Overview
Join Our Mission to Transform Lives
About the Program
We intervene upstream by teaming up with families to stay together. Families in crisis are often facing real-world stressors, such as poverty. But the right combination of supports when they need it most can help build bridges to brighter days.
Through our Support & Stabilization program, we provide intensive in-home supports to families involved with the Department of Children and Families (DCF) who are working to maintain or regain custody of their children. We provide services to alleviate the crises that brought them there, so that more families can stay intact and fewer children are placed into foster care.
Who We Are Looking For
We are seeking a compassionate, resourceful Support and Stabilization Specialist to join our dedicated team. The ideal candidate brings creativity, cultural sensitivity, and a strengths-based approach to their work, adapting seamlessly to meet diverse treatment goals—whether facilitating family reunification or establishing permanency plans. Your ability to build trusting relationships while maintaining professional boundaries will empower families to achieve meaningful, sustainable progress toward stability and well-being. If you’re passionate about making a lasting difference in the lives of vulnerable families and thrive in a collaborative, mission-driven environment, we want to meet you.
The Impact You’ll Create
The Support and Stabilization Specialist is a member of the child/family team, collaborating internally with HopeWell Clinical and Supervisory staff as well as with DCF in a shared vision using a child-centered, family-focused, trauma-informed approach. Support and Stabilization Specialists do this by providing therapeutic interventions when paired with a Clinician, advocacy, guidance, and community connections. They carry caseloads of children and youth at risk of experiencing or placed in foster care and families involved with DCF based on the needs of the program. Support and Stabilization Specialists are responsible for ensuring the safety and well-being of those they support, in accordance with HopeWell Policy, DCF policies, and DEEC. regulations.
Your Impact Will Include (Job Responsibilities)
- Provide in-person in home and community-based based clinically supportive services, skills, and guidance for the caseload of children, adolescents, and families
- Conduct ongoing assessments and evaluations of children’s and families’ strengths, progress, and needs
- In conjunction with the treatment team, develop strength-based treatment plans and safety plans as needed for each child or family, outlining specific goals, objectives, and evidence-based therapeutic interventions
- In cases where the service delivery calls for a team approach, act as the secondary HopeWell team lead to ensure a safe, affirming environment is established and maintained for all youth served
- Maintain case files and documentation for children, foster families, and biological families in accordance with state regulations and agency policies
- Develop a working knowledge of community resources and make referrals and connections on behalf of those served
- Assist caregivers in navigating systems, to promote their awareness of resources and access to supports
- Collaborate with DCF, community organizations, and service providers as appropriate
- Attend all necessary meetings, including but not limited to Foster Care Reviews, treatment planning meetings, and intake and discharge planning meetings
- Provide transportation for persons served to visits, appointments, court, meetings, etc., as needed
- Participate in the after-hours on-call system on a rotating basis. This may occasionally include an emergency in-person response outside of business hours
- Provide all pertinent paperwork, receipts, and necessary information to ensure timely and accurate processing of billing, reimbursements, client support expenses, purchases, etc.
- Participate in weekly supervision, staff meetings, and required trainings
The Expertise We Can’t Do Without (Qualifications)
- BA degree in social work, counseling, psychology, marriage and family, or related discipline.
- Minimum of 1 year in a clinical setting working with children, adolescents, and families with severe behavioral, social, and emotional difficulties
Additional Skills That Set You Apart (Competencies)
- Demonstrated experience working with children, adolescents, and families, including experience navigating children’s systems and supports within the community
- Knowledge of and training in child development, children’s mental health, family systems, and therapeutic interventions
- Capacity to be nonjudgmental in interacting with families involved in child welfare
- Ability to support families in developing their strengths to problem-solve and develop practical skills
- Ability to establish trusting relationships through compassion, empathy, and insight
- Demonstrated sensitivity to the needs of families from diverse cultural or linguistic backgrounds
- Proficient in basic computer skills and Microsoft Office. Ability to navigate and document in clinical computerized patient care records
- Ability to work in predominantly home-based and community-based settings where there may be possible environmental exposures, including pets
- Effective teamwork and collaboration skills
Other Essential Requirements
- Clearing of background checks as required by state and federal law
- Must remain current in all required trainings and licensure requirements
- Access to an automobile is required as is a valid Driver’s License
- Staff schedules can shift over time as youth needs, staff caseloads, and program needs change
- Some evening and weekend work as well as occasional in person emergency response outside of business hours may be required
- Other duties as assigned to support quality care