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Family Specialist

  • LOCATION:   South Bend/Elkhart, IN
  • DEPARTMENT:   Family Services
  • REPORTS TO:   Regional Manager and Clinical Supervisor
  • EMPLOYMENT STATUS:   Full-time/Regular/Exempt
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Job Summary

The Family Specialist is knowledgeable and experienced in regards to the application of appropriate social work skills and principles. The Family Specialist demonstrates the ability to exercise independent judgment and function as a team member in the professional treatment effort as it applies to each child/family on the assigned caseload.  The Family Specialist must be equipped to identify the needs of the children and families in their care, and to address those needs through the application of various components of all of the Josiah White’s Family Services care models.  This position may serve in foster care and/or family preservation programming.  This position requires an overarching understanding of the entire continuum of services available for families, children, and the referring agencies. Must successfully complete provided training in evidence based models of family treatment upon hire. The individual must demonstrate sensitivity to our service population’s cultural and socioeconomic characteristics and needs.

Qualifications

  • A Christian with strong convictions who is also in agreement with Josiah White’s mission statement, Statement of Faith, and Code of Conduct.
  • Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Psychology, Counseling, Sociology, Human/Social Services, Human Development and Life Studies, Family and Consumer Sciences or Child Development and three years of experience in community-based support services or a Bachelor’s degree in any degree type with five years of relevant experience in community-based support services.
  • Must have a valid driver’s license with no restrictions that would limit the ability to perform job functions.

Primary Responsibilities

Case Management

  • Under the periodic guidance of the Clinical Supervisor, develop a clinical conceptualization for each assigned case in collaboration with the treatment team
  • Attend and represent Josiah White’s at review hearings and child and family team meetings; provide objective recommendations to the court and the team
  • Develop individualized treatment plans for each assigned child/family in consultation with the placing agency worker, program manager, and program supervisor
  • Pursue case goals using a variety of resources, including community supports, resource family life, supplemental counseling, psychiatric services, and therapeutic activities
  • Regularly evaluate child and family progress and participate in periodic case reviews with the treatment team
  • Advocate for the needs and best interests of the child and family by identifying service gaps and locating appropriate community resources
  • Maintain accurate and timely documentation in compliance with accreditation and Department of Child Services standards, including treatment plans, progress reports, closing summaries, case notes, and outcome measures
  • Maintain consistent communication with placing agency workers to provide updates on family and child progress, including significant developments or crises

Foster Care Services

  • Build and maintain positive, supportive, and encouraging working relationships with resource families
  • Provide observation and constructive feedback to resource families in their efforts to apply therapeutic practices with children in their care, utilizing training in the evidence-based Teaching Family Model
  • Attend resource family trainings and assist in co-facilitating training sessions and/or activities for children
  • Support older youth in accessing entitlements and other collateral resources necessary for their development and transition
  • Collaborate with referring agency staff, therapists, and other service providers to prepare each foster child for their identified permanency goal in a developmentally appropriate manner
  • Enhance foster child functioning through assessment, basic counseling, psychoeducation, and skills training
  • Prepare older youth for self-sufficiency by facilitating experiential learning activities and life skills development
  • Build working relationships with biological parents, when reunification is the case plan, by encouraging and facilitating regular, appropriate communication
  • Identify and engage informal support systems to help sustain progress after Josiah White’s services have concluded
  • Facilitate training on topics related to the treatment and care of children, as appropriate

Family Preservation Services

  • Build and maintain positive, supportive, and encouraging relationships with families of origin
  • Provide skills training to assist clients in areas such as parenting, addiction recovery, budgeting, time management, meal planning, housekeeping, and accessing community resources
  • Collaborate with the treatment team in the overall assessment and service planning for referred families
  • Formally assess families using approved instruments when appropriate to identify strengths and areas of need
  • Serve as a resource coordinator to help families meet critical needs, which may include transporting families to resources or delivering resources directly
  • Provide mentoring and education on topics such as nurturing and parenting skills, problem-solving and conflict resolution, child development, and building self-esteem
  • Identify and engage informal support systems to help families maintain progress after Josiah White’s services conclude

