State-Wide Adoption Network (SWAN) Consultant

Overview: Level Experienced Position Type Contractor Job Shift Day Category Admin - Clerical

Description: State-Wide Adoption Network (SWAN) Consultant(Independent Contractor) Under the direction of the Permanency Leadership Team the SWAN Consultant is responsible for completing units of services referred through the Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network (SWAN). The SWAN Consultant provides comprehensive case management and advocacy to individuals and families pursuing permanency. The SWAN Consultant provides prospective permanency families with expert consultation and training with regards to the adoption/permanency process. The SWAN Consultant assists in ensuring continuous program compliance with external licensing and regulatory agencies and assists the administrative staff in program development, implementation and evaluation. The SWAN Consultant is responsible for consistent outreach/communication with DHS/CUA/SWAN and consistent updates to associated benchmarks of all accepted SWAN services. The SWAN Consultant carries a caseload of five or more SWAN units of service, which consist of a combination of all the services the worker is eligible to complete (i.e. – Child Profiles, Child Preparation, Child Specific Recruitment, Family Profiles, and Adoption Finalization). The caseloads are developed based on the following criteria: the qualifications and competencies of the worker, the complexity and status of the case, services provided by other professionals, and/or other organizational responsibilities/client needs.

Child Profile: Child profiles are comprehensive summaries of a child's life history. It provides detail from the child's birth up into current history including medical information, placement history, birth family information, education, and current permanency goal. Child profiles are referred for children who have been in care for six months or longer and are available to youth after they turn 18 years.

Family Profile: A family profile which is also referred to as a home study is completed once a family has been identified as a permanency resource either through PLC (permanent legal custodianship) or adoption. A comprehensive history of the family is gathered and includes family history, employment history, background checks, character references, and information related to why the family wants to pursue permanency.

Adoption Finalization: Adoption finalization services are utilized by families who are in the last step of the adoption process. This service monitors the adoptive family and child until the adoption is finalized. The permanency worker completes monthly home visits and ensures that the adoption attorney is selected and has all necessary documents. This service lasts up to six months but can be shorter or longer depending on the finalization date.

Child Preparation: Child preparation services help the child process reasons that may have led to their placement in foster or kinship care and allows them to gather some of their family history, answers their questions, and brings closure to some areas of their life. This service can be referred to multiple times, lasts six months and results with the child having a Lifebook. Child Specific Recruitment (CSR)CSR is requested for children who have no identified family resource or permanency connections. CSR can help identify and develop connections and support for older youth as they transition into young adulthood. All children referred for CSR must be registered with the Pennsylvania Adoption Exchange (PAE) if their goal is adoption. CSR is a six-month unit of service that can be re-referred an unlimited number of times based on the child's needs. A Second Chance is an Equal Opportunity Employer All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin or ancestry, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, familial status, age (40 or over), or use of a guide or support animal because of blindness, deafness or physical disability of any individual or independent contractor or because of the disability of an individual with whom the person is known to have an association; or on any other basis prohibited by federal, state, or local law.

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