Benefits:

401(k)

Dental insurance

Health insurance

Paid time off

Signing bonus

Wellness resources

Hybrid Position. Portland, Oregon, based with in-person community and locally remote work.

Youth Progress seeks a collaborative and engaging Certification and Engagement Specialist to join our team. At Youth Progress we recruit, certify, and train therapeutic foster parents who serve youth in the juvenile justice and/or foster care systems who need a higher level of care. Therapeutic foster parents are highly skilled, highly trained, and receive extra support and resources from program staff to ensure an exemplary level of care for our clients. The person in this position will assist with building out our array of therapeutic foster homes. This includes interviewing and supporting prospective proctor/foster parents through the certification process, as well as developing and implementing retention strategies.

I) Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Certified Perspective P/F

•Successfully execute SAFE Home Study Model in certification of all new Proctor Homes.

Complete all documentation required for certification of new Proctor Homes and

re-certification of existing Proctor Homes, and ensure compliance with all state guidelines.

Foster Home Retention:

•Be readily available to meet with and receive calls from foster parents on an as-needed basis.

•Coordinate with the treatment team to ensure strong communication is happening, make home visits, and provide coaching on how to support youth in foster homes on a monthly basis.

•Partner with foster parents to create and enhance the community amongst the foster parents.

Coordination & Communication:

•Create strong relationships with the community, our foster parents, and our program staff.

•Learn the culture of each home to ensure that the needs of each new client match the skills of the foster parents.

•Meet with new foster parents to support their transition into providing foster care and also support existing foster parents as new issues arise.

•Ensure we are consistently conducting outreach, community engagement, and other recruitment efforts to ensure a steady stream of new foster parents while also helping to mitigate potential issues with existing foster parents through regularly scheduled check-ins, home visits, and community-building events.

• Monthly site visits to foster homes for check-in and assessment ongoing

Documentation & Evaluation:

•Complete required documentation & communication in an efficient manner.

•Manage many concurrent tasks at different stages of completion in a manner that ensures their timely completion.

•Communicate clearly and professionally. Complete monthly status reports.

II) Position Requirements

Desired Expertise:

• Bachelor or Associate degree in a related field or a combination of education and experience sufficient to meet expectations. Impeccable integrity, positive attitude, mission-driven, and self-directed with demonstrated passion for Youth Progress' mission and commitment to working collaboratively with a team of professionals.

•Ability to thrive as a team player and communicate effectively with peers, young people, proctor parents, and other associates within a collegial yet demanding work environment.

•Ability to handle a variety of constituencies, manage multiple tasks simultaneously, and thrive in a complex environment with multiple priorities

• Prior experience working with Proctor or Foster Parents is helpful.

•Experience assisting Proctor/Foster Parents in completing the required training as necessary.

•Experience providing services to young people involved in the juvenile justice and foster care systems.

•Experience in direct services, case management, counseling, family support etc.

•Strong network and community connections.

Required:

•Ability to pass an extensive state background check and driving certification.

•Current driver's license.

•Commitment to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion at the individual, organizational, and systems level.

Ill) Position & Environment Details

•Full Time, Hourly

•On-Call: No

•Hours: Typically 9-5, M-F. Some evenings and weekends as needed.

•Co-workers: The person in this position will report to our FAMConnect Certification and Engagement Supervisor and also work closely with the Foster Parent Recruiter and Coach, as well as the Program Managers and the Director of Programs, to ensure our foster parents get the support and resources needed to be effective. As an agency, we're creative, open-minded, and bustling. We're often busy but never too busy to help brainstorm a complicated problem or share a word of support.

•Day to day: No two days are exactly alike. There is a great opportunity to build upon our current systems and processes to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the role. The job is office-based and also includes travel throughout our community. If you think critically and creatively and like having full & varied days, this position could be a great fit.