Family and Resource Engagement Specialist - Oak Brook, United States - Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois

Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois
Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois
Verified Company
Oak Brook, United States

2 weeks ago

Mark Lane

Posted by:

Mark Lane

beBee recruiter
Description
Family and Resource Engagement Specialist (FRES)


REPORTS TO:
Licensing or Other Child Welfare Supervisor


STATUS:
Full Time, Non-Exempt


WHAT WE DO


Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois improves the well-being of people across the state by protecting children, strengthening families and building futures for those who have experienced trauma.

We do this as a leading provider of a variety of child welfare services.

LCFS is a welcoming organization serving children, individuals, families and communities of all faiths, races, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender expressions and gender-identifications.


WHO WE ARE

  • Champions in supporting children, youth and families throughout Illinois so they are able to reach their full potential
  • Dynamic and innovative leaders who believe in collaboration with their team of professionals and are revolutionizing the
impact on services to families

  • A community which embraces and is committed to being WIDE (welcoming, inclusive, diverse and equitable)
  • Impactors of the child welfare community by addressing institutional racism and implicit bias to increase positive outcomes for
children and families of color

  • Creators of a culture focused on supporting families and ensuring all children find safe, loving permanent homes, particularly by
reuniting them with their families


OBJECTIVES OF THE POSITION


Under the direction of IL child welfare licensed leadership, the Family and Resource Engagement Specialist is part of the child welfare team that achieves the LCFS vision for all children and families having the opportunity for safe, healthy and meaningful lives.

This role is a non-case carrying member of the team aimed at building relationships, supports, partnerships and strengths amongst youth, their identified caregivers and families for the expansion of familial/natural, informal and formal life-long supports, connections and resources.


Additional goals of the role are to ensure:

  • Successful and sustainable transitions and maintenance in the least restrictive living arrangements
  • Intensive wraparound and case coordination services for social, emotional and physical wellbeing
  • Supportive youth and family led strength building, positive development, prosocial life skill opportunities, behavior and medical
adaptability, skills & empowerment


ESSENTIAL ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES (NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST)

  • Serves as a noncase carrying member of multidisciplinary team of foster parents, birth parents, youth, supervisors, direct service child welfare professionals and other identified supports to find and facilitate connections with prior, existing, or new caregivers
  • Assist in the collection of information, service identification and resource development to support case work staff in stabilizing youth involved in the IL child welfare system
  • Utilize innovative and traditional research, investigation and general search methods to identify and locate family members and supportive connections for youth in care
  • Collaborate with the licensing and foster care team to identify/recruit potential placement options of licensed providers, relatives and fictive kin to support engaged, affirming, stable and lifelong connections, placement, stabilization and permanency
  • Support newly identified relatives and fictive kin as they develop their role in the life of a youth in the child welfare system
  • Collaborate with the licensing and foster care team for expediting and supporting the licensure process for relative caregiver resources
  • Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams and partners for continuous quality improvement, interventions, service delivery and the achievement of program outcomes
  • Participate in regular supervision, mediation, problem resolution, and crisis response by effectively responding to parent, child, provider and other stakeholder concerns and demonstrating the ability to effectively manage crisis and difficult case situations
  • Maintains knowledge of changing regulations, policies and rules from agency, DCFS, legal and accrediting bodies. Attends and participates in all required agency and DCFS training in time frame required.
  • Achieve organizational performance outcomes on Key Performance Indicators metrics/dashboard towards safety, permanency, wellbeing, and overall Agency performance outcomes
  • Exercise discretion and judgment (under supervision) in performance of duties in conformance with applicable policies, procedures, statutes, rules and regulations
  • Provides a welcoming and receptive environment to all contacts, clients, agency staff and collateral contacts. Develops understanding and continuously develops selfawareness related to diversity, inclusion and equity issues.
  • Performs other duties as required or assigned which are reasonably within the within the values, philosophy, policies procedures and scope of the duties enumerated above

KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES

  • Understanding of family centere
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