Foster Care Specialist-Placement Team

Company Description

Amara is committed to positive long-term outcomes for children and families. We drive systemic change, promote healing, and advance racial and LGBTQIA+ equity by offering programs and services to families engaged in the child welfare system.

At Amara, we believe that a supportive, equitable and inclusive workplace, where everyone feels valued, trusted, and nurtured, is key to shaping organizational culture and investing in underrepresented communities. Amara believes that a diverse workforce and inclusive workplace enhances our ability to fulfill our mission. We strongly invite candidates from diverse backgrounds, including communities of color, the LGBTQ+ community, veterans, and people with disabilities to apply.

We are seeking to hire a Foster Care Specialist to become an integral and valued part of our Resource Care team working to achieve Amara’s vision. This Foster Care Specialist will be responsible for providing assessment, case management, and case aide coordination services to foster caregivers and children. This position will work with families from our whole service area which predominately includes families in King and Pierce counties, but may also include families in Snohomish, Island, Kitsap, and Thurston counties. While some work is done virtually, travel to Amara’s offices in Seattle and Tacoma, and family homes is also required. 

Job Description

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the following satisfactorily; other duties may be assigned. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. This summary reflects the current expectations for the role; responsibilities will shift as contractual obligations and programmatic needs evolve. 

• Provide Foster Caregiver Support Services to caseload as assigned. This includes, but is not limited to:
  • Support families in determining which children to welcome into their home
  • Complete Caregiver Support Plans with the assigned caregiver(s) for each youth placed in their care
  • Support caregiver in monitoring child’s progress toward the child’s service plan
  • Assess for the child and caregiver’s needs for additional services, resources, or community connections and coordinate referrals for those services (cultural, wellbeing, and educational)
  • Assess and support children and families in accessing necessary Case Aide Services. If caseload allows, these services may be provided by the Foster Care Specialist.
  • Ensure the physical, emotional, and social needs of foster children on your caseload are met
  • Assist caregiver and child in building/maintaining connection to their family and other important individuals in the child’s life
  • Provide caregiver with resources and skills training to increase their child-specific parenting skills (including behavior management, culturally relevant connections/practices, independent life skills, etc.)
  • Assist with creation and implementation of child-specific supervision plans as needed
• Collaborate with the Licensing and Home Study team around a family’s license maintenance. This may include completing specific licensing related tasks.
• Liaise with multiple professionals in the child welfare arena
• Participate in the facilitation of family trainings and support groups as directed
• Meet requirements for timely, accurate, and thorough documentation for case files and required reporting as directed
• Attend and participate in staff meetings, supervision, and trainings as directed
• Provide occasional on-call services as a member of the on-call team
• Provide coverage for team members at the direction of the Foster Care Placement Manager
• Flex hours to accommodate family needs on an occasional and ongoing basis (ask that staff provide at minimum one evening a week for later appointments)
• Collaborate with staff in other Amara programs as directed to ensure appropriate cross-program referrals and consistent service delivery
• Be an active participant on the Resource Care Team
• Represent Amara in community and coalition meetings, events, partner, and donor meetings as directed by Foster Care Placement Manager
• Serve on internal and external committees as assigned

Qualifications

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.

• A BSW or equivalent (social services, human services, behavioral science, or allied field) is the minimum requirement with an MSW or equivalent preferred.
• 1+ year of experience providing healing-cente