BASIC FUNCTION
The Area Director serves as the designated Program Director for the assigned branch office and is responsible for the overall administration, supervision, compliance, service quality, and operational performance of the branch. The position oversees case management, foster home recruitment and retention, foster home verification, caregiver support, placement stability, crisis response, and implementation of the agency’s Treatment Model. The Area Director ensures continuous coverage of required branch functions, including case management, kinship caregiver support, kinship aftercare, and foster home verification, by providing direct or backup services as needed. The position collaborates with agency leadership and assigned staff to maintain child safety, caregiver stability, regulatory compliance, and timely delivery of required services.
ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS
Branch Compliance and Supervision
· Serves as the designated Program Director for the assigned branch office and oversees daily branch operations, staffing, service delivery, and compliance.
· Ensures required branch office hours are maintained and arranges appropriate staff coverage during employee absences, meetings, travel, and other interruptions to normal office operations.
· Ensures branch operations comply with applicable federal, state, and local laws; Minimum Standards; DFPS, T3C, SSCC, YFT, and Joint Commission requirements; contractual obligations; and Children’s Hope policies and procedures.
· Implements and supports Children’s Hope’s mission, philosophy, evidence-informed Treatment Model, and trauma-informed approach throughout branch operations and service delivery.
· Communicates applicable regulatory, contractual, policy, and procedural changes to assigned staff and monitors timely implementation.
· Supervises assigned Foster Care Specialists, Foster Home Developers, interns, volunteers, and other designated branch personnel.
· Provides regular individual and team supervision, establishes performance expectations, assigns responsibilities, monitors completion of work, and documents supervision in accordance with agency requirements.
· Ensures assigned employees meet applicable education, experience, credentialing, designation, background-check, and training requirements before independently performing assigned duties.
· Monitors employee completion of required pre-service, annual, position-specific, regulatory, contractual, and agency training.
· Monitors appropriate staffing levels, employee-to-child ratios, caseload assignments, workload distribution, and initiates backup coverage necessary to provide required services.
· Monitors employee performance and reviews assigned work for accuracy, timeliness, quality, and compliance, providing feedback and ensuring identified deficiencies are corrected promptly.
· Provides coaching, training, professional development, feedback, and progressive accountability to strengthen employee performance and service quality.
· Promptly addresses and escalates employee conduct, performance, safety, or compliance concerns in accordance with agency policy.
· Ensures individuals who may pose a risk to children are not permitted unauthorized access to children, foster homes, confidential information, or agency operations.
· Ensures required branch reports, personnel documentation, supervisory records, timekeeping records, travel documentation, and other operational submissions are accurate and completed within established timeframes.
· Prepares and submits accurate weekly capacity reports to the Placement Coordinator, including available homes, pending admissions and discharges, service-package credentials, caregiver limitations, and availability to provide additional services.
· Maintains communication with the agency Administrator regarding branch performance, staffing needs, significant incidents, compliance concerns, service barriers, and matters requiring agency-level action.
· Maintains branch readiness for licensing inspections, contract monitoring, Joint Commission accreditation reviews, stakeholder audits, and other external oversight activities; prepares required records and staff; assists in facilitating reviews; and ensures timely completion of corrective actions.
· Participates in the grievance and complaint process involving children, caregivers, employees, applicants, or other involved parties and ensures concerns are documented, addressed, and escalated as required.
· Maintains a safe, secure, accessible, and professional branch environment; identifies and addresses workplace hazards; protects confidential records and information; and ensures staff follow applicable safety and emergency procedures.
Case Management and Risk Mitigation
· Oversees case management, Service Planning, and delivery of authorized services for all children, youth, and young adults assigned to the branch.
· Provides required supervision to Case Management Staff and other child-placing staff, including case consultation, professional guidance, review of child-placing activities, and corrective direction when necessary.
· Monitors case records, assigned tasks, due dates, service authorizations, required contacts, and documentation to ensure services are completed accurately and within applicable timeframes.
· Reviews and approves comprehensive diagnostic assessments, Service Plans, Service Plan reviews, and other assigned case-management records for quality, individualization, completeness, and compliance.
· Ensures assessments and Service Plans incorporate the most current CANS 3.0 Assessment, available evaluations, child and family input, authorized Service Package, identified strengths and needs, permanency goals, and required service type, frequency, and duration.
· Makes Continued Stay determinations using current case information provided by the Foster Care Specialist, treatment team, and other applicable service providers.
· Monitors required child and foster home contacts, home visits, supervision notes, family engagement, treatment-team participation, and communication with managing conservators and other involved parties.
