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About the Role

Parent Advocates will support parents with children in residential foster care to understand and navigate the foster care system, make decisions for their families, remain hopeful, and address family challenges to achieve reunification. The role focuses on building connections with parents and collaborating with case planners, bringing lived experience to the agency's decision-making process to facilitate quicker and safer reunification.

Responsibilities

• Build trusting relationships and support parents in coping with foster care involvement, decision-making, effective communication, and maintaining relationships with their children.
• Prepare parents for and participate in Family Team Conferences, including Service Plan Review, Trial Discharge, and Final Discharge.
• Report to MST Supervisor and collaborate with case planners and MST Coaches.
• Welcome, prepare, encourage, and support parents to engage in court, home visits, case planning contacts, services, and Family Time.
• Receive training from Rise focusing on healing, self-care, child welfare law, policy, practice, and building support networks.
• Utilize Rise’s TIPS handouts and resources to inform and support parents.
• Facilitate Restorative Justice Peacekeeping Circles for parents and support groups.
• Partner with other foster care agencies to improve case practice and parent engagement in the first 90 days.
• Contribute to defining and achieving success for parent advocate roles in foster care agencies.
• Recognize and celebrate parents' progress toward reunification.
• Encourage parents to engage in supportive interventions and Family Time.
• Assist families in navigating and accessing resources.
• Coach parents to strengthen problem-solving skills, discover strengths, hopes, dreams, and priorities, and elevate their voices.
• Maintain documentation and confidentiality in accordance with ACS, OCFS, and agency requirements.
• Share trends and recurring parent concerns with leadership.
• Perform all other related duties as assigned.
• Bring parent perspective into case discussion and program planning.
• Promote respectful, strength-based, and family-centered communication.

Requirements

• Previous life experience as a parent impacted by the child welfare system, including having a child in foster care or a court-ordered supervision case; other prior child welfare involvement may qualify.
• Previous child welfare cases must be closed for at least one year.
• A natural collaborator.
• Warm, enthusiastic, able to engage and positively impact individuals.
• Sincere appreciation for people and their unique motivations.
• Strong interpersonal skills for parent engagement, sensitive to topics of trauma, stress, and healing.
• Good writing skills.
• Computer skills including Google searches and Microsoft Office.
• Skilled at working in a fast-paced environment on multiple simultaneous projects.
• Passion for parent leadership and preventing child welfare involvement.
• Able to maintain a high level of confidentiality.
• Able to travel extensively to all NYC boroughs.
• Able to uphold the mission and values of St. John's.

Skills

• Interpersonal skills
• Writing skills
• Computer skills
• Google searches
• Microsoft Office
• Working in a fast-paced environment
• Maintaining confidentiality
• Collaboration
• Communication
• Problem-solving

Location

• Brooklyn, NY

Work Type

• Full-time

Experience Level

• Minimum of one year of experience as a Parent Advocate in foster care, preventive, mental health, or family defense agencies, or in coaching/support roles in community organizations or schools.
• High School Diploma or GED.
• Experience holding challenging conversations and facilitating meetings.

Education Level

• High School Diploma or GED

About the Company

• Founded in 1826, St. John’s is a nonprofit social services agency providing residential care to New York City youth involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
• Offers holistic, trauma-informed support to young people up to age 21.
• Main campus in Rockaway Park, Queens, includes a Residential Treatment Center, Close to Home Non-Secure Placement programs, administrative offices, clinical services, and an on-site NYC Department of Education school.
• Operates a Non-Secure Detention residence in Richmond Hill and Limited Secure Placement programs in Brooklyn and Staten Island.
• Dedicated to helping youth heal, grow, and build skills for their goals and return to family or a stable, supportive environment as engaged community members.

Equal Opportunity

• St. John’s and Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York have a long-standing history of serving children, youth, adults, and families of color.
• Mission, vision, and values are grounded in elevating the shared humanity of every staff member, community partner, and those with whom they engage.
• Committed to continuous evolution in DEIB work, striving for equity and inclusion for individuals of all races, ethnicities, genders, sexualities, ages, abilities, religions, and lived experiences.