Home Study Caseworker

JOB DESCRIPTION

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JOB TITLE*

Home Study Caseworker

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PROGRAM*

US Home Study and Post-Release Services Program

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WORK SCHEDULE*

Five Days per Week, 40 Hours per Week, 12 Months per Year

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LOCATION*

Hybrid - Knoxville, TN - Smyrna, TN - La Vergne, TN

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REPORTS TO*

PRS Clinical Supervisor

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JOB TYPE*

Full-Time Exempt

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SALARY*

$65,024

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GENERAL JOB DESCRIPTION*

The Home Study (HS) Caseworker must have experience in trauma-informed care, child welfare practices, managing cases, and conducting home studies according to the requirements in the state where services are being provided. Must be skilled at writing professional, thorough assessment reports. Home Study Caseworker will know about local social services, community outreach and experience working with diverse populations. HS Caseworker is knowledgeable in connecting and collaborating with resource providers in providing post-release services for children and their sponsors.

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ABOUT YOU*

The ideal candidate for our program is a self-motivated and dedicated person who is excited and passionate about helping infants, toddlers, and families grow in development and in education. You are also personable, energetic, and empathetic leader who can manage multiple projects in a prioritized manner to meet our internal Urban Strategies goals of all current Refugio Performance Standards.

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WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING*

• Manages an assigned caseload (fluctuates) of home studies and post release services (Level I) only.
• Complies with US and ORR policies, procedures, and mandated timeframes.
• Collaborates with care providers in verifying and assessing whether additional information may be necessary to determine successful sponsorship.
• Evaluates the prospective sponsor’s ability to provide appropriate care and a safe living environment for the child.
• Schedules and conducts interviews with care provider staff, children, and sponsors.
• Assesses, identifies, verifies, and makes recommendations in areas where additional support, resources, or information may be needed to meet a child’s needs and provisions of a safe environment.
• Maintains telephone contact and conducts virtual and in-person home visits with children and sponsors.
• Writes detailed and comprehensive home studies to assess risk, safety, and appropriate placement of children to their prospective sponsor.
• Completes Home Study reports and makes recommendations within the required timeframe.
• Utilizes trauma focused approaches and brief therapeutic techniques to work with children and their sponsor.
• Continues on-going case management services through assessments, planning, evaluating, facilitating, and providing psychoeducation to children and their sponsor.

• Maintains appropriate documentation, safeguards confidential records, and protects personally identifiable information according to program regulations.
• Identifies and reports concerns related to children and sponsors, life changing events and significant incidences to the program and ORR. Acts as a mandated reporter and reports abuse/neglect to child protective services.
• Participates in training, meetings, and maintains quality improvement initiatives as recommended.
• This role requires travel to conduct in person Home Study or post release service visits in surrounding locations in the United States. May include working evenings and weekends to meet required timeframes.
• Related duties as assigned and may be revised as needed to meet program needs.

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MINIMUM EXPERIENCE and/or REQUIREMENTS TO BE CONSIDERED*

• A Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) or an equivalent degree in education, psychology, sociology, or other behavioral science or social service field. Must have at least 1 year of experience developing home studies.
• Must be skilled in writing professional, thorough assessment reports and experience working with immigrant populations and has provided trauma-informed clinical interventions for youth.
• Knowledge of family preservation, kinship care, trauma-informed practices, child welfare policies and procedures, and relevant state and federal laws and regulations.
• Experience in conducting Home Studies, providing Post Release Services, and working with immigrant populations.
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills to successfully interact with families, caseworkers, and other stakeholders.
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion.
• Fluent in English and Spanish (verbal/written).
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and data entry systems.
• A valid driver's license, available to travel to conduct in person visits and to different areas or regions nationally.

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ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION*

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ABOUT US*

Urban Strategies was founded by a Hispanic woman in 2003. We exist to equip, resource, and connect faith- and community-based organizations so that all children and families can reach their full potential. We work with Latino-focused faith- and community-based organizations to serve and engage the whole family.
Our vision is that all children and families reach their full potential. Our organization is headquartered in Washington, D.C. Our team works across the United States and Puerto Rico with direct service centers located in California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, New York, and Puerto Rico. We also have some programming conducted in Latin America.

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COMPANY CULTURE*

Our work is driven by our three core values:

• Authentic Relationships are foundational to our work and move beyond a transactional nature to truly know people. They serve as opportunities for mutual development and growth and are based on the belief that all people have inherent dignity and worth.
• Servant Leadership is rooted in an other-centric mindset that informs the way one leads and builds up individuals, families, and communities.
• Intentional Compassion describes a deliberate commitment to understand, formulate strategic responses, and activate others to reach their full potential.

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BENEFITS*

• Remote/hybrid work for eligible positions.
• Medical, dental is paid 95% by company, 5% by employee (individual or family) eligible first day of hire.
• Vision is covered 100% (individual or family) eligible first day of hire.
• Employee Assistance Program
• 401k contributions matched up to 4%
• Vacation time is generous but varies depending on program and position.\*
• 9 Sick Days and 11 Holidays\*
• Every teammate gets long and short-term disability free.
• Positions that require laptops, the company provides one.
• Positions that require cellphone, company issues one.

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WORK CONDITIONS*

• Ability to see at normal distance, hear normal conversations and sounds and use hands and fingers to fill out required forms. Will drive regularly, work in the office and remotely. May work evenings/weekends to meet required timeframes.

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PERKS*

• Meaningful employee engagement programs.
• Education discounts (BA-PhD) with a variety of education partners.

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OTHER*

• All employees must pass a mandatory criminal background check and a bilingual language test for positions that require them.
• Employment is conditional pending satisfactory results of all required tests and background checks.
• Periodic physical examinations and TB clearances will be required, if hired.
• Some positions governed by Service Contract Act guidelines.
• It is understood and agreed that, where a position is funded by a third-party grant, pay and other terms and conditions may be determined by the granting agency. To the extent practical and possible. grant-funded employees will normally be given notice of termination effective the date the grant expires. When the application has been made for continued grant funding, the employee will be so advised. Extensions of hire may be made in expectation of grant funding but may be rescinded if the granting agency withdraws.

In keeping with its equal employment opportunity legal requirements, Urban Strategies will not discriminate against any person in employment because of legally protected classifications such as race, color, national origin or sex. Urban Strategies provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, or other legally protected classifications under applicable federal, state and local legal protections. This policy applies to all terminations and conditions of employment, including hiring, placement, promotions, terminations, layoffs, leaves of absences, compensation, and training. Please note that Urban Strategies in order to fulfill its mission is legally allowed to make decisions in its employment practices based on its distributed employee manual. All employee positions are critical to the fulfillment of this mission. Consequently, Urban Strategies expects all employees to live out the standards as set forth in the Employee Handbook and otherwise as interpreted by the Urban Strategies leadership. Among other things, this means that Urban Strategies may take employment-related action against an employee based on his or her noncompliance with the policies, procedures, and practices of Urban Strategies, including employment termination.

To apply:
Please visit www.urbanstrategies.us/careers
Contact us with any questions at Recruiting@urbanstrategies.us

Equal Opportunity Employer

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $65,024.00 per year

Work Location: In person