Description
Provide child welfare services for children in foster care and the families who support them, ensuring safety, stability, and timely permanency. Assess needs, coordinate placements, develop and monitor case and permanency plans, and support reunification or alternative permanency through coaching and services. Collaborate with courts, child protective services, schools, and providers while maintaining thorough documentation and regulatory compliance.
- • Conduct safety and needs assessments with children, birth parents, and foster caregivers to determine services and placement suitability.
- • Develop, implement, and review individualized case and permanency plans; track progress and update goals.
- • Maintain detailed case notes, home-visit summaries, and court-ready reports in compliance with agency and state requirements.
- • Match and place children in licensed foster or kinship homes and coordinate smooth, trauma-informed transitions.
- • Perform regular home visits to monitor child safety, well-being, and caregiver compliance; create and update safety plans.
- • Arrange and supervise family visitation, create visitation plans, and coach birth parents to support reunification.
- • Coordinate medical, dental, behavioral health, and developmental evaluations and ensure follow-through on treatment.
- • Provide brief, trauma-informed counseling, coaching, and crisis intervention to children and caregivers; refer for therapy as needed.
- • Support educational stability and progress by collaborating with schools on enrollment, transportation, IEPs, and services.
- • Gather collateral records and information from schools, providers, and courts to inform assessments and planning.
- • Prepare affidavits and court reports; attend hearings and provide testimony and recommendations on safety and permanency.
- • Refer and connect families to community resources, including housing, employment, substance use treatment, legal aid, and financial assistance.
- • Arrange supportive services such as respite care, parenting classes, mentoring, transportation, and in-home services.
- • Conduct home studies, safety inspections, and background checks for foster or adoptive applicants; make licensing recommendations.
- • Train and coach foster parents on trauma-informed, culturally responsive caregiving, policies, and documentation.
- • Work as liaison among child welfare agencies, GAL/CASA, courts, schools, therapists, medical providers, and caregivers.
- • Recommend placement changes or stabilization strategies and develop transition plans when needed.
- • Determine eligibility for benefits such as foster care stipends, Medicaid, and special supports; assist with applications.
- • Participate in program evaluation, data reporting, and quality improvement to enhance safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes.
- • Lead or facilitate support groups and life-skills workshops for foster parents and youth.
- • Participate in after-hours on-call rotation to respond to crises, emergency placements, and critical incidents.
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Last reviewed: Jan 2026
