Foster Care Licensing & Placement Specialist

About the Organization

Progressive Life Center, Inc. (PLC) provides culturally-sensitive human services to children, youth, and families in the District of Columbia, surrounding Maryland, Greater Philadelphia, and most of Delaware. PLC’s community-based services include foster care and adoption, independent living for youth aging out of foster care, family preservation, juvenile diversion, and parenting skills training. For over two decades, PLC has earned accreditation from the Council on Accreditation (COA) for excellence in service delivery and outcomes.

Program Overview

The Philadelphia NIA Foster Care & Resource Home Care programs provide general and treatment foster care services for children and youth from infancy to 21 years of age. Aligned with the goal of reunifying children with their biological parents or identifying loving, permanent homes, the program recruits, trains, and licenses new resource foster families while providing case management support to foster parents, children, youth, and biological parents.

Responsibilities

• Provide support, advocacy, and referrals to community resources for program participants.
• Maintain a caseload of 15 to 18 foster care and resource home care cases.
• Complete intake assessments for program participants upon admission.
• Review, collect, and file monthly licensing and other required documents for resource foster parents and CUA-only client files; ensure files are complete and up to date.
• Conduct monthly or as-needed in-home safety inspections.
• Submit CUA-only client documentation to the Foster Care Program Director weekly.
• Complete and submit the RPSW checklist and log weekly as a cover sheet for attached documentation.
• Begin and complete foster parent re-certification three months prior to the initial license expiration date.
• Serve as a liaison between CUA and PLC.
• Complete and submit weekly support notes for all clients to the Program Director.
• Attend and participate in weekly supervision and case conferences.
• Attend and participate in interdisciplinary team meetings.
• Complete and submit monthly support notes detailing the resource parent’s efforts in relation to placed clients.
• Complete and submit quarterly audit forms by the first week of each quarter.
• Complete 40 hours of annual training, which may be sourced outside of PLC.
• Enter and maintain accurate data in the FamCare system or other contractual databases.
• Complete new foster parent licensure within 30–60 days of assignment; newly licensed foster parents must accept a client placement to ensure licensing viability.
• Assist with placing new client placements and confirming and documenting safety when requested.
• Complete other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in psychology, social work, counseling, education, or another human service field from an accredited college or university. Master’s degree preferred.
• Minimum of four to seven years of progressive experience working with children, youth, and families in a foster care setting.
• Experience in human services, best practices, and training.
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite and databases.
• Ability to interact effectively with internal and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated enthusiasm for collaborative work.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule to accommodate participants’ needs.
• Bilingual in English and Spanish preferred.
• Certification in NTU Service Delivery Model within one year of hire.
• Certified in CPR/First Aid.
• Valid driver’s license and reliable vehicle for travel within Philadelphia and surrounding regions.

Benefits

• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Retirement fund

Physical Demands

• Ability to remain in a stationary position 50% of the time.
• Ability to move about the office to access file cabinets, office machinery, etc.
• Ability to operate office equipment such as computers, calculators, copy machines, and printers.
• Manual dexterity for using mobile devices, calculators, and keyboards.
• Ability to stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl as needed.
• Ability to navigate stairwells.
• Frequent communication with employees, customers, and clients; must be able to exchange accurate information.
• Ability to move files weighing up to 20 pounds throughout the office.
• Ability to participate in emergency drills.
• Availability for on-call duties, which may disrupt normal sleep patterns and cause fatigue.
• Ability to handle significant emotional stress, which may result in physical symptoms such as headaches or muscle fatigue.
• In cases of child relocation, may be required to assist by carrying belongings and lifting, carrying, or comforting small children.

Work Environment

Primarily a normal office or residential facility environment, with frequent local travel to visit clients in their homes, meet with service providers, or attend meetings at schools, hospitals, mental health clinics, private practices, prisons, corporations, and other public or private agencies.