Family Finding Resources Specialist

WHO WE ARE :

Annually serving over 1,400 youth and families, Lawrence Hall is a community-based organization committed to helping Chicago's youth, families, and communities heal from the adverse effects of childhood trauma.

For more than 150 years, Lawrence Hall has been delivering high-quality care throughout the Chicago metropolitan area and is a statewide leader in highly effective, evidence-based, and innovative therapeutic treatment.

Their core programs-Child and Family Treatment Center, Therapeutic Day School, Creative Therapies, Foster Care, Transitional / Independent Living Program, Workforce Development, and Community Wellness-have met the changing and complex needs of youth and families by not only becoming more community based, but also by developing more preventative programs that help curb violence in Chicago's communities.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Reporting to the Licensing Supervisor, the Family Finding & Resource Specialist interviews and recruits placement resources for youth in care.

Must be comfortable in establishing rapport with families to identify family needs, supports and placement resources. Acts as a liaison to transition youth into the identified placement resources successfully.

Lawrence Hall fosters a culture built upon four core values : Respect, Empowerment, Safety, and Teamwork. These values are deeply embedded within our organization's philosophy of trauma-informed care and directly influence every position.

Must be able to effectively use both verbal and physical intervention skills with individuals (6) to twenty-one (21) years of age.

Physical intervention skills require the ability to kneel and return to standing without assistance. Flexible schedule is required as this position may work outside of normal business hours occasionally.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

Understand implicit bias and how to work within a system that impacts decisions for youth and their families when locating placement options.

Has the ability to have crucial conversations with staff and other child and family team members

• Will do extensive research, investigation, and outreach in locating absentee parents / guardians
• Identify and locate potential extended family / fictive kinship relationships
• Provides professional technical assistance and resource development support to casework staff who serve children with specialized and problematic behavior service needs
• Will assist the family caseworker with facilitating the expansion of resources needed to better serve children and their families involved in foster care
• Will drive to various locations to attend meetings, conferences, or to locate and assess family homes as needed
• Will utilize a family-centered, trauma-informed, strength-based, and EDI lens through which youth and family needs are assessed
• Have the ability to engage the youth (as age-appropriate), birth parents, family and social connections, foster parents, and staff to facilitate and support stability and permanency for the youth
• Possesses strong, creative problem-solving skills, and can use non-traditional search methods to identify and locate family members and supportive connections
• Has strong data analysis skills needed to conduct diligent search activities across multiple databases, systems, social media, and other websites.

Will complete required forms and SACWIS documentation, send written correspondence, and log / track data for use by the foster care team

• Uses ecomaps, genograms, and other tools to map and locate prospective supports and placement resources for the youth and family
• Serves as a team member within the multidisciplinary team or Child and Family Team Meeting consisting of case manager, supervisor, foster parent, birth parents and youth to facilitate connections between newly found family / fictive kin members, supports, and other collateral resources to resolve complex and stalled cases to improve permanency outcomes
• Possess the ability to identify and engage familial supports and connections including relatives and fictive kin for the purpose of life-long connections and permanency achievement
• Assist in training potential foster parents and biological parents / relatives of foster children, as assigned
• Engages in a variety of techniques to meet and communicate with potential foster parents, including attending events, networking, social media, and other strategies
• Support potential foster parents to provide information and encourage engagement through the licensing process
• Will take the lead in engaging in both proactive general and target foster family recruitment efforts for youth in the foster care system
• Targeted recruitment efforts will include specifically reaching out to potential families who are most likely to meet the needs for the specific youth, including but not limited to, attending, and participating in community events throughout the area
• Coordinates services and attends meetings with other agencies, systems, and community providers to meet the needs of the clients
• Uses active and reflective listening skills and affirmations to demonstrate respect and empathy, avoiding negative and derogatory labels that foster disrespect
• Understand that behaviors, responses, attitudes, and emotions are a collection of survival skills often developed in response to traumatic experiences
• Maintain confidentiality of employees, volunteers, and program participants to provide a safe environment
• Attend at least two trainings related to being trauma informed in a twelve-month period
• Ability to work effectively with program participants and family members, employees and vendors in a culturally diverse environment to support healing and recovery
• Maintains electronic calendar to provide accounting for daily activities and provides permissions for viewing to the appropriate individuals
• Other duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in social work or other human service field, criminal justice or communications
• Experience in investigation and person location preferred
• Strong communication skills, research skills and experience working with children and youth with special needs a plus
• Strong leadership and organizational skills
• Knowledge of childhood trauma and prior experience working in settings with youth and families that have been exposed to trauma or experiencing traumatic stress preferred
• Knowledge of youth development, adolescent issues, positive youth development / strengths-based approach preferred
• Personal vehicle or access to vehicle and proof of insurance
• Valid Illinois / Indiana / Wisconsin Driver's license
• No history of child abuse or neglect
• Ability to pass background and drug screen

Highlighted benefits

• Provides full time employees 2 times their salary in term life insurance for no additional cost
• Reimburses your gym memberships up to $20 per month to aid on your overall fitness and health
• Offers 100% match up to 3% on your retirement savings after 1 year of service
• All employees start off with an average of 17-25 days of PTO
• Employee Referral Program gives employees an opportunity to receive up to $1500 for referring candidates
• 9 paid holidays off

Frequently cited statistics show that women and underrepresented groups apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications.

Lawrence Hall encourages you to apply even if you do not meet all listed qualifications. We look forward to your application.

This position meets the FLSA requirements for Exempt

Equal Opportunity Employer M / F / D / V