Fostering Connections is seeking a highly motivated and compassionate individual who will bring knowledge and a firm understanding of the foster care system in Victoria.

Position Summary

The Foster Carer Engagement Specialist will support the strategic direction and goals of the Centre and Fostering Connections. As the key point of contact through which the public reaches Fostering Connections, the role is responsible for providing education and engagement on foster care. The role also supports agencies by providing advice on their recruitment, training and assessment processes, as well as their use of the CRM, and undertakes critical community engagement to support public understandings of foster care. The role contributes expert advice to the Fostering Connections team to ensure campaigns and other work are aligned to sector requirements.

Key Accountabilities

Enquiry Line:

• Responsible for managing all incoming enquiries through enquiry line and website;
• Manage Fostering Connections enquiries so qualified, warm leads are passed to agencies;
• Engage in community education and engagement activities, including public facing events such as Facebook Live;
• Collect and document caller information, explain the foster care referral and accreditation process and appropriately and equitably allocate leads to agencies and;
• Provide feedback on enquiries to the Fostering Connections team and inform future campaigns, community engagement and sector agency strategies;
• Document and lodge calls with Child Protection where appropriate;
• Recognise, document and alert the Senior Manager to trends in caller enquiries and recommend process improvements.
• Use expertise to help produce resources and other supportive materials for the sector and public as required.

Foster Care Agency Support:

• Participate in grassroots events and community building, as well as supporting and participating in targeted community events and engagement activities;
• Support agencies in their use of the CRM including reporting and ensure that data input is robust:
  • Deliver training to agency staff on the use of the CRM
  • Identify and alert the Manager of improvements that could be made to the CRM to assist data input for agencies
• With support from the Manager, develop and lead the data strategy to improve data input and reporting;
• Provide support and advice on recruitment, training and assessment;
• Provide secretariat support for the sector networks meetings, including managing the calendar invites, contact lists, booking presentations, and preparing the agenda and minutes
• Other duties as assigned by the Manager.

Key Selection Criteria

The successful applicant will have:

Knowledge:

• Knowledge of Program Guidelines for Home-Based Care
• Knowledge of CIMS
• Knowledge and understanding of the issues facing community service organisations in the delivery of foster care services.
• A thorough understanding of the issues facing foster care in Victoria.
• End-to-end understanding of the foster care recruitment and accreditation process.

Experience

• Has completed multiple number of completed Step-by-Step Assessments
• Has delivered multiple Shared Lives sessions
• Demonstrated experience in the social services and/or community services sector, particularly foster care.
• Demonstrated skills working directly with clients in a community service and/or foster care environment.
• Demonstrated experience building relationships with stakeholders in a complex environment.

Skills:

• Demonstrated problem solving skills and well-developed time management and organisational skills
• Ability to undertake preliminary, real-time review of foster care enquiries and identify qualified leads for progression, and unsuitable candidates for redirection
• Ability to provide consultation and advice on improving recruitment processes
• Ability to develop and lead community events designed to provide education and grassroots, targeted community engagement
• Ability to engage in public speaking and networking events
• Ability to use a range of software and applications including MS Office suite and customer databases
• Ability to work independently without regular supervision and as part of a team
• Ability to identify sensitive information and maintain appropriate levels of privacy and confidentiality

Qualifications

• Registered Step-by-Step Assessor
• Registered Shared Lives Facilitator
• Relevant tertiary qualification such as Social Work; Youth Work; Psychology; Behavioural Sciences; Early Childhood Development

The Centre is a not-for-profit peak body for child and family service organisations in Victoria and Tasmania. We advocate for children, young people and families and provide training, research and networking opportunities to the sector. We focus on the voices of young people in foster, kinship and residential care in Victoria, as well as working on larger Federal campaigns around equality.

The Centre is committed to being a diverse and inclusive workplace, and to the health, wellbeing and cultural safety of our staff. We encourage applicants of any background, culture, gender, disability and experience to apply – we don’t discriminate.

We strongly encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Fostering Connections Team

Fostering Connections provides a critical service point for the recruitment of foster carers in Victoria, supporting foster care agencies by maintaining a website and 24/7 enquiry line, as well as through campaign and branding to attract qualified carers into the system.

A position description is attached.

To apply for this role

Please click "Apply Now" to email a cover letter outlining your skills and experience which relate to the role description, with your CV and a response to the Key Selection Criteria (maximum 2-pages).

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis as we would like to appoint as soon as possible.

For any further enquiries please email Madeleine Dowling on [email protected] using the subject line: Foster Care Engagement Specialist enquiry via EthicalJobs.

A position description is attached.