Youth and Family Support Specialist

This job was posted by : For more information, please see: GENERAL SUMMARY Provide support and rehabilitative services to children, adolescents, and young adults with emotional and behavioral health needsand their families or caregiversacross all appropriate settings (home, school, clinic/office, community, telehealth, and other natural environments) as medically necessary. This is an intensive, community-based direct support program designed to engage families in their natural environments, meet them where they are, and address the complex needs that often place youth at risk for higher levels of care. The program is guardian-driven, requiring active collaboration with caregivers to identify and mitigate home environment stressors that contribute to behavioral or emotional instability. Staff work alongside guardians to strengthen family functioning, build safety and structure within the home, and increase the caregivers capacity to respond effectively to challenging behaviors. The overarching goal is to preserve permanency in the home, reduce safety risks, and prevent out-of-home (OOH) placements such as BHIF, BHRF, or inpatient hospitalization, while also supporting successful transitions for youth returning from these settings. All services are delivered within Arizonas Childrens System of Care under AHCCCS, consistent with the 12 Principles and the Child and Family Team (CFT) model. The program aligns with the Meet Me Where I Am initiativeemphasizing flexible, family-centered, and community-based engagement that brings services directly to the environments where challenges occur. Practice is trauma-informed, culturally and linguistically appropriate, strengths-based, community-based and least restrictive, and coordinated with natural supports and other providers. Services focus on timely access, measurable outcomes, and meaningful, sustainable change for both youth and caregivers. ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS 1. Provides consistent, in-home and community-based direct support to youth and families at risk of higher levels of care, focusing on stabilization, skill-building, and maintaining permanency in the home. 2. Engages with guardians and family members to identify strengths, needs, and environmental stressors that inform individualized service planning within the Child and Family Team (CFT) process. 3. Teaches and models adaptive skills including daily living, social-emotional regulation, communication, problem-solving, self-care, and household management to children, adolescents, parents, and caregivers. 4. Participates actively in the CFT by sharing observations, progress updates, and recommendations that guide collaborative decision-making and treatment planning. 5. Identifies, connects, and integrates families into natural supports and community-based resources that reinforce stability, independence, and long-term well-being. 6. Demonstrates flexibility and critical thinking in dynamic situationsresponding quickly and appropriately to emerging needs, safety risks, or behavioral escalations. 7. Provides transportation for youth and families to appointments, activities, and community resources as needed, always ensuring safety and professionalism. 8. Collaborates effectively with all CFT members, external providers, and community partners to ensure coordinated and seamless service delivery. 9. Completes clinical documentation accurately and within established timelines in Credible (EHR), ensuring all services meet agency, AHCCCS, and payer requirements. 10. Maintains regular communication with the supervisor to report updates, progress, barriers, and safety concerns, and participates in supervision to enhance performance and outcomes. 11. Works a flexible schedule that may include evenings or weekends to meet family needs and ensure cont nuity of care. 12. Meets weekly productivity and service delivery expectations as established by program and agency standards. 13. Other duties as assigned. PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a teammate to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Regular, predictable attendance is required; including but not limited to quarter-driven hours / spilt shifts- as business demands dictate. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to, stand, sit; talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and telephone keyboard, reach, stoop, kneel to install computer equipment. Repetitive physical movements (sitting, standing, jogging, running, in and outdoors, stooping, kneeling, crawling). Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision requirements due to computer work. Light to moderate lifting is required. Medium work exerting up to 50lbs of force occasionally, 20lbs or force freque