Peer Support Specialist (Support and Stabilization Program)-Bilingual Required
Job Description
Job Description
The Agency: Founded in 1873, Bridges Homeward has evolved over time into a group of dynamic, highly dedicated, mission driven professionals meeting the current needs of the Greater Boston community. Bridges Homeward is committed to strengthening and advocating for diversity, equity and inclusion, for our staff and those we serve. Bridges Homeward, and our staff are dedicated as individuals and as a community, to continually seek to advance racial equity initiatives to address long-standing systemic racial biases and discrimination in our society. Our goal for every person we work with is for them to find permanency; a healthy, nurturing relationship with an adult that they can count on for the rest of their life. Sometimes, permanency in our work means making sure a child can remain with their biological family; sometimes it means ensuring someone with a developmental disability can live with family instead of having to move to an institutional setting; sometimes it means finding a child in foster care a forever family and for other youth it means having a safe, secure parenting relationship with a supportive adult. Believing in proper work/life balance and self-care Bridges Homeward operates on a 33.5 hour full time work week!
PURPOSE & SCOPE: The Peer Support Specialist is a member of Bridges Homeward Family Support and Stabilization team serving families, children and youth referred by the Department of Children and Families, or other community providers.
The Support and Stabilization Program's goals are to:
- Provide a range of interventions aimed at supporting family capacity to safely care for children in order to prevent out-of-home placement of children and youth, or to support return of children and youth to their families;
- Mediate and support families in resolving conflicts;
- Support and educate parents to enhance their capacity to care for their children.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Peer Support Specialist is a trained paraprofessional with relevant lived experience* who assists caregivers with building their capacity to keep children safe and stable in a family based setting, or prepare for reunification from an out of home placement.
The Peer Support Specialist
- Utilizes the Protective Factors Framework to provide in home services in order to support families in increasing resiliencies, resources, knowledge, skills and support systems
- Collaborates with parents, children, DCF staff, Lead Agencies, community resources and Bridges Homeward staff in developing plans specifying resources and services needed, making referrals, and monitoring service provision;
- Maintains regular contact with collaborating partners; sending weekly progress reviews
- Maintains complete, detailed, timely and accurate records; including weekly notes, treatment planning, progress reviews and assessments
- Completes weekly home visits aimed at increasing caregiver's capacity to prevent out of home placement, or prepare for reunification including child proofing home, locating and communicating with medical and school , and practicing behavior supports and management
- Utilizes Permanency Best Practice interventions to create safety plan, locate alternative caregivers, and increase support systems.
- Engages in weekly supervision with supervisor
- All other duties as assigned
REQUIRED EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:
- Relevant lived experience required for this role. includes but not limited to lived experience with :
- The child welfare system
- Children of family members with serious mental or emotional challenges
- Children or family members with disabilities
- LGBTQIA+ children or family members
- Immigration
- Homelessness
- Domestic or intimate partner violence
- Teenaged or very young parents
- Single parent
- Parenting adolescents exhibiting risky and/or challenging behaviors and
- Being a foster or kinship caregiver
- Bilingual required. We are seeking candidates that speak English and at least one of the following languages: Spanish, Portuguese, and/or Haitian Creole.
- 2-5 years related experience preferred
Other requirements:
- Valid driver's license and properly insured vehicle