Respite Care Providers (every few months)
Conduct visits in family child care homes, child care centers and/or respite care providers to observe meals, and/or activities with children, provide educational information, and complete related paperwork
Expand participation in the Nutrition Program by enrolling new family child care providers in the program by making phone calls and visiting in their homes to review all the program benefits
Increase respite care providers by recruiting individuals to apply to provide this service to families with children who have special needs.
Conducting educational and informational seminars:
Arrange and conduct educational and informational seminars for prospective genetic embryo donors, adoptive parents, parents with parenting challenges, and professionals utilizing curriculum materials provided (occasional)
Working with potential referral sources:
Make personal contacts with attorneys, clinics, hospitals and other referral sources; making media contacts; distributing posters; setting up exhibits, and other outreach activities as needed to promote the availability of services within local areas (occasional assignment, but may be done often to increase work activities in the local area)
Working with family child care homes:
In West Texas, some Adoption, Child & Family Specialists may conduct these assignments:
Conduct visits in family day homes to observe meals served to children and complete related paperwork (usually visiting each assigned home every 4 months)
Expand participation in the nutrition program by enrolling new family child care providers in the program, visiting in their homes to review all the program benefits (occasional)
Distributing posters and calling prospective day home providers about the program (occasional)
FREQUENCY OF WORK ASSIGNMENTS
All assignments are on an "as needed" basis. It is not possible to know the number of assignments that will be available each month. Work assignments are occasional in all areas of the state (unless otherwise stated above) and are more frequent for those working in more populated geographic areas. Factors that increase the frequency of work in a local are:
Successful completion of previous work assignments;
Flexible schedule that allows for scheduling visits at different times of the day or week;
Willingness to travel farther; and
Voluntarily promoting services within the local areas by making personal contacts with referral sources (information on likely referral sources and marketing materials supplied)
TIME FRAMES
At a minimum all Adoption, Child & Family Specialists must conduct work with families, pregnant women (except case management, if not qualified), and potential referral sources. Some Adoption, Child & Family Specialists may not conduct seminars or work with family child care providers. Please read below to BE SURE that you are available during the time frames required PRIOR to applying for a position.
Working with families (REQUIRED):
When initially assigned to work with an adoptive parent, appointments must be scheduled within 24 hours. Most families prefer visits that are during weekday evenings or on the weekend; however, most are available during weekdays if needed. If the family has school-age children, visits are scheduled during non-school hours. CCI Adoption Support Center staff will provide all the family's paperwork and background checks that are needed for review. Adoption, Child & Family Specialists do not collect any paperwork from families. Phone calls to collateral contacts will be needed infrequently. Written reports are usually due within 5-10 days from assignment date. However, due to the urgent needs of adoption, reports are sometimes due sooner.
Working with pregnant women (REQUIRED):
When first assigned to work with a pregnant woman, immediate phone contact (within 9 hours at most) is required. Appointments with pregnant women are usually held on weekday afternoons but may also be conducted in the evenings and on weekends. Two days following delivery are very busy with multiple contacts needed daily with the birth mother, adoptive parents and hospital staff as well as being available to the birth parents by phone during this critical time. It's usually possible to come and go. Work can carry over to a third day in rare cases. If the baby must stay in the hospital longer and adoptive parents are not available, in very rare circumstances, additional hospital visits are needed to check on and hold the baby. Women and teens placing a child for adoption are CCI's most vulnerable population and need prompt responsiveness at all times.
Conducting educational and informational seminars:
Seminars for prospective genetic embryo donors, adoptive parents and parents with parenting challenges are scheduled on weekday evenings or weekends, including Sunday afternoons. Calls to arrange locations may be needed during the weekday. Seminars for professionals are usually held during the weekday. Presenting sessions for CCI staff and contractors may be held at various times. Most children's seminars are usually conducted during the school day or after school hours (at schools or child care centers). On occasion, they are scheduled on a weekday evening or weekend (for Scout groups or other organizations).
Working with potential referral sources (REQUIRED):
Making personal contacts with potential referral sources and media contacts must usually be contacted during the work day but is done infrequently. This may also include setting up exhibits for conferences or community activities at various times.
Working with family child care homes:
Visits are usually during weekday breakfast and lunch times but once a year may be required during a weekday supper or a weekend breakfast or lunch.
PAY
Adoption, Child & Family Specialists are paid a set rate for each specific work activity. This position is paid on a contractual basis to allow greater flexibility in scheduling work. Longer work assignments, such as home studies are paid at the rate of $400-$600 per report. Shorter assignments, such as post-placement reports, HSEGH reports, Hospital plan development, and relinquishment/placement activities are paid at established flat rates. Rates for working with pregnant women are set for case management sessions, decision-making sessions, visits to help meet needs, and post-partum counseling are paid per minute based on what the funding source allows at a rate of $.50 per minute. Seminar fees are $50 and up, depending on the length of the seminar or series. Fees may vary based on the number of participants and the mode of delivery (teleconference, webinar or face to face).
REQUIREMENTS
Preference is given to candidates who have the following criteria:
Licensed social worker with two years experience in working with pregnant women or special needs children
Experience in working with a licensed child placing agency or Children's Protective Services (in any state):
Bachelor's degree with two to three years experience
Master's degree with one to two years experience
The minimum requirement for this position is a bachelor's degree in a human sciences field. Candidates without the amount of child placing experience in child placing listed above must participate in monthly supervision conferences at a minimal charge. In addition to educational and experience requirements, all candidates MUST meet the following criteria PRIOR to applying for the position, unless otherwise stated below:
Work schedule is flexible, based the on needs of pregnant women, families and potential referral services in the area, defined at a minimum as:
Ability to make phone contacts within a few hours and to make some calls during the work day,
Available several weekday afternoons or evenings, and some weekends each month, AND
At least infrequent work during the work day, defined at a minimum as:
Available for one extended client contact during each of two to three consecutive workdays days, which occurs as frequently as one to three times per year, when pregnant women deliver, and
Some work day contacts with referral sources.
Work includes visits in the clients' homes and community locations. Reliable transportation, current auto liability insurance and a good driving record are required.
Willing and able to participate in training (26 hours initially; then 20-30 hours per year) via tele-conferences, Skype video calls, webinars and, rarely, in person
Cell phone with text capability with password protection on the devise and a number that may be shared with assigned clients
Internet access to email address provided by CCI, utilizing required email closing and confidentiality statement with utilization of Outlook preferred
Computer with Word, PowerPoint and Excel (Microsoft Office Suite) with password protection on the devise and on specific documents; Printing and Scanning capabilities required
Good communication skills, being "client friendly" and being able to work well with all types of people is a must. We work with highly motivated, high functioning clients as well those with little motivation who may be low functioning
Candidates must have excellent writing skills and be able to complete detailed reports with the ability to accept and learn from editing and the review process
Certification in infant, child and adult CPR and First Aid including rescue breathing (must provide documentation of current certification within 6 weeks),
Qualified candidates must not conduct work for themselves or other agencies that would be a conflict of interest with any CCI program (if planning to resign from a conflicting position if hired, please indicate this via email when submitting a resume; copy of resignation letter will be required)
Must successfully pass criminal and child abuse/neglect background checks
Thank you for your interest in working at Children's Connections, Inc.!
We're unable to consider resumes without a current physical address, phone number, or months/years for previous employment.
Submit resumes to jobs@childrensconnections.org.
Vacancy expired!