Resource Parent Support Worker Supervisor

TITLE: Resource Parent Support Supervisor

DIVISION: Child Welfare & Juvenile Justice Services

UNIT: Foster Care

REPORTS TO: Director of Foster Care and Adoptions

RELATES TO: Staff, Clients, Families, Outside Agency Representatives

EMPLOYMENT STATUS: Full-time

FLSA STATUS: Exempt

SUMMARY:

The Resource Parent Support Supervisor (RPSS) is a management position within the Foster Care Department who may be responsible for resource parent support, case management, and/or intake. These responsibilities are outlined in detail below. RPSS are also required to be on call for intake and serve as back-up on-call for staff that directly manage the after hours line for resource parents. As leaders within foster care, RPSS are expected to assume other departmental related duties as required. In general, all RPSS are expected to maintain a supportive work environment by mentoring and counseling staff, reviewing worker performances, providing timely feedback and initiating corrective action when necessary; to buy-in reform efforts and communicate them effectively to your teams; to recruit and retain program staff; engage in various tasks relating to the success of placements and safety of children; to communicate with internal and external partners (including CUAs); to audit files/monitor program compliance; to develop and submit accurate reports; to develop policies and program infrastructure; to identify and implement strategies to improve program performance; and to promptly communicate and respond to requests for information from internal and external partners.

Resource Parent Support Work Primary Responsibilities

As a RPSS, you may be responsible for overseeing Resource Parent Support Workers servicing Specialized Behavioral Health (SBH) or general level homes. Your team may also include a Certification Specialist, an administrative support staff member that assist the team in ensuring timely recertification of homes. In short, your responsibilities include: (1) provide supervision to Resource Parent Support Workers, Certification Specialist (if applicable), and Case Aide (if applicable; (2) ensure that staff are engaging and providing adequate support to resource parents; (3) monitor resource parents care of children; (3) oversee resource parents’ annual re-certification process; (4) oversee provision of support and crisis management to resource parents; (5) assist with planning training and follow up services to approved resource parents; (6) ensure that state and local laws and regulations as well as contractual requirements are being met; (Other duties include, but are not limited to the following:

· Overseeing the activities of, and gives consultation and direction to, Resource Parent Support Workers (RPSW) engaged in performing a variety of supportive services to SBH and General level resource parents and the children in their care.

· Assigning cases, reviews case activities, and determining training and developmental needs of resource parents.

· Conducting home visits with staff as needed or individually to assess resource parent capacity

· Overseeing training development for resource parents

· Ensuring that home composition information and data sheets are current

· Ensuring that resource parents receive adequate support when children are placed in their homes

· Guiding RPSWs to coach resource parents on mentoring biological families and orienting themselves to reunification of children with their biological caregivers.

· Assisting RPSWs with planning and executing respite placements when needed.

· Ensuring RPSWs complete/gather all required documentation (visit notes, medication logs, medical and dental records, etc.). Checks documentation for both quality and compliance.

· Participating in teaming conferences, placement stability conferences, court hearings, and other meetings as requested and/or where in the best interest of the resource parent, child, or biological family.

· Ensuring COA’s are only issued for homes meeting the regulatory and program safe/quality requirements to service children

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Master's degree in psychology or social work or human service field, plus (4) years of case management experience working with children or adults.

- Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills.

- Valid Driver’s license

- Ability ascend flights of stairs

- Ability to speak English clearly and hear voice of conversational tones.

- Crisis de-escalation with adult care givers, children, and youth including passive physical when required.

· Three years of social work supervising experience, preferably in behavioral health or child welfare.

· Three years of direct social work experience, one of which has been at the full performance level in behavioral health or child welfare.

ESSENTIAL POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

Must demonstrate genuine empathy and concern for individuals as indicated in our corporate vision, mission, and values statements. Adhere to applicable city, county, state, and federal laws and regulations, internal and CARF standards. Must have the following:

* Free from contagious disease

* Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance

* Criminal Check Clearance

* Mental Health Assessment

* Substance Abuse Assessment

· Experience with supervisory methods and techniques in clinical social work (administrative, supportive, educational).

· Experience in establishing and maintaining a positive and productive work culture in a highly stressful field.

· Familiarity with administrative principles, policies and procedures in child welfare, as well as child welfare laws and regulations, particularly those governing resource home care in Pennsylvania.

· Thorough understanding of the functions and resources of public and private community agencies providing services to children and families, especially as it relates to behavioral health, developmental disabilities, and educational services for children in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties.

· Ability to build and maintain close working relationships with community service providers in order to expedite access to services for children needing behavioral health intervention and other supportive services.

· Ability to assess and integrate into practice planning the current social, economic, environmental and health problems affecting clients, as well as the social and environmental factors which result in the need for placement. This includes active support of cultural competence in work with children and families and necessitates understanding and teaching how factors such as race, ethnicity, culture, religion, and sexual questioning and sexual identity impact human behavior. Service planning and caregiving should be sensitive to cultural factors.

· Understanding of the range of behavioral health challenges often exhibited by children in child welfare placements, in particular trauma, severe emotional dysregulation, aggression, impulse control, impaired judgment, depression/anxiety, substance abuse, sexual acting out, stealing/delinquent behaviors, runaway behaviors, and impaired social functioning.

· Ability to de-escalate and support frustrated staff and resource parents, engage them in discussion of children’s behaviors, and effectively teach them about those behaviors and how to manage them (i.e., possible origins and purposes of the behaviors, strategies for behavior modification, identifying and avoiding behavioral triggers, crisis planning, respite and coping, etc.).

· Willingness to attend trainings and do independent research and reading on behavioral health issues affecting children in child welfare placements.

· Understanding of the principles and practices of organizational management and its applications in resolving a variety of operational and administrative problems.

· Ability to analyze and resolve complex social work situations, make sound recommendations consistent with social work principles and agency policies, and exercise judgment and discretion in applying and interpreting policies and procedures.

· Establish and maintain effective working relationships with representatives of private and public agencies, the judiciary, civic groups, associates and the general public.

· Ability to present ideas effectively, both orally and in writing.