Recruiter - Perm

Job Description
Job Description About Rising Ground
Founded as an orphanage in 1831, Rising Ground has been at the forefront of evolving community needs. Driven by the belief that each of us can thrive when life has hope and opportunity, Rising Ground provides caring support and proven paths to positive change, helping children, adults, and families rise above adversity, and each year, Rising Ground is a positive force in the lives of more than 72,000 individuals annually. We do this through 101 programs across 138 sites, throughout New York City and Westchester. Our strong belief and commitment to diversity is shown not just through our work with supported persons but is integral to the building of a strong staff that reflects the communities we serve. Rising Ground is headquartered in New York City.

About the Role:
Responsible for facilitating the matches of children with appropriate families by utilizing Child-Focused Recruitment Strategies.

What You’ll Do

• Demonstrate a working knowledge of child welfare system including adoptions
• Establish personal relationships with referred children and assist them in honoring the past, present and future through child readiness activities
• Determines the child’s strengths, challenges, desires, and preparedness for adoption and child’s needs through the adoption and recruitment transition process. A written assessment should be developed initially and updated on a quarterly basis
• Maintain collaborative relationships with case managers, therapists and other members of case management teams
• Articulate Child Focused Recruitment and understand the difference between General Recruitment, Child Specific Recruitment, and Targeted Recruitment as demonstrated in the implementation of Recruitment Services
• Conducts regular monthly contacts with Child’s case planner
• Develop and implement a child-focused (custom) adoption recruitment plan for each child
• Conducts diligent search of potential adoptive families including people with past and current connections to the child
• Meets with significant adults and maintain regular and ongoing contact (case planner, foster parent, attorney, CASA volunteer, teacher, therapist, relative, mentor, faith-based representative, extra activity leader, etc.)
• Conducts aggressive follow-up with connections identified, with the knowledge and approval of child’s case planner
• Provides adoption preparations for children and families, assists in transition planning
• Demonstrate advocacy through recruitment efforts; responds to barriers as opportunities
• Align actions, words and behaviors with “unadoptable is unacceptable”
• Actively recruit permanent resources for assigned children including individuals connected to the child, biological relatives, professional contacts in the community, area churches, and any other resources that may lead to permanency for a child
• Facilitate public relations efforts to recruit and match potential families and children
• Incorporate child friendly language that is developmentally and age appropriate
• Communicate the impact of trauma on youth and development
• Conduct initial interviews with person interested in adopting a waiting child
• Follow all necessary program requirements in terms of case management, data collections, and reporting as outlined by Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Program
• Coordinate with supervisor or other Family Foster Care staff on the completion of any other assigned tasks
• Display sensitivity to the service population’s cultural and socio-economic characteristics
• Perform other duties related to department goals and projects as needed