Home Safety Case Manager

Brightpoint (formerly known as Children's Home & Aid) invites you to join our team of mission-driven staff who share a common vision: an equitable world where all children and families thrive in strong communities. As a leader in the human services sector for 140 years, we aim to advance the well-being of children by investing in families and strengthening communities through data-informed, collaborative, and preventative solutions.

The Home Safety Case Manager is a critical member of the region's child welfare team, working collaboratively within and across programs to ensure a relentless focus on keeping children safe and supporting families, which includes replacing what we currently think of as child welfare services with what we know to be child, family, and community well-being solutions. The Home Safety Case Manager will collaborate with the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and Child Protective Services (CPS) as part of a care team to support families by ensuring the safety and wellbeing of children by providing in home care, support and supervision. Using the SAFE model intervention process, the Case Manager will partner with families who have an allegation of abuse or neglect and are at risk of having their children removed from the home.

Candidate qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in a social service field required.
• Three years of relevant professional experience required.
• Experience working with families with children strongly preferred.
• Demonstrates knowledge of typical and atypical child growth/development and parent-child relationships.
• Demonstrates knowledge of maternal-infant health and concepts of child abuse and neglect.
• Valid driver's license, insurance, and a reliable vehicle required.

What you'll do:

• Respond in a timely manner to inquiries from Child Protective Services (CPS) Ongoing Specialists regarding the potential for involvement with a family needing an in-home Impending Danger plan.
• Assist and collaborate with the CPS On-going Specialist and the family caregivers to develop an in-home Impending Danger plan for the family.
• Collaborate with the CPS On-going Specialist to identify safety service needs and resources, to be supplied by the Home Safety Case Manager or, in some cases by others, including services to help caregivers modify behaviors; to manage crises; to reduce social isolation and provide social support; to provide needed basic resources; and to provide respite to the caregiver from care of the child.
• Prepare safety service providers, if needed, to provide services, ensure that they understand the plan and their role(s), and ensure that they can manage the Impending Danger plan as written.
• Proactively manage, oversee, and coordinate safety categories and safety services provided by other informal safety service providers, as described in the in-home Impending Danger Plan.
• Establish trusting, compassionate, and nurturing relationships with families and caregivers.
• Deliver safety services that effectively manage Impending Danger following the specifications of in-home Impending Danger Plans.
• Regularly monitor, observe, and asses the current household conditions, the social-emotional climate, the comfort level in the helping relationship, the level of stress in the household, the interactions of family members, and the mood in the household.
• Provide support and encouragement to caregivers, children, and family members.
• Provide observations of parent-child interactions and engages parents/caregivers in building childcare and parenting skills and knowledge.
• Assist caregivers, children, and family members to reduce stress and build coping skills.
• Assist family members to address and modify behaviors that create unsafe conditions.
• Help the family to manage crises, either directly or through designated service providers; helps the family to assess the crisis, develop solutions, take action to reduce the crisis, and build capacity to avoid future crises.
• Attend and participates in safety management meetings when discussion is required regarding sufficiency of the Impending Danger plan and any changes that need to be made.
• Participate in the Impending Danger Planning process occurring at key decision-making points in the SAFE model intervention process.
• Update the CPS Ongoing Specialist weekly on safety service provision and whether the Impending Danger plan continues to be sufficient for the family.

Job details:

• Compensation: $52,416/annual fixed salary ($57,416/annual fixed salary for qualified English/Spanish bilingual candidates). The salary range provided represents our current estimate for this role at the time of posting and is subject to change. The final salary will be determined based on a range of factors, including but not limited to, a candidate's relevant experience, education, qualifications, skills, certifications, and alignment with organizational needs. We are dedicated to fair and equitable compensation practices and are committed to fostering a diverse workforce while providing equal opportunities for all candidates.
• Benefits: Medical/dental/vision insurance, 3+ weeks paid time off in the first year including the week between Christmas and New Year's Day (PTO increases with tenure); 11 paid holidays, supplemental insurance options, 401(k) with match (more benefits details here).
• Location: In person (in the field/in office); majority of your time will be spent completing home visits in Will, Grundy, Kendall, DeKalb, Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Lee and Ogle counties or meeting with clients in an agency office or community setting.
• Schedule: Full-time, hourly; schedule will vary greatly depending on family needs. Night and weekend availability may be required.
• We don't just hire talent-we grow it: Emerging Leaders will have access to leadership development opportunities and one-on-one mentorship.
• Student Loan Forgiveness: Brightpoint is an approved agency for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
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