Family Services Specialist - Kinship Coordinator

The City of Lynchburg is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Seeking a qualified and energetic candidate to join the Foster Care and Adoption team. The goal of this position is to continue to enhance agency practice in creating a "Kin First" culture. The Kinship Coordinator serves as a liaison between kinship foster families and Family Services Specialists. The Kinship Coordinator assesses, trains, approves, supports, maintains and certifies kinship foster parents for the City of Lynchburg.

This includes completing extensive background checks, assessments, training, home visits, meeting with families and assessing the suitability of the family as kinship foster parents in an effort to keep children with their families. The Coordinator provides orientation, pre-service training, and ongoing training as well as speaks at community events in an effort to educate the community on the benefits of kinship care.

The Kinship Coordinator must be flexible and engaging.

Salary
: base hourly rate is $24.52 and annual start pay is $51,001.60. Salary is negotiable based on relevant education, experience and training.

Career Growth
:
Opportunities for advancement through the City’s pay progression plan.

Benefits
:
Comprehensive benefits package including paid parental leave, health insurance, retirement options, and generous leave accruals.

• Serves as the front-end kinship coordinator for investigations and in-home prevention cases, supporting early identification and engagement of kin.
• Attends Family Partnership Meetings (5-Day Meetings) and participates in out-of-home (OOH) staffing as needed.
• Receives immediate notification of out-of-home placements and collaborates with staff to identify kinship placement options.
• Completes and maintains the Permanency Assessment Tool as an ongoing assessment of kinship permanency options.
• Initiates background checks, foster care documentation, and certification materials when kinship placement may be required.
• Completes immediate and ongoing home visits for kinship providers.
• Provides ongoing support to kinship providers on the prevention side to stabilize placements and prevent entry into foster care.
• Refers kinship families to Care Portal and other community resources as appropriate.
• Initiates relative maintenance payments and assists with related financial documentation.
• Regularly staffs cases with the Permanency Kinship Coordinator and provides updates on potential incoming foster care cases.
• Maintains CANS certification and completes FAPT referrals as required.
• Works collaboratively with the Resource Family Trainer to develop, deliver, and evaluate training for resource families.
• Conducts comprehensive interviews for the purpose of completed the Permancy Assessment Tool, develops and implements family-centered plans, and coordinates services to stabilize families.
• Engages families, kin, and community partners in problem-solving, conflict resolution, and goal achievement.
• Participates in court proceedings, provides testimony, and prepares detailed documentation and reports as required.
• Performs scheduled and unscheduled field visits.
• Participates in extensive networking and collaboration with community and professional agencies.
• Interprets and applies complex policies, regulations, and laws with independent judgment in a dynamic environment.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

• Assists in the evaluation of programs and services rendered to families.
• Processes financial documentation related to family services.
• Interprets agency programs to other agencies, community groups, and associations.
• Identifies homes suitable for placement of children and youth.
• Researches and develops community resources and participates in interagency meetings such as FAPT, eligibility, and IEP meetings.

• Other duties to provide direct or indirect service to the citizens may be assigned.
• When unusual situations occur and/or the City Manager declares a State of Emergency, all City employees may be required to accept special assignments and perform as needed to ensure appropriate service delivery.

This job has no…