Home Study Practitioner (CF)

Catholic Social Services is currently seeking a Contract full time, 40 hours per week, Home Study Practitioner in EDMONTON to join our team. Providing excellent client-centered care, you are confident, thoughtful, and motivated to achieve success when supporting others in your community.

Program Overview:     

The Independent Home Study Practitioner (IHSP) is responsible for writing Structured Analysis Family Evaluation (SAFE) home studies for Children, Family and Community Service. This is an Independent Sub-Contractor role in which the individual would not be directly employed with the Agency but would sub-contract his/her services.

Projects/Programs

This position involves writing assessments for individuals wishing to become kinship caregivers, foster parents, private guardians or adoptive parents. The IHSP is familiar with family dynamics, trauma, child development, therapeutic issues, has the ability to formulate an assessment and is able to write a comprehensive report. The IHSP has strong assessment skills, connects with a diverse population with ease, has solid writing skills and has a strong capacity for conflict resolution. This position demands close attention to detail and superior time management skills.

Job Summary:

Primary job duties may include but are not limited to:

• Reviewing files
• Establishing rapport with applicants quickly
• Interviewing adults and children
• Interviewing child intervention practitioner and support workers
• Completing reference checks
• Engaging in consultations with the supervisor
• Travel to remote locations
• Notetaking
• Writing the SAFE home study and editing it
• Participating in appeals if necessary

What This Job Requires:

• Social Work Degree or equivalent; equivalencies need to be approved by the funder
• 3 years of experience working in the human services sector
• Registration in a professional association is mandatory. 
• General Liability Insurance in accordance with the Alberta Insurance Act, in an amount not less than $2,000,000 inclusive per occurrence, insuring against bodily injury, personal injury and property damage, including loss of use thereof

Skills and Abilities:

• Strong knowledge of best practice, procedures and policy within the Agency
• Effective communication with professionals and clients
• Strong presentation, written, and verbal skills
• Maintain and preserve confidentiality due to sensitive personal information
• Capable of interviewing, sometimes with frequent interruptions
• Ability to talk in depth about sensitive issues with clients
• Work independently with minimal supervision
• Highly organized and attention to detail
• Assesses families thoroughly
• Works well under pressure and meets set deadlines
• Competent working with Microsoft Office

CORE COMPETENCIES

Communication: Express and transmit information with clarity, using active listening techniques in order to effectively understand and provide feedback, summarizing information according to the audience in order to promote engagement and increase understanding.

Critical Thinking: Apply systematic, logical reasoning when assessing families, their problems, environment or situations in order to derive conclusions that evaluate a family’s ability to care for traumatized children. Also to consider various issues, components of problems or family dynamics and to understand how to evaluate applicants based on the SAFE Desk Guide criteria.

Decision Making: Make concrete, well-informed and thought-out assessments and recommendations to determine whether or not individuals/families are capable of caring for traumatized children. It is important to include the supervisor in this process through regular consultations.  When an unfavorable recommendation is made, it is vital to ensure that issues have been explored thoroughly and to deliver the non-recommendation with compassion and dignity.

Networking and Relationship Building: Effectively and quickly build rapport with clients. To engage in professional relationships with caseworkers and support workers.

Problem Solving: Able to break a situation down into smaller components to identify key issues that will affect the client’s ability to parent traumatized children. Understand how to rate concerns and issues according to the SAFE Desk Guide and have an ability to mitigate issues with rational and deductive reasoning. In addition, it is important to be able to resolve interpersonal conflict with applicants who are resistant to sharing information or who disagree with the HSP’s assessment.

Teamwork: Work cooperatively and effectively with the supervisor and have the capacity to work independently. 

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Minimum disadvantages
• Manual dexterity required to use desktop computer, laptop, and peripherals
• Travel required
• Required to conduct interviews in client’s homes
• Flexibility in work schedule (early or late hours & weekends) as needed
• No guarantee of work

PHYSICAL & MENTAL DEMANDS

• Little or no heavy physical exertion
• Requires considerable visual attention and mental concentration

MANDATORY TRAINING

• SAFE Training

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

• Satisfactory Security checks including Police (CPIC) and Child Intervention Check (renewals required every three years)
• Transportation to meet with clients in different locations (A vehicle and valid driver’s license is required)
• Social Work Degree or equivalency approved by the funder
• Professional Liability Insurance
• looking for home Practitioner who reside in Northern Alberta in locations such as Fort MacMurray, High Level, Peace River, Grande Prairie, Slave Lake, St. Paul, Edson, Hinton, Jasper or other rural areas, not including Edmonton or areas south of Edmonton

We thank all applicants. Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

We embrace diversity and offer equal opportunities to all qualified applicants regardless of origin, culture, ethnicity, age, ability, gender identity, and people of faith or no faith.