Agency Support and Enhancement

  • Construct and maintain a collaborative working relationship with placing agency workers through regular, consistent communication regarding case plan progress
  • Serve as a positive liaison between Josiah White’s, placing agencies, and other community stakeholders by effectively communicating Josiah White’s mission, vision, and values

Professional Development

  • Participate in Clinical Supervision on a regular basis
  • Complete assigned reading to enhance relevant skills and professional abilities
  • Attend workshops and other opportunities for continued professional growth
  • Take part in periodic field observations conducted by the Clinical Supervisor or Designee
  • Analyze and apply performance feedback received through the Coaching Review process

Skills, Supervision,

- Knowledge, and Ability

  1. The Family Specialist must be an individual with a Christian and professional commitment to work with children and youth of all ages, their families, the referring agency, community professionals, and the Josiah White's Family Services’ treatment team
  2. Must demonstrate initiative and the ability to complete work assignments with moderate to minimal direct supervision
  3. Must be dependable, well-organized, and an effective time manager
  4. Must clearly, concisely, and professionally communicate ideas through good verbal and writing skills
  5. Must understand and demonstrate basic counseling/helping skills
  6. Must maintain professional boundaries and confidentiality
  7. Must personably, genuinely, empathetically, and emotionally communicate and interact with foster children, resource families, birth families, other professionals, and placing agency workers
  8. Must be a team player who enjoys working closely with other staff members and to be flexible, adaptive, and positive in his/her actions
  9. Must be a positive role model for the children and youth assigned
  10. Must maintain appropriate hygiene and attire
  11. Must be committed to the Mission, Core Values, and Vision of Josiah White's

Physical Demands of the Position

  • Must be able to drive long distances for foster home visitation, court hearings, visitation, etc.
  • Must be able to handle the challenge of prioritizing multiple roles and responsibilities, attend to crises and other unplanned events with minimal to moderate direct supervision, and meet regular deadlines for required documentation

Working Conditions

  • Office hours are 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday
  • Travel, supervised visitation, home visits, and other tasks will regularly extend beyond these office hours.
  • The Family Specialist will be expected to respond to child and family crises when available.  Their cell phone number will be given to staff and to resource families to use as needed. The Family Specialist is required to participate in an on-call rotation.

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Statement of Faith

Hello prospective employee! Josiah White's exists to offer hope and transformation through Christ to children and families. As members of a Christian organization, each employee must recognize that living a life in accordance with the standards presented in the Statement of Faith found below is necessary as it serves to unify us as a Community of Believers set out on the same path. Therefore, all individuals who are interested in applying to work at Josiah White’s must first agree with and abide by White’s Statement of Faith

The Statement of Faith is as Follows…

Remaining true to our Quaker heritage and Josiah White’s vision, White’s Residential and Family Services’ primary reason for existence is to offer hope and transformation to children and families through Christ. As such, we have firm beliefs about the Christian faith and how we must act in accordance with our beliefs.

This statement of faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe. White’s Residential & Family Services’ board of directors serves as White’s highest, human interpretive authority on the Bible’s meaning and application for the purposes of our agency’s faith and beliefs, practice, policy and discipline at work.

We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God (II Timothy 3:15).

We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (John 10:30).

We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ (John 10:33), in His virgin birth (Luke 1:35), in His sinless life (Hebrews 4:15), in His miracles (John 2:11), in His atoning death through His shed blood (Ephesians 1:7), in His bodily resurrection (John 11:25), in His ascension to the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19), and in His personal return in power and glory (Revelation 19:11).

We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful man, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential (John 3:16-19).

We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christ-follower is enabled to live a Godly life (Romans 8:13-14).

We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost, that they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation (John 5:28-29).

We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus (Galatians 3:26-28).

We believe that children are a heritage from God and a blessing from His hand. We are therefore accountable to Him for raising, shaping and preparing them for a life of service to His Kingdom and to humanity. We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life (Ps 139).

We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female, and that these two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God (Genesis 1:27, Genesis 2:24).

We believe that God created marriage to be exclusively the union of one man and one woman, and that intimate sexual activity is to occur exclusively within that union. We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture (Genesis 2:18-25).

