Visitation Coach

Catawba County Social Services is seeking a compassionate team member to support and enhance the strengths of parents while helping them develop new parenting skills. In this position, you will provide strength-based coaching to parents of children experiencing foster care during supervised visitation. Children enter foster care due to abuse, neglect, and/or dependency. This role is critical to assist families in achieving a permanent plan of reunification.

This position follows a second-shift schedule, typically from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM, making it a great fit for those with daytime commitments. The role requires approximately two weekend shifts per month, scheduled on a rotating basis. Weekend shifts are limited to one day per weekend. This is a full-time position with a total of 40 hours worked per week.

As a visitation coach, you are responsible for transporting children and parents to supervised visitation. A county car is available, and in rare circumstances, you would transport in your own vehicle. The visits are designed to build on parenting skills and reinforce the parent/child relationship. You will provide coaching to parents both before and after to help them build on their parenting skills.

• Provide visitation coaching for parent/child visitations, assisting parents to learn practical behavioral approaches for children through supervision, coaching, modeling, and redirection
• Provide transportation for children and parents to remove barriers and facilitate access to necessary services, such as court-ordered visitation and school.
• Provide case management activities, including but not limited to completion of social histories, calling/interviewing of collateral contacts, evaluation of client situation, and assessment of safety and well-being of the child, participation in Child and Family Team Meetings, informing parents and foster parents of services, and coordinating services when needed
• Complete appropriate and timely documentation in the permanency planning record, including recording all interactions with the child and writing of visitation summaries
• Work with the Permanency Planning team to address any crisis as you are available

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited school of social work or in a human services field; OR
• Bachelor's degree in a non-human services field and 1 year of social work experience

• A valid driver's license with a safe driving record (Driving is an essential function of this position)
• Ability to engage with parents and children with a strength-based approach
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
• Excellent interpersonal and intervention skills
• Ability to work collaboratively with other professionals
• Compassion when working with families and children who are experiencing foster care
• Solid understanding of trauma and how it impacts children and families engaged in the child welfare system
• This is considered light to medium work; lifting up to 40 pounds

Preferences:

• Bachelor's degree in Social Work is strongly preferred.

Catawba County is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Catawba County Benefits
As of 7/1/2024:
You will find that Catawba County has one of the best benefits packages around. Our Human Resources staff are dedicated to keeping in touch with trends in benefits on both a local and national level, listening to employees' suggestions regarding benefits, and continually reviewing to ensure our benefits package is of good quality and meets the needs of both our employees and our organization. Available benefits include:

Health Care

• Health: For a small bi-weekly premium, employees may choose between a traditional (co-pay) health plan and a high deductible health plan coupled with a Health Savings