Kinship Case Manager

Are you looking for a rewarding career? If you love making a difference, building relationships and being in a supportive community, we may have the perfect career for you! 

A kinship case manager plays a vital role in child welfare services, focusing on supporting children who are placed with relatives or close family friends when they cannot stay with their biological parents.

Salary: $23.07 per hour. 

This position is 20 hours per week, schedule may vary. 

Perks:

• Flexible schedule
• Casual dress code
• Qualifying Non-For-Profit for Federal Student Loan Forgiveness Program (click here to learn more: https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation)
• Take advantage of our Dental & Outpatient Mental Health services while working
• Up to $180 annual gym reimbursement
• $$ Employee referral program $$

Benefits:

• Paid Holidays
• Paid Time Off (PTO) 
• Health, dental & vision insurance options
• Paid Employer sponsored life insurance
• Supplemental insurance programs for additional life insurance, short-term disability, accident & cancer insurance
• Up to $600 every year for completing biometric health screenings on a single health insurance plan & up to $1,200 if a spouse completes too!

Responsible to: Assistant Foster Care Director

Job Summary:  
The Kinship Case Manager provides individualized, family driven case management and  clinical services to kinship caregiving families consistent with program focus and regulations. The Kinship Caregiver Program focuses on providing case management and supportive services to kinship families in order to prevent disruption of the child’s placement in the kinship home.  The program specifically serves families in both Erie and Chautauqua counties. Further, the program places emphasis on improving relationships between relative caregivers and birth parents where applicable, and decreasing kinship caregiver stress overall. For the purposes of the program, kinship families are defined as relatives or other adults with preexisting relationships, who care for children through either informal arrangements, or temporary or permanent legal custody arrangements.  The Case Manager builds strong communication and partnership with the kinship family to work towards stabilizing and strengthening the family unit. This is done through counseling, education, parenting training, assessment, advocacy, support and family engagement opportunities. 

Essential Job Duties:
1.     Develop a strong working knowledge of the roles, permanency options, needs and services for relative caregiving families. Will demonstrate strong initiative in developing this knowledge through individual research, effective partnerships with kinship caregivers, and participation in trainings on topics relevant to kinship care at the program, agency, and community levels. 
2.    Willingness to develop strong relationships, and ability to demonstrate patience, compassion, and empathy for clients.
3.    Completes all OLV Human Services (OLVHS) and Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) paperwork, both in paper and electronic formats, in a timely manner and ensures that documentation in relative caregiver records conforms to agency and State regulatory requirements.  Some examples are, but not limited to, initial intake assessments, family driven treatment plans and reviews, progress notes, and post-services follow-up. 
4.    Complies with all agency and oversight regulatory agency policies and procedures.
5.    Participates in family team conferences, case reviews and department meetings as needed.
6.    The Kinship Case Manager has on-call responsibility to provide additional support for kinship families as needed and at times may need to provide respite services for client families.
7.    Attends all mandatory in-service training and regularly attends supervision meetings. 
8.    Conducts outreach to community and agency partners to educate programs on services offered by the Kinship Caregiver Program and secure and increase client referral sources. 
9.    Provides Case Management, including but not limited to, assessment, planning, facilitation, care coordination, evaluation, advocacy, and referral for clients. 
10.    Meets with kinship families in their home and conducts initial intake interview and assessment of the family needs, coordinates enrollment, disseminates information and consents, and seeks additional information as needed to determine family goals. Is responsible to meet with and gain assessment information from each household member in the kinship family at the time of the family’s enrollment in the program. 
11.    Works with relative family to prepare family-driven treatment plans.  Reviewing the treatment plan with involved parties, to ensure understanding and compliance, upon initial development and monthly thereafter during face to face meetings. 
12.    Makes referrals for additional services as needed. These may include, but are not limited to, legal service providers, referrals for mental and physical well-being, and referrals for tangible resources (food banks, child safety equipment, etc.).  Maintains communications with service providers when appropriate.  
13.    Provides individual, group and family counseling as needed. 
14.    Meets with each assigned family monthly (or more often as needed) for face to face contacts in the kinship home or community locations, as required by program contracts. 
15.    Primary responsibility for planning and leading community education sessions, relative caregiver and child focused support groups, and family engagement activities. 
16.    Attends trainings necessary to provide approved program curriculums for group sessions (i.e. Therapeutic Crisis Intervention for Families (TCIF), Caring For Our Own, Parenting A Second Time Around (PASTA), etc.). 
17.    Conducts six month and one year follow-up with kinship families post-discharge, as required by program contract.
18.    Maintains consistent communication, via face to face, phone contact, and virtual platforms, with the family and resources for the clients 
19.    Responsible for ensuring client safety under mandated reporter standards.  
20.    Responsible for maintaining overall clinical record, both in paper and electronic formats. 
21.    May attend and participate in Education Meetings / Special Education Meetings, court hearings, or other system proceedings,  in the role of advocate,  as requested by the relative family
22.    Performs all other job-related duties as assigned by supervisor

Skills: 
•    Culturally sensitive to the needs and diversities of multi‐cultural communities. 
•    Computer skills in typing, basic computer operations, Microsoft, PowerPoint, Excel. 
•    Strong organizational and time management skills. 
•    Able to work independently, demonstrating good judgment and prioritizing. 
•    Must be accurate and detail oriented. 
•    Practices good customer service skills in all working relationships. 
•    Strong interpersonal skills, respectful, and courteous nature. 
•    Demonstrated assessment skills in identifying strengths, needs, and opportunities for clients.
•    Intermediate knowledge of child welfare regulations and regulatory agencies whenever possible. 
•    Ability to present and teach in front of a group and individual sessions.
•    Ability to establish strong interpersonal skills to foster healthy and productive relationships with clients and colleagues.
•    Good mediation/conflict resolution skills.
•    Knowledge of community resources and the ability to access specialized services to clients. 
•    Ability to advocate effectively for clients. 
•    Ability to be flexible and adapt to change. 
•    Excellent communication skills.  Must be able to work with groups and people on an individual level.  Need to be open to communicating through various mediums such as in person, e-mail, telephone, virtual platforms, etc.
•    Must be an excellent listener. 

Minimum Education Required:  
Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, Mental Health Counseling or a closely related field is required; Master’s degree preferred

Minimum Experience Required:   
A minimum of 1 year of experience working with children and families is required

License/Registration/ Certifications Required:
LMSW/LCSW/LMHC is preferred but not required.     
Valid NYS Driver’s License is required. 

Training Requirements:  
New Hire Orientation

Physical Requirements: 
The overall nature of the position is sedentary requiring little physical effort with occasional light physical exertion required. There is little, if any, exposure to environmental conditions.
•    The constant physical demands of the position are sitting. standing, walking
•    The frequent physical demands of the position are climbing, talking, hearing, repetitive motions, and eye/hand/foot coordination. 
•    The occasional physical demands of the position are lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, balancing, stooping, crouching, reaching, handling, grasping, and feeling