· Conducts and participates in scheduled and unannounced audit and support visits, including required supervisory visits and risk-based follow-up, to assess child safety, caregiver support and satisfaction, service implementation, Foster Care Specialist performance, foster home compliance, and placement stability and ensures identified concerns receive timely follow-up.
· Completes a monthly risk assessment and analysis of verified foster homes by reviewing incidents, allegations, complaints, deficiencies, placement disruptions, documentation concerns, caregiver support needs, and other indicators of risk; documents findings; triages identified concerns; assigns appropriate responses; and monitors corrective actions through resolution.
· Oversees Education Liaison and Cross-System Coordination activities to ensure children receive necessary educational, medical, dental, behavioral health, developmental, disability, and community-based services.
· Monitors whether authorized services are accessed and delivered as planned and ensures barriers, denials, service gaps, and unmet needs are addressed or escalated promptly.
· Participates in Service Plan meetings, clinical staffings, permanency meetings, court hearings, educational meetings, and other case-related meetings when supervisory involvement is necessary.
· Serves as backup Case Management Staff, as assigned, to ensure continuity of required contacts, Service Planning, coordination, documentation, and child-specific services when the primary Foster Care Specialist is unavailable.
· Maintains awareness of caregiver stress, child safety concerns, unmet service needs, and other factors that may affect placement stability and coordinates timely intervention with the Foster Care Specialist, caregiver, Treatment Director, Placement Coordinator, and other involved parties.
· Oversees and participates in the development, implementation, monitoring, and revision of individualized child and foster home safety plans and ensures plans are appropriate, clearly communicated, properly supervised, and responsive to identified risks.
· Uses reported and observed case information to advocate for appropriate outcomes for children and foster homes while balancing child safety, caregiver support, placement stability, individual rights, and agency compliance.
· Maintains 24-hour availability for branch-level crisis consultation and escalation and provides caregivers and staff with coaching, de-escalation support, stabilization assistance, and direction consistent with agency policy and the child’s individualized plans.
· Ensures crises, serious incidents, suspected safety threats, placement disruptions, and other reportable events receive an immediate and appropriate response, including required notifications, documentation, follow-up, and supervisory review.
· Conducts post-incident and post-crisis reviews to identify contributing factors, ongoing safety needs, corrective actions, and necessary changes to services, supervision, or support.
· Notifies and coordinates with the Placement Coordinator regarding anticipated discharges, placement instability, potential disruptions, emergency placement needs, and other circumstances affecting branch capacity or continuity of care.
· Provides branch-level oversight of planned and unplanned discharge and transition activities to ensure timely coordination, required team participation, continuity of care, and appropriate transfer of information, records, medications, belongings, appointments, educational needs, and services.
· Reviews discharge and transition documentation for accuracy, completeness, timeliness, and compliance and ensures identified deficiencies or outstanding responsibilities are resolved.
· Maintains effective communication with DFPS, SSCCs, CASA, attorneys, schools, providers, caregivers, relatives, and other treatment-team members regarding significant case needs, barriers, safety concerns, and required actions.
· Maintains primary branch-level accountability for monitoring child safety, caregiver success, continued foster home suitability, and placement stability and ensures identified risks and support needs receive timely and appropriate intervention.
Foster Family Home Recruitment and Retention
· Oversees foster family recruitment, verification, development, support, and retention activities for the assigned branch and monitors progress toward established branch goals.
· Coordinates local recruitment and outreach activities with the Placement Coordinator, Foster Home Developer, Foster Care Specialists, and other assigned staff to support the development of qualified foster, adoptive, and kinship homes.
· Assigns applicant families to appropriate staff, monitors progress throughout the verification process, and ensures delays, barriers, suitability concerns, and outstanding requirements are addressed promptly.
· Oversees initial screening requirements for Phase I of Verification, completing these activities directly in the absence of a Foster Home Developer.
· Oversees required Phase II verification activities, including applicant contacts and home visits, pre-service training, collection of demographic and household documentation, background checks, health and fire inspections, development of home-specific plans and materials, resolution of Initial Foster Home Inspection findings, and preparation for the home screening and verification decision; completes these activities directly in the absence of a Foster Care Specialist.
· Oversees Phase III verification, including completion and review of the cumulative verification record, home screening, supporting documentation, outstanding corrective actions, service-package credentialing, and other requirements necessary to determine the home’s readiness for verification; completes these activities directly in the absence of a Foster Home Developer.
· Ensures verified homes maintain required documentation, training, inspections, background-check eligibility, service-package credentials, and ongoing compliance with Minimum Standards, contractual requirements, and agency policy.
