Bilingual Family Finder
As the Bilingual Family Finder, you will be part of the Orange County Family Finding Engagement and Search program, and have the responsibility of searching for family members, fictive kin or natural supports of youth under the age of 21 referred by Orange County Social Services. As a Bilingual Family Finder, you will work closely with a youth’s Social Worker and Child and Family Team to identify connections the youth has lost contact with due to placement in foster care. You will be responsible for conducting thorough case record reviews and family finding searches, in order to identify family members and other meaningful people who can provide positive support and a permanent lifelong connection to the youth being served. You will also work closely with the SSA social worker and other providers to prepare the youth for initial and ongoing contact and communicate and document all findings with the SSA worker.
Seneca Family of Agencies is committed to providing traditionally marginalized communities a network of outstanding mental health, community based, and educational services. We are committed to building a diverse staff and strongly encourages people of color to apply. Our programs are deeply engaged in conversations and trainings on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in order to bring equity and justice to the youth and families we serve.
Responsibilities
- Collaborate closely with Child Welfare Workers on Family Finding search efforts.
- Engage in file mining, case reviews, Family Finding searches and interviews with providers to identify potential relatives/supportive adults to connect youth with.
- Meets with potential connections to determine commitment to youth and joins Child and Family team to develop plan to support youth in learning about and/or developing relationship with identified healthy supports.
- Attends trainings related to Family Finding and applies findings from research on Family Finding best practices.
- Receives consultation from Family Finding experts hired by Seneca.
- Understands and applies the principles and stages of Family Finding, from discovery to engagement to planning to implementation to evaluation of results.
- Meets with youth on an ongoing basis to build rapport and engage youth in the Family Finding process.
- Participates in youth’s therapeutic process to support the youth’s progress with Family Finding and permanency.
- Completes family trees, outcome measures and monthly reports for youth’s Social Worker and Program Supervisor.
Qualifications
- Bachelor degree required.
- Bilingual (Spanish preferred).
- Must show a combination of experience and demonstrated interest in helping youth maintain or gain contact with relatives.
- Must have demonstrated competence in the skill areas of positive client engagement and communication.
- Must have experience working directly with youth and demonstrated understanding of the issues they potentially face as they are connected to family members.
- Must have demonstrated competence, reliability, and good writing skills in clinical documentation.
- Must be willing and able to work flexible hours, spend time in the field and possibly travel out of state.
- Valid California driver’s license and current automobile insurance.
- Clean driving record and must be insurable by Seneca’s insurance company.
- Clearance of TB test, physical exam, fingerprints, and any other State/Federal requirements.
- Proof of COVID-19 vaccination and booster required.
Schedule
- Full-time
- Monday-Friday: 9am-5pm
Benefits
- Starting at $22.00 per hour. Actual salary is dependent on creditable experience above the minimum qualifications for the role.
- Comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision and chiropractic coverage, and partially paid premiums for dependents.
- 5 weeks of flexible Paid Time Off.
- 403b Retirement Plan.
- Mileage reimbursement.
- Employer-paid Employee Assistance Plan.
- Scholarship opportunities, ongoing training, and professional development opportunities.
Key Words: nonprofit, non-profit, mental health, mental health agency, behavioral health, healthcare, counselor, youth advocate, family advocate, children advocate, youth counselor, adolescent, advocate.