Description
The Child & Family Services Division (CFSD) of the Department of Human Services (DHS) is seeking a Human Services Clinician III (Kinship Coordinator) to develop and implement policy and practice around kinship care. The Coordinator position functions as a lowerlevel management role and provides meaningful opportunities for leadership development. The KC takes the lead in identifying potential kinship caregivers, assessing their viability as a placement resource, educating them about the foster parent licensing process, assessing immediate needs and providing technical advice to workers about kinship caregiver issues. The Kinship Coordinator considers cultural and racial dynamics; clinical issues related to kinship care and provides ongoing support to caregivers after placement.
The Kinship Coordinator also manages the sending and receiving of requests for kin approvals through the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children (ICPC). This position will supervise and support the Outreach and Recruitment Specialist position to develop and manage recruitment and retention strategies for both foster parents and kin caregivers. The Kinship Coordinator mobilizes community partners along with the Outreach and Recruitment Specialist to achieve monthly, quarterly and annual recruitment and retention goals.
Arlington County DHS is committed to delivering client services in an effective, equitable, respectful, and trauma-informed manner. Our staff is dedicated to ensuring our clients are approached, engaged and cared for in ways that demonstrate competency, sensitivity and awareness of factors which impact the client experience including but not limited to: cultural identity, gender, racial, and ethnic diversity, religious/spiritual ascription, physical capability, cognitive and literacy levels, sexual orientation, and linguistic needs.
Responsibilities
Responsibilities include:
Conducting family finding searches for youth at-risk of entering foster care or in foster care by using family interviews, web searches, and social networking sites and notifying relatives when children are placed in foster care and follows up with potential support;
Completing assessments with potential kinship caregivers to confirm their willingness and ability to assist families involved with Child Welfare to include ICPC referrals;
Providing technical expertise to staff and relatives about the custody/foster care process; answering questions necessary for the family to determine their level of involvement;
Facilitating the licensing process for kin caregivers within the timeframe granted through the VDSS waiver and coordinating collection of licensing documents for family members pursuing foster care certification;
Facilitating kin specific training (NTDC) required for foster care certification;
Representing Arlington County at the Regional Kinship Committee meetings and linking kin caregivers to services and supports in the community to include childcare, food banks, public benefits, mental health services, and other concrete supports;
Participating in Family Partnership Meetings, case consultations, treatment team meetings, and court hearings as technical expert on kinship care;
Conducting monthly support group for kinship caregivers and creating monthly segment in foster parent newsletter specifically for kin caregivers;
Collecting data to track the progress of the program, including referrals, outreach, placement with relatives/fictive kin, and achieving permanency;
Developing monthly, quarterly, and annual recruitment and retention goals for foster parents and kin caregivers;
Managing existing, and developing new, community partner relationships to encourage recruitment and retention support; and
Providing resources and support at community outreach events.
Requirements
Minimums:
Master’s Degree in Social Work, Counseling, Psychology, or other directly related clinical discipline, all of which required a clinical practicum involving diagnostic, treatment, and case management services.
Three years of post-Master's Degree experience providing professional clinical social work services, which included the application of diagnostic, treatment, and case management services. The above experience must include at least one year in skill in group facilitation and working with the court system.
Substitution: A directly related higher level degree as described above and experience providing social services to children in the welfare system may substitute for the education requirement.
Desirables: Preference may be given to candidates with experience in one or more of the following:
Providing direct services to children and families involved with child welfare;
Bilingual (English/Spanish); and/or
Supporting and promoting an inclusive and diverse environment.
Special Requirements
A pre-employment criminal records check will be conducted. It may include checks of the following: criminal record, driving record, education, professional licensure, and credit history. You may be required to sign a release authorizing the County to obtain your background information.
State of Virginia Child Welfare and Neglect Central Registry check will be required.
The applicant must possess, or obtain by the time of employment, a valid driver's license, and provide a copy of or allow Arlington County to obtain a copy of the driving record. Any offer of employment may be contingent upon a favorable review of the applicant's driving record.
Employment restrictions: To ensure that dual relationships are avoided and that employees who are also clients do not relate to their service provider as co-professionals, employees will not be hired by the County to provide or support services to the team or program in which they are current clients:
You cannot concurrently receive behavioral health services from Arlington County Community Service Board (CSB) programs while employed in an Arlington County CSB program (except for Crisis Intervention services).
At least 24 months must have passed between receipt of CSB services from Arlington County and employment in an Arlington County CSB program.
