Regional Clinical Social Worker - CA, OR, WA

Description

Fully remote position; ideal candidate must live within a commutable distance to at least a regional airport but can reside anywhere in CA, OR or WA State, with willingness to travel.

DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:

Holt International’s Programs and Services Department serves more than 1,000,000 children, family members and other individuals around the world each year through family strengthening services, orphan care and adoption services. Managed by U.S. and in-country staff, these programs and services are carried out in close cooperation with partner agencies, orphanages and other child service providers, government child welfare agencies, local and regional officials, funding agencies, and others. The Programs and Services Department continuously evaluates opportunities to expand or deepen program services in countries where we work while maintaining high standards of quality and transparency for sustainable development and child welfare impact.

POSITION SUMMARY: 

Holt International finds and supports permanent, loving families for children who are orphaned, abandoned, or at serious risk of separation from their family. The master’s level Social Worker Manager represents Holt in their community and ensures the successful adjustment of the child and family by conducting an assessment of the family and providing appropriate services throughout the adoption process. The Social Worker Manager works cooperatively with families, Social Workers, and the Social Service and Adoption Teams headquartered in Eugene, Oregon. Note: The Social Worker Manager is primarily a home-based position. The Social Worker Manager position requires travel (most often by car and/or plane) to different locations within the assigned geographic area to complete the essential functions of the position. Travel may be up to 50-75% of position and the Social Worker Manager must live within a commutable distance from airport.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS (to be completed within timeframes outlined by the supervisor): 

1. Supports new Social Workers by providing training during the onboarding process. Ensures new Social Workers are able to access Holt systems and understand how to manage individual caseloads. Serves as a mentor and resource to support Social Workers as requested. 
2. Provides clinical consultation and support to Social Workers and adoption staff regarding adoption-related clinical concerns and best practices.
3. Maintains a caseload of adoption cases as family’s assigned Social Worker. Determines a family’s ability and capacity to parent an adopted child by conducting pre-home study meetings as requested, reviewing and assessing agency-requested information, evaluating the family’s knowledge and perceptions of adoption, teaching adoption education courses as needed, and conducting psycho-social assessments of family members.
4. Travels to provide coverage for all cases assigned. Maintains flexible schedule to provide availability to complete adoption home studies, home study updates, psychosocial reports, post placement and post adoption reports as needed.
5. Contributes to the delivery of high-quality adoption services by producing adoption home studies and post placement reports that comply with provided guidelines and meet current agency, state, country and USCIS requirements.
6. Provides support and case management of all assigned families including complex and special needs cases. Works collaboratively with other agencies or providers to ensure child’s needs are met. Communicates information to the family, referring family to appropriate community support systems when necessary and documenting all correspondence in Holt’s database.  
7. Assists family with post placement adjustment by providing training and identifying resources available to help meet the child’s needs and aid in the child’s adjustment to the family. Conduct home visits as required by state law and country program guidelines, assist in early identification of problematic issues, and make a determination regarding the stability and appropriateness of the placement.
8. Identifies qualified and prepared adoptive families for waiting children by reviewing the child’s medical and social history to determine the profile of the type of family needed to ensure successful placement. Conducts assessments of families considering adoption of a waiting child and provides ongoing education and support as needed via Child Specific Questionnaire, Child Rating Tool, and Child Specific Preparation Tool to families to help prepare them for a successful adoptive placement. Attend team meetings to provide a clinical perspective and consultation on potential child referral matches. 
9. Completes home study and post placement/adoption report reviews by utilizing the state and country program home study checklist and/or report guidelines. Coordinates with Home Study Case Manager, Social Worker, program staff, and cooperating agencies. Ensures psychological evaluations meet country-specific requirements and home study reflects consistent information.
10. Completes child-specific preparation and education. Meet with families consistently to plan and review the family’s identified local resources and professional providers to meet the child’s unique needs. Continue ongoing education and preparation on topics specific to the family and their adoption. Proactively supports assigned families pre-and post-placement.
11. Assists in coordinating, planning, and facilitating ongoing support groups and training courses for families matched with a child and preparing for travel.
12. Serves as hosting program liaison by representing Holt with partner agencies, attending support calls, and coordinating case management with relevant staff. Reviews psychosocial reports. Reviews the child’s file to determine an appropriate match for the child for hosting. Provides support while the child is hosted by a family.
13. Provides clinical support to families in cooperation with the supervisor. Able to respond to the family within 24 hours of receiving the referral. The clinical support will include suggesting interventions, connecting families with resources both local and online, including “mentor families,” and if the need warrants it, referral to adoption competent therapists in their area. 
14. Offers availability for crisis situations where families need additional support, including travel in-country and post placement.
15. Accepts special projects and tasks from the Vice President, Adoption Services, as requested.
16. Contributes to a positive, productive work environment by meeting attendance and punctuality guidelines and pre-arranging time off with appropriate notice; treating all people with dignity and respect; and exhibiting good listening and comprehension skills, including giving and welcoming feedback. 
17. Contributes to team effort by working cooperatively with State and Eugene offices, respectfully responding to all communication from State and Eugene in a timely manner. Providing back-up to colleagues as needed and supporting state offices in meeting objectives. Contributions to team education and training.

