Youth And Specialist

Join our team at FSS and enjoy comprehensive benefits including but not limited to:
Tuition Reimbursement: Earn up to $5,250 per qualifying year to invest in your education. Health Insurance: Choose from three comprehensive Florida Blue health insurance plans to keep you and your family covered. Dental Plan: Enjoy an employer-paid dental plan for our valued employees. Life Insurance: Your peace of mind matters to us. We provide employer-paid life insurance. Well-Being Program: Stay healthy and engaged with our highly interactive well-being program. Paid Time Off (PTO): Relax and recharge with our generous PTO plan. You can even earn three additional days per plan year! Bereavement Leave: We offer 3 paid days of bereavement leave annually to ease the burden during a family member's passing. Paid Holidays: Enjoy the 12 holidays without the worry of receiving a paycheck (to include 1 floating holiday) and unwind with family and friends to celebrate and rejuvenate!401k Plan with Matching: Secure your financial future with our 401k plan and employer matching. Additional Benefits: Explore our range of benefits, including Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Vision Plan, Short & Long-Term Disability coverage, Employee Discounts, and more. The mission of Family Support Services is to be the leader in providing safety, stability, and quality of life for all children by working with the community to strengthen the family unit.
Job Summary: This position will support the Independent Living team by working collaboratively with foster parents, group home providers, foster care services providers (CMOs), and other community providers to ensure that FSS's youth are prepared for a transition out of the system of care. This position is responsible for ensuring our 13-17 year old population receive the Life Skills assessments and training through formal and informal paths. The position will also connect youth to positive adults and be the point of contact to support mentor relationships. This position will schedule and facilitate all Transition Staffings for youth 16 and 17 years of age. This position will work directly with FSS contracted partners to ensure that all contractual measures, particularly focusing on the independent living tasks required for the 17.5 Judicial Review, are being met timely. This position will ensure, either directly or through the support of contracted provider(s), that all eligible youth are registered into the Keys to Independence Program and have the documents, information and connections necessary for turning 18. In addition, this position will ensure that the youth is connected with contracted provider and help determine which post 18 program is best for the youth. If the youth does not qualify for extended foster care (EFC), but wishes to enter EFC, this specialist will assist the child in a plan to become eligible.
Essential Duties: Coordinate with contracted provider to ensure facilitation and implementation of the Statewide Life Skills Program, life skills assessments and informal life skills training. Assisting CMOs with providing additional life skills opportunities and completion of life skills assessments. This position will also manage or complete the tracking of life skills assessments and trainings to ensure participation. 25% Coordinates with community partners to provide teen enrichment programs. Evaluate the effectiveness of the programs, the need, budgets and ROI. This includes securing volunteers as appropriate and as needed during events. 15% Utilize FSFN data to determine teens who will need transitional staffings, schedule and facilitate transition staffings for 16 and 17 year old youth. Complete and upload into FSFN the My Pathways to Success Plan. Follow-up on tasks needing completion in order to comply with CFOP and other requirements for all staffings. 40% Preparing case information on teens transitioning to secondary case management with contracted provider for 17.5 year old staffing and preparation for Extended Foster Care. 10% This position will be responsible for vetting and establishing relationships with and maintaining a current list of mentoring providers in the community, ensuring case management partners are aware of various mentoring opportunities, facilitate the utilization of mentoring programs and the program's impact on teens in the system of care. This position will also connect individuals interested in mentoring with the appropriate community partner. 10% Perform other duties as requested As Needed Minimum Qualifications: Education:
Bachelors degree required.
Experience:
Minimum 3 years' experience in one or more of the following: community engagement, managing programs, volunteer management or event coordination, youth/teen engagement. Child welfare adoption experience preferred.
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The qualifications listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Abilities:
Competency in MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint Ability to work independently and to be creative Ability to prepare a variety of communication Ability to gather a wide variety of information, summarize and report as needed Ability to make presentations to staff and community groups Exceptional verbal & written communication skills and attention to detail Adaptable to different environments and collaborative with various levels of management Ability to work nights and weekends as needed Knowledge preferred in these areas:
Community and/ or non-profit administration Mentor program relationships Training/public speaking Skills:
Positive outlook with ability to alternately collaborate & work independently as department demands dictate Excellent presentation skills Strong follow-up and follow through Ability to build long- term, collaborative relationships internally & externally Ability to engage community for volunteerism and donations Strong time management Affinity for the vulnerable children we serve in foster care Team mentality is essential Other Requirements:
Clear a Level II background screening. Clear a reference check (professional and personal) Clear a local background check from the county in which you reside. Clear a substance abuse screen. Clear a Motor Vehicles Records check and must be insurable under the company's automobile policy. Provide copy of automobile insurance. Provide proof of, and maintain a minimum personal auto liability insurance level $100,000/$300,000 if deemed to be a driving risk. Provide a copy of all certifications and degrees prior to your first day of employment. Clear an E-Verify check to substantiate that the successful candidate meets the Department of Homeland Security authorization requirements to work in the United States (for more information visit Licensure, Certification, and/or Registration:
Valid drivers license. Current Child Welfare/Case Management Certification.
Family Support Services team members follow 5 core values: Partnership : At FSS, a belief that we are better together is core to who we are. Partnership is an essential component of a healthy system of care. Our team is committed to a respectful, open-minded, collaborative approach to co-creating solutions with the community. This extends to the children and families we serve as well.
Excellence : FSS challenges ourselves to always strive for better on behalf of those we serve. We foster innovative practices, encourage continuous quality improvement, and engage in strategic planning with our partners to achieve the highest possible outcomes for children, families, and the community.
Accountability : FSS recognizes our leadership role within the system of care and strives to be accountable to the community by being trustworthy partners. FSS is committed to ethical and transparent practices, and to operate with integrity as we pursue positive outcomes.
Compassion : We recognize that we often meet families at their most challenging moment and people are more than the sum of their circumstances. We provide trauma-sensitive care for the children and families in our system to reach their full potential. We embrace a service leadership approach and commit to finding the strengths in everyone we encounter while we foster resiliency.
Equity : Equity goes beyond the fair treatment of all people. For FSS, equity is the commitment to recognize the social justice issues intrinsic to our work with marginalized communities. We strive to amplify the voices of individuals and families impacted by poverty, racism, and discrimination in any form. We obligate ourselves to a belief that none of these factors should be a predictor of child welfare involvement or outcomes.
FSS is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information. FSS is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. If you require a reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to Human Resources at . Job Type: Full-time
Benefits:
401(k)401(k) matching Dental insurance Employee assistance program Employee discount Flexible spending account Health insurance Life insurance Paid time off Retirement plan Tuition reimbursement Vision insurance Schedule:
8 hour shift Monday to Friday Education:
Bachelor's (Required) License/Certification:
Child Welfare Certification (Preferred) Ability to Commute:
Largo, FL 33771 (Required) Work Location: Hybrid remote in Largo, FL 33771