Foster Family Agency Bridge Home Provider

Salary: $3,000 monthly stipend

The Children’s Legacy Center (CLC) is seeking a Foster Family Agency (FFA) Bridge Home Provider, to walk alongside our resource parents, as we launch a new pilot model of foster care called Fostering in Community. The role of the FFA Bridge Home Provider is to provide supportive services to the resource families within their assigned community group. The Bridge Home Provider is key in the development of a healthy micro-community of caregivers focused on the health, safety, growth, and permanence of participating children while engaging in caregiver self-care that promotes healthy retention. The Bridge Home Provider will cultivate the cultural sensitivity and competency of the CLC within their Community Group.

 

An ideal candidate has strong communication skills, is a passionate and experienced resource family caregiver, and excited to implement this innovative model of foster care. Building and cultivating relationships with organizations and community members is a vital element of this role making interpersonal skills, humility, and teachability fundamental attributes of the ideal candidate. This position reports to the Bridge Home Coordinator.

 

Requirements:

• Experience as foster/kinship provider (5 years or more preferred, or comparable experience).
• Must commit to a minimum of one year as a Bridge Home Provider.
• Have the ability to answer calls and provide emergency respite, nearly 24/7, for children within and entering into the Bridge Home community
• Meet all requirements and successfully obtain and maintain Resource Family Approval through the CLC.
• Commitment to the mission, vision, values and goals of CLC FFA and the CLC.
• Genuinely enjoy hosting social events and providing short term respite to multiple families
• Trained in relevant topics including CSEC, TBRI, crisis intervention, boundary development, effects of trauma, child and adolescent development, relationship building, and skill building.
• Capacity to adequately supervise children and youth to ensure safety and well-being.
• Possess the technology and capability to keep a monthly Bridge Home community calendar and keep a community Facebook page with which to engage Bridge Home community members

Personal Qualifications:

• Possess and demonstrate the emotional energy, maturity, skills, and experience to provide support, including respite, to children/youth within the Bridge Home community.
• Possess and demonstrate the boundaries necessary to balance the provision of critical support services to resource families and children as well as ensuring self-care.  
• Possess and demonstrate the capacity to engage in appropriate relationship building with resource families and children.
• Possess and demonstrate a “can-do” attitude that promotes problem solving, relationship building and collaboration.

 

Role and Responsibilities:

Respite

• Provide planned and emergency respite to families and children participating and entering the Bridge Home Community. 
• Answer phone calls from Bridge Home Coordinator and/or CLC social workers, nearly 24/7, during crisis and for emergency respite placement of children within and entering the Bridge Home community.
• Always keep two licensed beds available for crisis or planned respite and simultaneously for all ages and genders.
• Provide a safe, nurturing environment with appropriate structure and activities for children.
• Demonstrate a positive, welcoming attitude to the children, youth, and caregivers. 
• Ensure knowledge-sharing, communication and resources are at hand to provide quality consistent care to all children and youth including safety issues, medications, medical information, and treatment conditions.

 

Organizing

• Organize, coordinate, and host a monthly community meeting at the Bridge Home, or another suitable venue, to facilitate relationship between caregivers and children within the community.
• During the monthly community meeting you may choose to go over the monthly calendar, other community business as needed, and may include a training or speaker.
• Construct and distribute a monthly community calendar, which includes days and times of Planned Respite that are available and/or not available, Bridge Home community events and activities, relevant events and activities held within the community as well as relevant training opportunities.
• Engage Bridge Home families in and provide upkeep of private community Facebook group.
• Organize, coordinate, and host, at minimum, a quarterly family event, such as theme parks, sports events, art & cultural events, movie nights, family fun nights, outdoor activities, etc.
• Attend a variety of meetings to support the resource parents and children as needed, such as: Child Welfare staffing meetings including Family Team Decision Making meetings, casework treatment planning meetings, sibling and birth family visits, doctors' appointments, etc.
• Be able to Maintain thorough and accurate tracking information for monthly services provided, participant engagement, and Foster Family recruitment activities.
• Willing to engage with CLC research team as needed during the pilot phase of the program.

Other Support Services

• Maintain regular contact with Bridge Home families and children/youth including telephone calls, birthday cards, and communication/peer support regarding current placement issues, problem solving, identifying community resources, locating, and correcting possible system errors.
• Provide help to families in developing plans for children’s success in school, identifying mental health resources and accessing other community-based services and resources.  
• Provide frequent communication with families (i.e., increasing contact with families via phone and face-to-face when placement is in jeopardy, or the family is experiencing a crisis).  
• Provide information on community resources to Bridge Home community families.
•  Meet monthly and maintain open lines of communication with the assigned Bridge Home Coordinator and the CLC Social Work Supervisor.

 

Compensation:

A monthly stipend of $3000 is given monthly to each Bridge Home Provider.  This is in addition to any AFDC funds you would receive for the nights you provide respite to other resource families. This is a W2 position that is non-benefit eligible.

 

Who We Are:

The Children’s Legacy Center began in 2016. Our passion is to aid children and youth who have been abused and exploited. We currently achieve this goal by offering forensic interviewing services as a part of our Children’s Advocacy Center. These interviews reduce trauma and help our partner agencies expedite justice for children, youth, and their families. We are now able to build upon this tested and stable foundation and are building out our regional pilot model for exploited children and youth. This model is a diverse, holistic, and far-reaching collection of programs and services that will multiply our impact in the community and beyond. Although each of our team obtains a specific job description, we work collaboratively to develop and expand our organization. We value the health and wellbeing of our team members more than the average workplace. The nature of this work is incredibly difficult, so supporting each other is paramount. We’ve got each other’s backs. We strive daily to create an inclusive environment in which all people feel safe, heard, and valued. The Children’s Legacy Center celebrates cultural differences and similarities among all employees, volunteers, families we serve, and members of our partnering agencies. With an amazing team and our community’s support, we truly believe we can accomplish anything!

 

The Children’s Legacy Center provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

 

Consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it is the policy of the Children’s Legacy Center to provide reasonable accommodation when requested by a qualified applicant or employee with a disability, unless such accommodation would cause an undue hardship. The policy regarding requests for reasonable accommodation applies to all aspects of employment, including the application process. If reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact Human Resources at (530) 768-1880.

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