Requirements

SUCCESS FACTORS: The successful Social Worker Manager has strong assessment skills and the ability to establish and maintain a therapeutic relationship with families and work cooperatively with agency staff and contacts in the community. She/he can identify unusual adjustment issues and problematic family dynamics and address these with families in a respectful, open, and supportive manner. She/he can problem-solve in a creative manner and manage families and children in crisis while exercising good judgment. She/he has strong organizational skills, can work independently, set priorities, and analyze documents. She/he leverages current technology to support performance and efficiency in accomplishing assigned responsibilities.

KNOWLEDGE: Master’s degree in social work or a related field required, five years of experience in a social service setting, and state license (where applicable). Additional trauma-informed training, advanced adoption competent experience, and clinical licensure, strongly preferred. Requires the application of clinical skills and knowledge to determine the appropriateness of an adoptive placement of a child and whether that placement is in the best interests of the child. Must have proven clinical and assessment skills and experience in adoption services and processes. Ability to conduct a psycho-social assessment. Knowledge of family and group dynamics and adoption practices. Excellent writing and computer skills. Cross cultural sensitivity. Note: Required to complete a minimum of 30 hours of training every two years on current and emerging adoption practice issues. 

INFORMATION PROCESSING: Ability to organize, set priorities, and work independently. Ability to analyze and interpret complex information from multiple sources and work through complex issues with families and children to identify root issues, potential solutions, and options for intervention. Looks at information from multiple perspectives and thoroughly weighs the strengths and weaknesses of families before making decisions.

SCOPE OF RESPONSIBILITY: This position requires the application of clinical skills and knowledge in determining the appropriateness of an adoptive placement for a child and whether the placement is in the best interests of the child. Includes recruiting families; assessing family functioning; determining capacity to parent; identifying unusual adjustment issues and problematic family dynamics; managing families and children in crisis; providing on-going support and case management to families; completing reports on-time; documenting all contact with family; communicating with families, Social Service and Eugene staff; treating families and co-workers with respect; exercise good judgment and problem solve in a creative manner.

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION: Ability to express thoughts and feelings and facilitate that expression from others. Ability to establish and maintain a therapeutic relationship, work cooperatively with agency staff, and work well with collateral contacts in the community, including returning phone calls and emails in a timely and courteous manner.

IMPACT OF RESULTS: Promote feelings of goodwill and public support for Holt by ensuring successful adjustment of child and family, optimizing effectiveness of adoption process, boosting family recruitment and community awareness of adoption and Holt’s services in the coverage area.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: None

DESCRIBE CONTROLS: Reports to and is evaluated by the Senior Director of Social Services.