Social Worker II-HFRC

The Social Worker in this position recruits, screens, trains, monitors and completes all required paperwork for licensure of families interested in fostering and/or adoption. The social worker will work with foster parents to ensure children are placed in safe, nurturing and stable homes. Provide supportive services to families such as counseling, education, referrals, and obtaining other needed services in the community. The social worker in this position will assist resource parents who adopt children placed in their home through the adoption process.  
This position exists within the Resource Family Support and Licensing Unit of the Family Services Division. The focus of foster parent services is to ensure children are placed in safe and stable foster homes on a temporary basis until a permanent plan can be achieved.  
The target population served by this position is general foster families that are providing care for children in DSS custody.Assessment

• Interviews potential resource families to determine family dynamics and observes and identifies strengths and weaknesses within the family structure.
• Observes and identifies verbal and non-verbal behavior.
• Analyzes family in relation to cultural, environmental and socio-economic situations.
• Assesses family’s problem-solving skills.
• Clarifies and interprets agency’s goals, and resource parent roles and responsibilities.
• Identifies family’s child development skills and child management strengths and needs.
• Explores previous criminal record to assist in evaluating applicants.
• Utilizes information provided by references in evaluating a family’s ability to serve as a foster/adoptive family.
• Identifies and analyzes social worker’s biases relevant to assessing family.
• Provides consultation to permanently planning social workers in selecting appropriate resource families, focusing upon the needs of children and abilities of resource families.

Counseling

• Enhances client’s problem-solving ability through use of role modeling, advising, educating and reinforcing.
• Responds to crisis by altering or redirecting inappropriate behavior.
• Analyzes situations independently and selects appropriate intervention strategy.
• Advocates for families when barriers occur within service delivery system.
• Discusses sensitive issues with families in supportive and confidential atmosphere.
• Mediates between affected parties to resolve conflicts.
• Prepares families when foster homes are to be closed.
• Prepares families for proposed changes in child’s placement and resulting separation issues.
• Documents each significant contact regarding the resource home.

Case Management

• Provides accurate information to local and state databases.
• Prepares appropriate forms for documentation as required by local, state and federal policies.
• Prioritizes case assignments and organizes tasks for effective and efficient service.
• May provide oversight and monitoring of resource families.
• Provides oversite and monitoring of up to 30 licensed resource families.

Community Liaison/Education

• Participates with other team members to develop and implement a recruitment plan for increasing the number of licensed homes in the county.
• Prepares materials about services for distribution to prospective resource parents and the public.
• Solicits sponsors in the community provide food, gifts, clothing, monetary donations and entertainment for foster children, Resource Family Appreciation and Nurturing Parenting programs.   

Monitoring

• Coordinates the bi-annual relicensing of all resource homes and prepares all appropriate forms for documentation as required by local and state policies.
• On a quarterly basis, reviews responsibilities in licensing policies with resource parents to assure that homes remain in compliance.
• Consults with appropriate service providers to ensure all inspections and required examinations have been completed.
• Revises licensing information as needed to reflect current home situations/placement recommendations.
• Advises supervisor of case status and noted barriers in recruitment or licensing.
• Documents strengths and family difficulties through case recordings.
• On a monthly basis, reviews the foster care board payment report to determine accuracy.
• On a monthly basis, reviews the “Friends of Foster Children Donation Account Report to determine accuracy.

Teaching/Training

• Twice per year provides a co-leader, 30 hours of pre-service training sessions to prospective resource families.  Topics include (but are not limited to): what is foster family care, understanding the impact of foster parenting on one’s own family, rights and responsibilities of resource parents, the foster child, natural parents, separation and loss, attachment issues, agency/resource parent teamwork, discipline, and placement.
• Individual training with prospective resource parents when needed.
• Provides or coordinates for 10 hours of in-service training on topics relevant to resource families’ care of foster children.

Other Duties

• Serves as a member of multi-disciplinary teams: Permanency Planning Review Teams, Adoption Committee and community boards.
• This position also assists in disaster relief efforts that include but are not limited to shelter duty. Assignment to emergency shelter duty during times of potentially dangerous or manmade disasters is an essential function of this position and you shall be required to fulfill these duties when instructed. Position may perform other duties as assigned by Social Work Supervisor III, Social Worker Program Administrator I, Social Work Program Manager, Director, and Deputy Director.

Bachelor's degree in social work from an appropriately accredited institution; bachelor's degree in a human services field from an appropriately accredited institution and one year of directly related experience; bachelor's degree from an appropriately accredited institution and two years directly related experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Equivalent Training and Experience: BSW degrees are preferred. Other appropriate combinations of education and experience will be considered for trainee / work-against status. Directly related experience is defined as human services experience in the areas of case management, assessment and referral, supportive counseling, intervention, psycho-social therapy and treatment planning. 

Special Requirements: G.S. 153A-94.2(b) Subject to SBI criminal history record check prior to hire.
Must possess a valid North Carolina driver's license; any restrictions on North Carolina’s driver's license must not prohibit the performance of the essential functions of the position.