Family Specialist I

Part-time position with 6-8 hour shifts totaling 36 hours per week, Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm.

Pay

The initial compensation for this position ranges from $23 to $28.23 per hour, depending on experience, location, and internal equity considerations.

• Possible bilingual differentials: up to 7.5% for qualifying direct-service roles; up to $80.00/month flat fee for qualifying non-direct service roles.

Benefits

• Benefits eligibility starts on day one.
• Robust benefits package including medical, dental, and vision.
• 401K employer match up to 4%.
• Competitive time off plans (must meet eligibility requirements based on employment status).

About the Role

Within a team process, develops a strength-based relationship with youth and caregivers. Intervenes with maladaptive behaviors while developing the youth's strengths and interests. Responsible for linking to community resources and transferring skill sets to the caregiver. Helps to create permanent connections for youth and families. May search, locate, and engage family members for youth. Assists with transitioning kids to the lowest level of care. Works independently in the family's home and in a variety of community and/or treatment settings.

Responsibilities

• Provides direct services to youth and families.
• Provides direct billable mental health services, documents in alignment with MediCal regulations, and achieves set productivity expectations.
• Manages and builds alignment and relationships with parents, youth, and others in the normal course of working with the families.
• Utilizes strengths of youth, families, and others to assist in the implementation and achievement of goals and outcomes.
• Works with youth and family teams to support family-driven, strength-based planning and interventions.
• Understands and takes advantage of therapeutic opportunities in crisis situations.
• Conducts observations regarding specific target behavior, tracks progress, and modifies plans with the family to support their intended identified outcome.
• Assists teams in developing a hypothesis of function and underlying unmet need to develop individualized, strength-based strategies and interventions that will result in positive behavior change.
• Engages caregiver, family members, and other natural supports in building youth-specific parenting responses that support positive behavior change and overall family relationships.
• Works in the community directly with youth and families to develop and implement safety and skill refinement plans.
• Supports families in bridging to and/or building on natural resources and accessing community-based program supports that will continue support over time.
• Develops resources within the community to serve children and families.
• Assists youth and family teams to meet specific service needs (e.g., help develop strategy or resource specific to an identified need) and monitor outcomes.
• Participates in family-finding team activities by identifying family-finding need, obtaining authorizations, creating teams, conducting searches, and setting deadlines. Completes Connectedness Maps as needed.
• Documents interactions and practices and maintains administrative expectations in a timely manner.
• Meets and/or exceeds all direct service expectations and documentation requirements.
• Assists in developing program responses to needs identified across a number of youth and families where natural community resources are not available or appropriate.
• Builds on individual strengths, concerns, and needs with a balanced focus on the family as a unit.
• Facilitates and/or co-facilitates, supports, and models participation in healthy group dynamics within various settings including family homes, schools, parks and recreation centers, and treatment facilities; provides an open forum for expression of feelings and ideas when appropriate.
• Builds solid, cooperative, culturally responsive relationships with youth and families as well as community resources to assist with the planning, organizing, implementation, and evaluation of appropriate activities to achieve family-identified goals.
• Performs other responsibilities, as assigned, to support department/business needs.

Requirements

• High School Diploma or GED and one (1) or more years of relevant experience required, or equivalent combination of education and experience (two years of relevant experience equals one year of education).
• Providing direct behavioral support to individuals with mental health, developmental, or behavioral challenges.
• Demonstrated experience implementing behavior intervention plans and supporting clients with complex behavioral needs.
• Familiarity with trauma-informed care, positive behavioral support, and data collection for behavioral outcomes.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating with multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience in school-based, residential, or community mental health settings.
• Certification in CPI, PCM, or other crisis intervention models or willingness to obtain.

Skills

• Conflict Resolution
• Documents clearly and accurately
• Encouraging customer focus
• Learning on the fly
• Time management

Physical Requirements

• Must remain physically fit enough to keep children and self-safe.
• Occasionally required to stand, walk, sit, use hands to handle or feel objects, tools, or controls, reach with hands and arms, climb stairs, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl, talk or hear, taste or smell.
• Must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

Driving may be required. May have unsupervised contact with children. Requires full background check and TB exam.