Casa Advocate Jobs in Spring, TX (NOW HIRING)

Company Description: Child Advocates of Montgomery County is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the safety and well-being of children through court-appointed volunteer advocacy. For more than 34 years, the organization has worked to ensure that every abused and neglected child in Montgomery County can thrive in a safe, permanent home. Its services have expanded to include advocacy for children involved in the juvenile justice system, truancy prevention initiatives, and community education on Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI). These programs focus on healing, stability, and positive futures for children and families across the community. More information is available at www.ChildAdvocatesTexas.org.

Job Purpose: The Advocacy Specialist’s main responsibility is to monitor and address volunteers’ growth in skills and advocacy on their cases, ensuring that children assigned to the Child Advocates program receive appropriate advocacy services. The Advocacy Specialist is also responsible for providing support to the organization by attending training, recruiting, and fundraising events.

Responsibilities:

General

• Contribute to Child Advocates of Montgomery County’s mission, vision, and program philosophies by way of work product and professional behavior with both internal and external consumers.
• Adhere to all current federal and state laws, as well as Child Advocates of Montgomery County’s Policies and Procedures, including the safeguarding of confidential healthcare information and compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
• Report immediately any suspected incidents of child abuse or neglect to the Child Abuse Hotline and the Senior Director of Programs and Services within 24 hours.
• Attend trainings, conferences, workshops, seminars, and any other programs to ensure continuing education.
• Maintain and nurture relationships with Child Advocates staff, volunteers, and community stakeholders.

 Volunteer and Case Management (90%)*

• Provide supervision, guidance, and support of volunteers throughout the course of each case. Accountable for up to 30 open cases.
• Ensure timely and efficient handling of volunteer Advocates’ case assignment process, including supporting and/or participation with the Advocate in home visits, youth and family interactions, and collaboration with professional team members.
• Coach volunteers on interacting and relationship-building with children, youth, and families while modeling Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI)® principles.
• Ensure ongoing development of volunteers by providing strong, consistent supervision and direction for each volunteer individually.
• Meet once per month with Advocate to review caseload and coach Advocate in proper reporting and case handling.
• Work with other child welfare professionals and judicial members to support volunteers.
• Attend court hearings and case meetings with Advocates.
• Work in conjunction with Program staff to incorporate new training on upcoming trends in child welfare, volunteer retention, and supervision.

Quality Assurance (5%)*

• Maintain timely and thorough case records on each case and volunteer. Review case reports to ensure cases are recorded and submitted in a compliant fashion.
• Ensure volunteers maintain local, Texas CASA, and National CASA standards of child visits, court reporting, and data reporting.

TBRI® Coaching (5%)**

• Provide TBRI® education and coaching to assigned cases. Training and coaching may occur on or off site in the community.

*All allocations are based on departmental needs.

**This position will provide coaching if the candidate is a TBRI® Practitioner.

Supervisor:              Senior Director of Programs and Services

Supervises:             n/a

Work Hours:           This is a full-time, minimum 40 hours per week position. Work hours set by the Advocacy Specialist (and approved by the Senior Director) with allowances in scheduling to be available to meet with staff, children, and families during times and dates convenient for all parties involved (i.e., evenings and weekends).

Classification:         Exempt

Education and Experience

Education Required: Bachelor’s degree.

Preferred:

·      Two (2) years’ experience in the field of child abuse and neglect.

·      One (1) year experience in supervision of volunteers/staff.

·      Degree in human services field preferred

·     Demonstrated understanding of the systems and courts of child welfare, juvenile justice, and truancy, and the needs of abused and neglected children.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

·      Thorough working knowledge of needs of children placed in substitute care.

·      Ability to support the organization’s culture, growth, and success through communication, accountability, and positivity.

·      Ability to be clearheaded and decisive based on the scope of the position.

·      Ability to work efficiently and effectively both individually and as part of a team.

·      Ability to appropriately accept feedback through the supervision process, displaying the willingness to learn, grow, and improve.

·      Effective oral and written communication skills.

·      Competent in using Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, the Internet, and other software applications.

·      Effective organizational skills.

Core Organizational Behaviors

·      Effective teamwork within the organization and positive collaborations with external organizations and individuals.

·      Demonstrated innovation and a supportive and positive attitude toward organization changes.

·      A sense of urgency to get things done and initiative to increase the effectiveness of the work environment.

·      Demonstrated capacity to perform at or above the stated job requirements.

·      A level of professionalism and judgment in business situations appropriate to the position.

Additional Requirements

·      Proof of valid driver’s license

·      Access to reliable transportation

·      Three (3) employment references

·      Cleared criminal background check

Physical Demands

With or without reasonable accommodation, the physical and mental requirements of this job may include the following: seeing, hearing, speaking, and writing clearly. Occasional reaching with hands and arms, stooping, kneeling, crouching, crawling, frequent sitting, standing, and walking, may be required for long periods and may involve climbing stairs, walking up inclines, and on uneven terrain. Additional physical requirements may include frequent lifting and or moving up to 25 pounds.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

The above statements reflect the general details considered necessary to decide the essential functions of the job identified and shall not be construed as a detailed description of all work requirements that may be inherent in the job.

Child Advocates of Montgomery County provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, Child Advocates of Montgomery County complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.