Family Services Specialist II - Resource Development #JR-00687

Virginia Beach Department of Human Services is seeking candidates for the position of Human Services Family Services Specialist II in the Resource Development Unit.

About the role

This position is primarily responsible for providing the recruitment, preparation and assessment of families seeking to become licensed foster/resource parents with the agency.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Placement Resource Recruiter with planning, organizing, and participating in community outreach and marketing activities designed to promote fostering children that are in temporary custody of the VBDHS.
• Participate with scheduling and coordinating recruitment events in places such as church functions, PTA, malls, festivals, online etc.
• Answer incoming recruitment calls from the public.
• Document names and addresses on call log, send referral emails to applicants inviting them to initial information sessions.
• Schedule and complete in-home consultations with potential resource applicants prior to invitation to training class.
• Co-facilitate pre-training information sessions (orientation) and co-facilitate National Training and Development Curriculum (NTDC) for Foster and Adoptive Parents.
• Assess applicants throughout the training and write their Mutual Family Assessment.
• Assist with conducting Permanency Assessment Tools (PAT) assessments for potential kinship and fictive kinship foster parents.
• Assist with planning and implementing resource parent retention activities to include participation in in-service training.
• Assist in planning, scheduling and conducting retention activities to strengthen the relationships between resource parent providers and family services specialists.
• Facilitate communication with resource parents in offering supports needed for their successful transition into resource parenting.
• Provide documentation of conversations in OASIS and follow up with Resource Home Human Services Supervisor.
• Assist permanency Family Services Specialist as needed.
• Assist unit placement coordinator with placement of children entering foster care.
• Continue to support newly approved resource parents through weekly check-ins, offering additional training as needed.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a human services field (social work, counseling, gerontology, guidance and counseling, family and child development, psychology, or sociology) and three (3) years of experience in a human services field; or a Bachelor’s degree in any field accompanied by a minimum of five (5) years of related experience in a human services area.
• Two (2) years of experience in Child Welfare.
• Current and valid driver’s license.
• DMV Transcript: Yes
• CPS Check: Yes

All employees may be expected to work hours in excess of their normally scheduled hours in response to short-term department needs and/or City-wide emergencies.

Benefits

• Health, dental, and life insurance
• Retirement and savings plans
• Maternity/paternity and parental leave
• Paid holidays and paid leave

Pay

A $3,000 hiring bonus is being offered for this position, distributed as follows:

• $500 awarded in the first paycheck.
• $1,000 awarded upon completion of the six (6) month interim performance evaluation with an overall rating of “Meets Expectations”.
• $1,500 awarded upon completion of the employee’s one (1) year probationary period and a performance evaluation with an overall rating of “Meets Expectations”.