As Christians living out our faith, it is unsurprising that our beliefs influence our behavior, attitudes and lifestyle choices. As Christian professionals, we will not compromise our commitment to our professional code of ethics while providing superior care to our clients who possess differing values or beliefs.

I affirm that I am a Christian, I have read and agree with White’s Residential and Family Services’ Statement of Faith, and I agree to make lifestyle choices that are consistent with White’s Residential and Family Services’ Statement of Faith. I understand that my employment at White’s is contingent upon me living a lifestyle that is consistent with this Statement of Faith.

Code of Conduct

As a distinctly Christian ministry, for over 165 years our mission has been to enrich the lives of children and families through emotional healing, personal development and spiritual growth. We are best able to achieve this through Christian staff who constantly strive to demonstrate the love of Christ through their actions, words and overall lifestyle.

It then follows that all employees who serve as members of Josiah White’s community agree to uphold certain foundational standards through their behaviors, attitudes and lifestyle choices at work and in their personal lives. Living in accordance with these standards shall serve to unify us as a “community of believers.” As a member of White’s “community,” we believe employees should strive to live in harmony with the following foundational standards as evidence of their life committed to growth in Christ and sound judgment based on Christian principles:

We believe as followers of Jesus Christ, we are responsible for our faith journey and strive to pursue a life of service to Jesus Christ in our personal life and while at work. We believe the investment in our spiritual life is critical and we strive to make time regularly for prayer and communion with God. Opportunities for Christian fellowship, worship, learning, and celebration while at work are opportunities not to be overlooked, but to be sought out as ways in which we can demonstrate our commitment to growing in our faith as part of the White’s Community.

We believe every human life is of inestimable worth and significance in all its dimensions. Therefore, we must seek ways to act out of love and respect for each other, encouraging and building up one another, not causing one another to stumble. We believe that to achieve this, employees must practice a lifestyle that demonstrates purity to those around them (Romans 13-14 & I Corinthians 10:31-11:1).

We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31). Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture.

We believe there is great power in the spoken word and therefore all lying, profanity, gossip, obscenity, and other negative uses of language diminishes our work with the children, families and our coworkers.

We believe employees must demonstrate a teachable spirit, an ability to share love for others, a willingness to live contentedly under authority, and a commitment to follow the Matthew 18 principal when an issue arises with fellow employees or management.

We believe in the power of our example and that our minds and bodies should be used in God-honoring ways, living our lives as Christian role models and conducting ourselves in a way that will not raise questions regarding our Christian testimonies. Because our example is powerful and because most of our service population is impacted by some form of substance abuse, we especially recognize the dangers and negative implications of drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse among staff. Therefore, we seek to minimize or refrain from the use of alcohol and tobacco and we agree to completely abstain from the illicit or non-medical use of drugs, narcotics and other harmful substances. When an employee is representing White’s or is in the course of representing White’s business, he or she is expected to refrain from the use of alcohol and tobacco.

We believe our life serves as a Christian Witness to the children and families we serve and our commitment to expressing Christian values is critical even when making entertainment and recreational choices outside of work. Therefore, we actively avoid forms of leisure, entertainment and recreation that are incompatible with holy living and seek activities that are consistent with our pursuit of Christ- like living.

We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God (Genesis 1:26-27). We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture (Genesis 2:18-25). We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other (1Corinthians 6:18; 7:2-5; Hebrew 13:4).

We further believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful (Matt 15:18-20; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10) and that activities that give the appearance of sexual immorality should be avoided by staff.

We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ (Acts 3:19-21; Romans 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of White’s Residential & Family Services as the local Body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role model to the White’s Residential & Family Services clients, fellow staff members and the community, it is imperative that all persons employed by White’s Residential & Family Services in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, agree to and abide by this Statement (Mathew 5:16; Philippians 2:14-16; I Thessalonians 5:22).

I affirm that I am a Christian, I have read and agree with White’s Residential and Family Services’ Code of Conduct, and I agree to make lifestyle choices that are consistent with White’s Residential and Family Services’ Code of Conduct. I understand that my employment at White’s is contingent upon me living a lifestyle that is consistent with this Code of Conduct.

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