Verificaton Specialist

About CK Family Services 

CK Family Services is the premiere foster care, adoption, and behavioral health organization in North Texas.  For nearly two decades our team of mission-focused professionals has moved the needle in achieving the mission, “People united through God to enhance the physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing of at-risk children and families.”  For more information regarding our work and focus visit www.ckfamilyservices.org.  

Job Summary 

CK Family Services is currently hiring for a Licensing Specialist. As a Licensing Specialist, you will be responsible for reviewing, approving, and/or conducting Home Study Assessments for prospective foster and adoptive families and Home Study Addendums and Updates for verified families. Responsible for providing case management services to assigned families. 

General Responsibilities  

• Maintain Child Placement Management Staff requirements in order to conduct home screenings, assessments and reports ensuring they meet DFPS Minimum Standards, Contracting, YFT Guidelines, and agency requirements.  

• Maintain compliance with all CK Family Services policies, procedures and regulatory requirements including all state and federal laws. Maintain confidentiality as required by government law and regulations. 

• Maintain knowledge of CK Family Services requirements for prospective foster/adoptive families; communicate requirements to families as needed. 

• Maintain professional contact with CK Family Services staff, contracting and program subcontractors. 

• Review, assess, edit and finalize home studies according to the agency’s template, ensuring the study is grammatically accurate and thoroughly represents the family’s dynamics and their ability to partner with CK positively.  Ensure all DFPS Minimum Standards, Contracting, YFT Guidelines and agency requirements are including in the home study as needed.  

• Manage a caseload of identified pre-service families in order to expedite the licensing process.  Communicate with prospective foster/adoptive families, providing support and information as needed through the pre-service process. Tasks include, but are not limited to, regular contact with identified pre-service families through phone calls, emails, or face to face meetings to encourage and support the family during the process.  

• Return phone calls, listen to voicemails and reply to emails within 24-48 business hours.  Ensure automatic reply “out of the office” feature is active when you will be out of the office and provide the information of the person to contact in a case of an emergency. 

• Accurately and thoroughly review, assess and approve assigned applications. Request and follow up on any missing information or requests for records of assigned applications. Return the approved application to the identified Family Quality Specialist within 7 days of assignment from the Licensing Supervisor and if goal cannot be met, inform the Licensing Supervisor and the reasons for the delay. 

• Provide training and support other trainers as needed. Be knowledgeable of the material in the pre-service classes. 

• Travel within Region 3 for trainings, respite studies, home visits, recruitment and community events and other identified items or requests. 

• Licensing Specialists are required to have regular contact with assigned families that are currently in the pre-service process. Contact the families that are on your caseload at least bi-weekly however, preferably on a weekly basis.  

• For the families who are in the homestudy phase of the process, request and obtain any required documentation as needed.  Follow up on any outstanding items from the community, i.e. Therapist Statements. Inform the families where they are in the homestudy process weekly. 

• Complete a home visit to for identified respite providers. Review, assess and complete the Respite Home study ensuring the home is following agency policies and procedures and all required information is included in the study. 

• Ensure ll documentation received from the family and/or home study writer is accurately completed and submitted to the Family Development Assistant upon receipt to ensure a timely licensure. 

• Ensure all timelines are being maintained and tracked for a family who is in the home study phase of the process. Follow-up with writers and other contractor when items have not been received at the designated timeline. 

• Participate in CK Family Services team meetings. 

• Perform all other duties as assigned. 

Qualifications 

• Requires flexibility in scheduling evening and weekend hours. 

• Requires basic understanding of a specialized area within a comprehensive field of knowledge normally acquired through four years of high school; bachelor’s degree required; master’s degree preferred; minimum one year of related experience, plus licensure preferred. 

• Ability to concentrate on fine detail with some interruption; ability to focus attention on tasks for 45-60 minutes at a time on a continuous basis. 

• Professional demeanor and appearance required. Ability to comply with CK Family Services Professional Appearance in the Workplace policy.  

• Ability to communicate effectively with people and to assess family strengths and deficits. 

• Ability to handle multiple tasks; self-starter; energetic; detail–oriented, with good organizational skills. 

• Ability to communicate professionally and effectively, both orally and in writing. 

• Ability to deal with a variety of adults and children with a range of personalities and problems; maintain confidentiality. 

• Personality attuned to the requirements of meeting needs of clients and ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with other employees and the public. 

• Good character, personal attributes and mannerisms to be a good adult role model for clients and their foster families, and as a professional for staff under supervision. 

• Ability to relate to multiple ideas and the concepts/theories behind the ideas; ability to remember multiple verbal and written tasks/assignments over several days, and occasionally up to several months. 

• Perform the physical demands of the position –  

• Ability to use up to 100 pounds of force occasionally, up to 20 pounds of force frequently, and/or up to 10 pounds of force continuously to move objects and/or people;  

• Ability to walk frequently; stand or sit for prolonged periods of time; squat occasionally, climb stairs infrequently, and kneel and twist as needed. 

• Ability to grasp, push, pull, carry or otherwise manipulate objects, ability to perform tasks requiring action of muscles or groups of muscles and foot and/or hand-eye coordination. 

• Sufficient good health to properly fulfill all role responsibilities.  Employees shall not be permitted to work who have infectious diseases or skin lesions for the duration of the communicability. 

• Ability to perform moderately difficult manipulation such as writing, typing, foot and hand-eye coordination required. 

Benefits 

• Medical, dental and vision insurance 

• HRA 

• 401(K) 

• Paid Vacation 

• Paid Holidays 

• Annualized reviews for merit increases 

• Potential for advancement