Intact Specialist

Brightpoint (formerly known as Children’s Home & Aid) invites you to join our team of mission-driven staff who share a common vision: an equitable world where all children and families thrive in strong communities. As a leader in the human services sector for 140 years, we aim to advance the well-being of children by investing in families and strengthening communities through data-informed, collaborative, and preventative solutions.

The Intact Specialist is a critical member of the region’s child welfare team, working collaboratively within and across programs to ensure a relentless focus on keeping children safe and supporting families, consistent with our agency's Blueprint for Impact, which includes replacing what we currently think of as child welfare services with what we know to be child, family, and community well-being solutions. The Intact Family Services program provides families with intensive, trauma-informed case management services using Solution-Based Casework (SBC), an evidence-informed casework model of partnering with families to help them reach their goals. As an Intact Specialist, you will work collaboratively with a reduced case load of families who have an allegation of abuse or neglect and are at risk of having their children removed from the home as well as providing supplemental services to families assigned to Advanced and Lead Specialists. Case management services include assessing the needs of children and families and helping to plan services, establishing collaborative relationships with service providers and institutions that play a role in the family’s situation, monitoring the family’s progress towards their goals and providing testimony in the Juvenile Court System regarding the best interest of children and families. With support from your supervisor and the Lead Specialist on your team, you will be supported in developing the required competencies to be promoted into an Advanced Specialist position within 6-12 months of hire.  

Candidate qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work or a closely related field required.
• Child Welfare Employee License (CWEL), Child Endangerment Risk Assessment Protocol (CERAP), and Child Abuse and Neglect (CANS) certification required, or the ability to obtain within 90 days of hire.
• Experience providing collaborative, strength-based services to kids and families preferred.
• Ability to attend in-person meetings and events as needed required.
• Valid driver's license, insurance, and a reliable vehicle required.

Job details:

• Compensation: $50,336/annual ($55,336/annual for qualified English/Spanish bilingual candidates).
• Additional Compensation: One-time $3,000 CWEL recognition payment (issued 60 days after hire or 60 days after issue date).
• Opportunity for Promotion: Eligibility for promotion into an Advanced Specialist role within 6-12 months of hire which includes a salary increase.
• Benefits: Medical/dental/vision insurance, 3+ weeks paid time off in the first year including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day (PTO increases with tenure); 11 paid holidays, supplemental insurance options, 401(k) with match (more benefits details here).
• Location: Hybrid (remote/in office); majority of your time will be spent in Cook County completing home visits to foster homes or meeting with clients in an agency office or community setting, with other opportunities to complete service documentation and other case coordination from your preferred location (in office, or remotely).
• Schedule: Full-time, salaried; general business hours with some flexibility required for accommodating client’s schedules and special projects. On call responsibilities on a shared rotation.  
• Student Loan Forgiveness: Brightpoint is an approved agency for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

Where you work matters. 

We believe that by building diverse and inclusive teams of passionate advocates for youth and families, we can continue to show up for Illinois families, putting those families at the center of every decision, and strengthening the communities where we all work, play, and live together. (More about who we are here.) 

We invite you to become an active member of a team that supports, inspires, and challenges each other, and grow your career in an organization that celebrates emerging leaders and provides development and learning opportunities aligned with your individual goals and aspirations. If you are looking for an opportunity to do meaningful work, including raising your unique and authentic voice to disrupt the systemic inequality impacting children and families, we encourage you to apply today.   

Click here to review our agency’s Blueprint for Impact.

Brightpoint is committed to the principles of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action. All employment activities are conducted in an equal and equitable fashion. The Agency prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender, age, religion, disability, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, parental status, veteran status, source of income, and any other legally protected category in the recruitment, selection, hiring, determination of salary level and benefits, promotion, demotion, layoff, termination, and other terms and conditions of employment.