AAP PARENT PARTNER

South Coast Community Services takes pride in providing competitive compensation, opportunities for professional growth, access to diverse client populations, clinical autonomy, and a strong support system of seasoned employees.

About the role

The Parent Partner serves as a mentor to parents and caregivers, offering guidance, empathy, and hope grounded in their own lived experiences. As a Wraparound team member, the Parent Partner builds trusting, peer-to-peer relationships with parents and caregivers, helping them navigate complex systems, prepare for team meetings, strengthen family bonds, and find sustainable support. Through weekly meetings and participation in Wraparound and Child and Family Team meetings, the Parent Partner helps parents/caregivers build confidence, reframe challenges, and actively engage in each Wraparound phase. Their role ensures the parent/caregiver’s voice, values, and priorities are elevated across the four phases of Wraparound.

The Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) serves adopted children/youth and their families through a collaborative, highly individualized process to develop specific resources and services. The goal is to utilize an adoption-competent, strength-based approach to maximize each family’s capacity to meet the child’s needs and maintain permanency outcomes and well-being. AAP uses the CA High-Fidelity Wraparound (HFW) model, a team-based, evidence-based practice with an “anything necessary” approach to care for youth and families with intensive mental or behavioral health challenges.

Responsibilities

• Actively participate in the engagement process by providing reassurance that the family’s circumstances and challenges will be handled confidentially.
• Listen with empathy and without judgment to identify needs, strengths, and key supports.
• Help orient parents and family members to the Wraparound process, using lived experience to guide them through system structures, identify barriers, and assist in removing obstacles to success.
• Address parents’ needs through empathetic communication, ensuring they feel supported, empowered, and equipped to advocate for themselves while being connected to meaningful resources.
• Support parents in understanding the importance of involving and connecting with extended family and other supportive individuals to build permanent, lasting relationships and prepare for life beyond formal services.
• Provide opportunities for parents to prepare before meetings and decision-making sessions so they can confidently advocate for themselves and their families.
• Ensure parents have the opportunity to share their perspectives during meetings and that their voices, cultures, and preferences are respected and reflected in plans and strategies developed to support positive change.
• Share observations and feedback when practices do not reflect fidelity to the core Wraparound principles and values (team-based, strengths-based, outcome-focused, persistent, and needs-driven).
• Provide direct services to support the implementation of Child and Family Team (CFT) plan strategies and offer assistance during crisis situations as needed.
• Support the development of effective parenting and self-care skills through one-on-one meetings and group sessions, sharing insights from lived experience.
• Advocate within organizations and systems to ensure policies and practices respect and honor the voice, vision, and lived experience of families as experts in their own lives and equal partners in their care.
• Participate in evaluations, quality improvement activities, and ongoing training in alignment with Wraparound standards and best practices.

Requirements

• High school diploma or GED.
• Writing skills adequate to complete documentation as required.
• Lived experience as the parent/caregiver of an adopted youth, preferred.
• Personal experience navigating the child welfare system, juvenile justice system, educational system, or mental health system for oneself or in a caregiver/parent capacity.
• Personal or professional experience accessing community resources.
• Valid CA driver’s license and proof of automobile insurance.
• Completion of CPR/First Aid/ProACT certification within the first thirty (30) days of employment.

Skills

• Service Delivery: Ability to identify and recommend appropriate service types aligned with client needs while staying within professional role boundaries. Requires understanding of available services and matching them to client needs and preferences.
• Crisis Intervention and Safety Planning: Handle crisis situations effectively, including suicidal ideation, self-harm, and acute psychiatric symptoms, by adhering to safety protocols and accessing appropriate resources. Participate in implementing safety plans in collaboration with clients, support systems, and the treatment team.
• Productivity & Service Billing: Ability to meet program productivity expectations on a monthly basis.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to drive a motor vehicle without restrictions, often in heavy traffic and for long distances (one hour or more) to transport clients to appointments as needed.
• Senses of vision, hearing, and smell sufficient to operate a motor vehicle safely, visualize environmental threats or risks to clients, and ensure safety in the field.
• Occasionally lift and carry 10-20 pounds.
• Regularly required to sit, stand, climb stairs (1 or more flights), and walk during family visits.
• Regularly required to sit and use a computer in office settings.

Pay

$22.00 - $26.00 per hour