Job Location : Ridgeland,MS, USA
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES :
The Adoption Specialist will be responsible for marketing of services offered statewide, support birth and adoptive families during the adoption process by evaluating the home life and background of potential adoptive families and working with birth families to establish their level of involvement.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES :
Coordinate and execute marketing of Adoption Program statewide.
Work with biological family to help them determine if an adoption plan is right for them; provide supportive counseling to birth family and adoptive families, before, during, and after the adoption. Prepare legal documentation.
Recommend finalization of adoption.
Ensure the program's compliance with best practices in children's mental health and all relevant standards, including, but not limited to, standards set by the Council on Accreditation and the Department of Child Protection Services.
Manage maternity cases as needed including but not limited to hospital discharge and placing infants in foster home.
Provide post placement services for domestic and international adoptions. This may include statewide travel.
Conduct birth search activity. Receive inquiries, provide counseling, do search activities, and arrange reunions and any follow-up.
Provide counseling and ongoing support to birth families, adoptive families, and adoptees.
Establish cooperative working relationships with other Adoption staff, Catholic Charities employees, MDCPS, and staff from other agencies to keep open lines of communication about issues relating to referrals, families and youth, and proactive advocacy for safe and nurturing permanency planning.
Attend statewide placement reviews; make recommendations of possible matches; assist in the assessment of a client's behavior and emotional needs to determine the best possible match.
Complete Home Studies using policy approved format (SAFE), including interviews, review of background checks and references. Home studies should be thorough, well organized, and grammatically correct.
Participate in community groups concerned with adoption and foster care issues and advocate for adoption and foster care issues locally and nationally.
Recommend finalization of adoption and assist families with legal procedures to complete adoption.
Arrange and conduct training for prospective adoptive families. Plan and/or conduct support groups for adoptive parents/families.
Provide on-call support after hours.
Attend required Catholic Charities in-services and staff meetings as well as weekly supervision meetings with the Program Director and keeping that person informed of all program developments and personnel issues.
Maintaining sufficient computer skills to support the documentation and administrative tasks of the position.
Representing the program positively to other agencies and the community through formal and informal outreach efforts.
Maintaining confidentiality of records and all treatment issues.
Completing assigned duties according to all deadlines ensuring that all handwritten tasks are clearly legible. Compile statistical information for reports as well as provide input on progress of program goals being met.
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