Placement Supervisor - Long-Term Foster Care

Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains is a nonprofit, human services agency committed to community safety, support, and resiliency. Since 1948, LFSRM has provided support, guidance, and resource coordination to individuals and families, regardless of race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age through family and refugee services.

About the role

The Placement Supervisor is responsible for the certification of foster care homes and the placements of youth in foster homes. This position will provide direct supervision to the members of the case management team. Additionally, this position will be expected to provide casework and supportive services directly to a small caseload. This position will be required to maintain communication with stakeholders in an effective and timely manner to ensure case continuity. The Placement Supervisor is required to maintain a flexible, organized, and efficient work schedule and is subject to work extended hours and weekends.

The Long-Term Foster Care (LTFC) program at Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains (LFSRM) provides care and support to youth from other countries, who are here on their own, as they wait for their immigration case to be resolved so they can transition to a more long-term program or living arrangement. The youth are placed with licensed foster families and attend public school while they are in the program, allowing them to have more normalized experiences in a family-based environment.

Responsibilities

• Oversees the study of potential foster families using the SAFE tool to determine the character and suitability of the applicants, appropriateness of the home and child care practices; assists with home study preparation.
• Reviews and signs home assessments including updates, renewals, and addenda; issue certificates; and post-placement reports.
• Oversees appropriate medical services for the children placed in care.
• Provides and documents monthly supervision of placement workers to review all home studies in process, certifications in renewal status, and current placement activity.
• Assesses potential placements based on information provided by counties and other referral agencies.
• Accompanies placement workers to pre-placement and placement visits between foster families and children, when possible.
• Conducts file reviews of foster parents and foster children as scheduled.
• Trains new employees on the placement of children, monthly paperwork, and job duties.
• Provides crisis intervention when needed.
• Supports the recruitment, retention, and training of foster parents, as needed.
• Performs the job duties of a case manager when carrying a caseload.
• May participate in on-call rotation.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in the social or behavioral sciences and three (3) years of full-time child placement experience or Master's degree and one (1) year full-time experience in adoption or foster care and child placement.
• Possess certification in the SAFE assessment tool and SAFE supervisor certification, or the ability to become certified within 3 months of hire.
• Meets regulatory requirements for Placement Supervisor per state regulations for Child Placement Agencies.
• Must maintain a valid driver's license and carry personal auto liability insurance at the level of $100,000/300,000/100,000.
• Frequent local/regional travel. May be required to transport clients in personal vehicle.
• Due to contract requirements, staff in this Long-Term Foster Care Program who work directly with youth must present proof of immunization or immunity (within 120 days of hire) to the following diseases: Varicella, MMR, Tdap, and annual Influenza; or an approved exemption from Human Resources.

Skills

Occupational Competencies

• Familiarity with social work practice, human development, child welfare system, and family systems, including appropriate local, state, and federal regulatory rules.
• Familiarity with assessment, care planning, facilitation, coordination, and advocating for supports on behalf of and in collaboration with an individual.
• Experience with crisis management, problem-solving, and mediation best practices.
• Familiarity with the legal system as it applies to child welfare.
• Skills and sensitivity in working with youth and families from a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds with a variety of challenges.
• Ability to communicate professionally and cooperate with members of other professions involved with the youth.

Foundational Competencies

• Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
• Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.

Bilingual English and Spanish strongly preferred.

Reasonable Accommodations

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed in this job description 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.