· Oversees caregiver retention efforts, including regular support, training, coaching, recognition, resource connection, respite or Intermittent Alternative Care, responsiveness to concerns, and assistance with child-specific and home-specific needs.
· Conducts periodic audit visits with caregivers to evaluate satisfaction, confirm that services and agency support are provided consistently with agency expectations, identify unmet needs or concerns, and ensure timely follow-up.
· Monitors caregiver engagement, satisfaction, support utilization, and continued commitment to fostering and ensures identified retention concerns receive timely intervention.
· Identifies foster homes requiring a Development and Support Plan; develops or directs development of the plan with applicable staff and caregivers; and monitors assigned actions, supervision requirements, progress, and resolution of identified concerns.
· Reviews and ensures the accuracy and timely submission of foster home reimbursement documentation, including nights in care, caregiver expense requests, and other applicable payment records, and coordinates correction of identified discrepancies.
· Reviews and coordinates decisions regarding agency-imposed restrictions, corrective action plans, inactive status, reactivation, withdrawal, or closure of foster homes in accordance with identified safety, compliance, performance, and caregiver-support needs.
· Monitors recruitment, verification, retention, closure, and usable-capacity data to identify barriers, trends, staffing needs, and opportunities to strengthen the branch’s foster home network.
· Understands the rights, responsibilities, and limitations of caregivers and advocates appropriately while maintaining child safety and agency compliance.
Kinship Caregiver Support Services
· Oversees the provision of Kinship Caregiver Support Services within the assigned branch, completing these services directly in the absence of a Foster Home Developer.
· Oversees completion of required kinship caregiver assessments and the development, implementation, monitoring, and revision of individualized support plans in collaboration with the caregiver, child, Foster Care Specialist, managing conservator, and other applicable team members.
· Ensures required contact with kinship caregivers is completed and documented to assess adjustment, stability, satisfaction, strengths, barriers, and emerging support needs and to coordinate timely follow-up.
· Oversees required quarterly supervisory visits to kinship foster homes and reviews corresponding documentation for completeness and compliance with Minimum Standards; conducts and documents these visits directly in the absence of a Foster Home Developer.
· Provides or coordinates training, coaching, resource navigation, peer support, respite or Intermittent Alternative Care, community services, and other supports necessary to promote caregiver stability and continued placement.
· Assists kinship caregivers in understanding and navigating verification requirements, agency expectations, available financial assistance, child-specific services, permanency planning, and other applicable systems and resources.
· Advocates for kinship caregivers and children by communicating identified needs, barriers, and requested supports to the Foster Care Specialist, DFPS or the SSCC, service providers, and other applicable team members.
· Monitors caregiver stress, placement-stability concerns, unmet needs, and other risks affecting caregiver success and coordinates appropriate intervention or escalation.
· Oversees Kinship Aftercare Case Management within the assigned branch, providing these services directly in the absence of a Foster Home Developer.
· When serving as the Kinship Aftercare Case Manager, develops and implements individualized Kinship Aftercare plans; completes and documents required contacts and attempted contacts; coordinates referrals, resources, and services; and monitors caregiver stability, barriers, and outcomes throughout the required aftercare period.
· Ensures all kinship caregiver support and aftercare contacts, attempted contacts, assessments, plans, referrals, services, outcomes, and follow-up activities are maintained in the applicable agency record.
Continuous Quality Improvement
· Participates in the agency’s Continuous Quality Improvement program and implements assigned quality-improvement activities within the branch.
· Collects, validates, and submits required branch performance data, outcome information, records, and operational context within established timeframes to support agency CQI activities.
· Communicates observed trends, performance concerns, barriers, corrective-action status, and improvement outcomes to the agency Administrator, CQI Specialist, and other designated leadership.
· Implements branch-level corrective actions assigned through CQI reviews, audits, investigations, or agency monitoring and ensures assigned staff responsibilities are completed within established timeframes.
· Ensures approved process improvements are incorporated into branch procedures, staff training, supervision, and routine monitoring.
· Promotes staff participation in quality-improvement activities and reinforces accountability for accurate data, timely documentation, service quality, and sustained corrective action.
Other Duties
· Coordinates branch participation in holiday programs, special events, normalcy activities, and other agency activities for children and families.
· Supports the acquisition and distribution of approved donations, gifts, resources, and other supports for children and foster families.
· Performs other duties and temporary assignments as directed by the agency Administrator to support agency operations, regulatory compliance, and continuity of services.
Pay: From $46,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 403(b)
- Dental insurance
- Flexible schedule
- Life insurance
- Mileage reimbursement
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
