Licensing and Home Study Manager

Job Description
Essential Duties and Responsibilities: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the following satisfactorily; other duties may be assigned. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 
Management
Manage licensing and home study services at Amara.
Manage a team of Specialists that work across Amara’s licensed caregiver service area to meet programmatic need.
Manage, support, and develop the Licensing and Home Study team, including recruitment and retention, hiring, orientation, supervision, evaluation, and promotion of staff.
Provide one-on-one and group supervision, utilizing reflective supervision skills to develop clinical knowledge and skills, promote self-awareness, encourage collaboration amongst team members, and ensure consistent communication between staff and leadership.
Assess strengths and needs of staff; support and facilitate ongoing professional development. Monitor professional practices, ensuring compliance with local jurisdiction and agency goals, values, policies, and procedures.
Monitor, manage and assign staff caseloads ensuring that services provided are high quality, consistent, and responsive to child and family needs.
Review, assess, and edit work products such as home studies, home study updates and amendments, license renewals/modifications created by Specialists.
Identify, recommend, and implement program and process improvements in concert with team feedback/guidance.
Provide ad-hoc consultation to members of the Licensing and Home Study team as needed.
Attend and participate in staff meetings and trainings as required, including in-person meetings in either Pierce County or King County offices.
At the direction of the Director of Resource Care:Support the development of the Resource Care annual budget and provide ongoing monitoring of identified budget items.
Review, allocate, and approve program-related expenses.
Complete data-tracking metrics and reports and highlight successes and challenges as identified.
Maintain strong ethical boundaries and ensure staff are adhering to their professional code of conduct.
Direct Service
Complete initial home studies and required documentation to license kinship and foster families.
Conduct licensing investigations regarding Amara licensed families.
Complete tasks associated with license renewals, modifications, and maintenance in collaboration with the Placement team members.
Guide kinship and foster families through the home study process. This includes writing home studies and licensing new families as time allows.
Meet requirements for timely, accurate, and thorough documentation for case files.
Partnership/Engagement
Inform and facilitate family workshops, information meetings, support groups, and community events as needed.
Collaborate with staff and managers in other Amara programs as needed to ensure appropriate cross-program referrals and consistent service delivery.
Be an active participant on the Foster Care Leadership team; inform and enact the effective implementation of Amara’s Foster Care programming.
Competencies: To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following:
Initiative in identifying areas of program growth/improvement, advocating for and implementing needed changes.
An ability to elicit ideas/feedback from others for clinical staffings and personal growth; contributes ideas in group settings; demonstrates awareness of other’s participation in ratio to their own
Able to critique one’s own work and utilize colleagues and supervisor as checks to ensure ethical decisions are being made.
Generates a positive work environment and help to motivate others.
A team member with a respectful and accessible approach to their work who is comfortable with situations of ambiguity and able to relate to a wide range of clients and team members.
A highly competent team player who is energized by Amara’s mission and the array of expanded services that the organization is providing.
Supervisory Responsibilities:  This position will directly oversee any Home Study and Licensing Specialists that are programmatically necessary.