Family Specialist

Under the Supervision of the High-Fidelity Program Manager the Family Specialist is responsible for providing direct one-on-one behavioral interventions to assist a child/youth in eliminating destructive activities, minimizing impulsivity, and to promote pro-social functioning. The Family Specialist provides a positive role-model and assists in development of necessary daily living skills and competencies that are required to successfully live in the community. The Family Specialist will work directly with the children and families in the home, community, or wherever is most convenient for the family. The Family Specialist will work towards achieving a positive relationship between family members and maintaining a permanent and successful placement in the home. Supports parents/caregivers in building skills to prevent and respond to crisis escalation, with access to support 24/7 in most cases.

Requirements:

• Must be able to pass California State Department of Justice criminal background investigation, Live Scan and/or fingerprinting.
• Must have a valid California Driver's license and the availability of a car with adequate insurance is required, and must be maintained throughout employment. Additional regulatory, contractual, or local requirements may apply.

Education:

• Bachelor's Degree in Social Work, Psychology or other Human Services related fields.

Experience:

• Must have at least one-year experience providing mental health and social services with seriously emotionally disturbed youth and their families.
• Bilingual-English/Spanish preferred, but not a requirement.

Special Skills and Knowledge:

• All direct service personnel will be expected to maintain a flexible schedule (which will not be traditional 9-5) and must be available to provide services in the community/in-home service as designated by the people who will be served within the High-Fidelity Wraparound program.
• Engages with individuals and families in a culturally responsive way, acknowledging diversity and actively addressing bias to support equitable outcomes.
• Ability to communicate well verbally, articulate and implement High Fidelity Wraparound services and treatment model.
• Excellent written and verbal skills.
• Basic computer skills and literacy are required to use the agency electronic health record. Staff must be able to logon, type, use a mouse and negotiate through various screens or windows to complete daily chart documentation and chart supervision requirements.
• Ability to respond quickly, effectively and with equanimity to member crises and life situations.
• Knowledge of mentally ill child and youth populations, targeted case management and psychiatric rehabilitation.
• Attend intra /inter agency meetings and trainings as such as the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)

Duties:

• Meets weekly with supervisor and keeps supervisor informed of all aspects of the SCHARP High Fidelity Wraparound Team clients in a timely manner.
• The Family Specialist will provide behavioral interventions for children/youth. Honor and prioritize the child/youth's voice, choice, and preferences throughout the four High Fidelity Wraparound process.
• Provide systems-oriented interventions for child/youth families, foster families, or support Systems intervention may include collaboration with other members of the High-Fidelity Wraparound team assisting in establishment of effective familial boundaries, assisting in linkage to community-oriented services.
• Explore the patterns surrounding behaviors-including triggers, responses, and outcomes-to better understand what needs the child or youth may be expressing.
• Identify what leads to and follows behaviors in order to understand what the child or youth is communicating or trying to achieve.
• Empower the youth to actively engage in the Child and Family Team Meeting (CFT) CFT process by helping them identify priorities ahead of time and providing support throughout the meeting. Family Specialists participate in all Child/Family Team (CFT} meetings to develop creative and personalized supports that reflect the child and family's strengths, preferences, and cultural identity while meeting their needs.
• Build respectful and supportive relationships with the child/youth and their support system to help achieve their vision for the future.
• Empower caregivers to recognize what their child/youth is communicating through behavior and to use new strategies that support more effective listening and need-based responses.
• Empower the family to strengthen connections in their home and community by developing skills that support healthy emotional expression and constructive reactions.
• Work as a part of the High Fidelity Wraparound Team to facilitate implementation of the child/family Plan of care (POC), and Safety plans according to DCFS standards.
• Availability in crisis situations. On call responsibilities Crisis on call duty.
• Must demonstrate ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary Work as a team with DMH, DCFS, Department of Probation, psychiatrists and other interagency and intra-agency staff to provide consistent services.
• Family Specialist attends and participates in all pertinent SCHARP, DCFS, DMH and Department of Probation meetings for each client.
• Documenting all services to be billed to LAC-DMH and services to be attributed to LAC-DCFS. Service codes and time billed. Documentation is to be completed and submitted in a timely manner. Must adhere to SCHARP documentation policy.
• Involve child/ youth and their families in all aspects of the services they receive as partners, providing them with choices and with opportunities for empowerment whenever possible.
• Ensure child/ youth and their families are involved in establishing goals in the areas of living arrangements, social relationships, constructive use of leisure time, productive activity, and dental and medical health care.
• Other programmatic and administrative duties as assigned.