Foster Care - Family First Advocate

NAYA Family Center seeks a community oriented and experienced foster care or social services professional to help serve our community as our Foster Care, Family First Advocate. As part of the Foster Care program this individual is responsible for case management of families with children ages 0-8 who are either engaged with or working to avoid engagement with both state and tribal interventions. This position entails working collaboratively in a team setting providing, case management duties that involve advocacy and attention to the multiple needs of both the youth and their families as they relate to child development, child abuse prevention, substance use disorders, treatment support, access to behavioral health services, and other wrap around services in order to support our community and family needs in a culturally responsive manner. 

 NAYA recognizes 14 paid holidays per fiscal year. Additional paid time off  includes accruals of sick and vacation hours; vacation time is based on tenure  with the agency. NAYA also provides medical, dental, and vision insurance, a  Flexible Spending Account, and Life Insurance. Employees may enroll in a 401K retirement plan after 3 months of employment and NAYA will match employee contribution to their 401K, up to 6%. 

This is a full-time role with work hours of 9 am to 6 pm with a one hour unpaid lunch. Once training and onboarding are complete, there may be flexibility to work from home 1-2 days / week. Starting pay is $25/hour which is equivalent to $52,000 annually. 

What you'll do:

•  Maintain ongoing relationships and contact with youth and families on caseloads, providing a full range of professional foster care related services 
•  Assess client needs; make independent decisions about how to provide support for youth and families in or connected to Foster Care including access to early childhood programs and resources as applicable.  
• Develop and maintain resource lists and their processes to access resources for Native youth and their families in the areas of education, academic support, or accommodations. 
• Provide training with the Positive Indian Parenting model and provide home visiting services to participating families 
• Collaborate with local and state public, private and tribal social services agencies to meet the needs of youth and their families as they navigate educational, and services related systems.  
• Maintain excellent Case Management procedures (including a comprehensive client database) in compliance with funding sources, utilizing strength-based interventions, and priorities of the Family Services Director and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). 
• Disburse client assistance funds, support services, youth bus tickets and school supplies in compliance with funding sources and Family Services Director and the CEO’s priorities. 
• Attend court proceedings, case planning and family decision meetings with the family. 

Who you are:

• A minimum of two (2) years experience in human services with low income and culturally diverse populations.
• Bachelor of Social Work, or more than two years of experience in human services and early childhood education.
• Ability to work with diverse populations specifically the urban Native population, including knowledge of  Native American history, an understanding of the diversity of the local American Indian/Alaskan Native  community and issues surrounding the Urban Indian experience.  
• Ability and experience working with the Indian Child Welfare Act and the Department of Human Services. 
• You are a detail orientated activist with excellent verbal and written communication skills, you bring a knowledge of community resources and emergency services, and have the time management to manage multiple caseloads and competing priorities effectively.

Read the full job description.

Questions? Want to chat about this role before you decide to apply? Contact Elisha Big Back, Foster Care Services Manager or NAYA HR at jobs@nayapdx.org.