Family Advocate, Agency Services

Summary: The Arc of Union County Inc. is a leading provider of Person-Centered services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through various services and programming. Under the direction of the Executive Director, or designate, a Family Advocate professional helps families navigate complex systems and challenges by providing support, guidance, and representation. Provides assistance to individuals and families to understand and coordinates eligibility for needed services and resources. The professional works directly with families to assess their needs, connect them with appropriate community resources, and advocates for their well-being by navigating social service systems, and facilitating communication between families and this agency to ensure that families' voices are heard, enable parents to address challenges and achieve their goals; as it pertains to the agency's spectrum of services within all of our settings that includes Children Services, Family Supports, Residential and Adult Day Services. Within this unique and highly visible role, the incumbent demonstrates at all times their passion for supporting families and helping them to navigate perceived and or often real experienced complexities of trying to navigate DDD and or state systems and other challenges they may experience in their quest to partner with agencies in the state system for consideration of eligibility for life enhancing programs and services for their family member. This role as designed is essential to the agency as the incumbent is qualified and recognized as an experienced industry professional who is knowledgeable and equipped with the skills necessary to provide crucial support and advocacy to families in need. This role as presented herein bridges the gap between the agency and families through providing an aid that will address their needs and help to ensure they have direction and access to necessary resources, services, and support. Through this assignment, the Arc of Union County Family Advocate plays a vital role in fostering stronger, healthier family communities within our agency client base and community. The Family Advocate serves as an Admissions Coordinator and primary point of contact for prospective service recipients, managing the placement application process by answering inquiries, providing information about programs, conducting tours, verifying application documents, and coordinating communication with applicants throughout the admissions cycle, and also working to meet specific, well defined monthly and annual recruitment and placement goals for the agency's programs; and actively assists in marketing efforts to attract potential new service recipients.

This position requires completion of DDD System Mandatory Training Bundle within 90 days of hire, DDD and Agency Orientations, other designated trainings and a minimum of 12 Hours of Professional Development completed annually.

This position requires that information related to families, service recipient, employee, program operations, and the agency is handled, channeled, managed and delivered professionally to the appropriate and right personnel or party consistent with agency and department policy. Any misuse, mismanagement, etc. of information obtained, accessed, discussed, or provided to position may result in removal from position capacity.

Skills This position requires proficiency in Windows software, Ability to use a data entry software such as Therap, Ability to complete Data entry in web based electronic platform. This position requires excellent interpersonal and conceptual skills; Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to interact effectively with prospective service recipients, support coordinators and their families. Good organizational and time-management skills. Strong problem-solving and critical thinking abilities, Cultural sensitivity and understanding of diverse communities, knowledge of social service systems and available community resources, advocacy skills and ability to navigate complex situations, case management and organizational skills, ability to build trust and rapport with families. Excellent customer service skills, including the ability to converse comfortably with a variety of people. Strong organizational skills to manage multiple applications and deadlines. Detail-oriented to ensure accurate data entry and compliance with admissions policies. Knowledge of admissions procedures and requirements. Ability to work independently and as part of a team. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, good organizational and time-management skills Strong problem-solving and critical thinking abilities, cultural sensitivity and understanding of diverse communities, knowledge of social service systems and available community resources, knowledge of Fee for Service model system required.

Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in human services, social work, psychology, or a related field. Minimum 5 years' experience working with families, children, and Adults in a social service setting with Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, at least two of which shall have been supervisory at program front line or middle management preferred. Must have a full knowledge and proficiency in all standards governing community services and resources including but not limited to Community Care Waiver, Center for Medicaid Services, DDD services, Medicare, Social Security, Residential Services, Adult Day Habilitation, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services (DVRS), HUD, CARF Accreditation, etc. Demonstrate thorough understanding of Agency programs, services, policies, and procedures. Proficiency in case management and documentation. Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion. Familiarity with legal and ethical standards in social services. Ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team. Knowledge of family dynamics and the impact of various stressors on families. Ability to navigate and coordinate multiple systems and services. Empathy, patience, and a genuine desire to help others. Flexibility and ability to thrive and perform in an ever-changing, fast-paced, and demanding environment. Must be 21 years of age or older. Must have a valid New Jersey driver's license with abstract (not exceeding 5 points), and ability to meet agency insurability requirements. Complete State/Federal Criminal Background checks and Central Registry checks.

Major Position Responsibilities

Advocate

Ability to conduct a thorough review and assessment of potential candidates for services and to understand the unique and specific needs of families, including as it pertains to their loved already receiving services or seeking services.

Identify and link families to relevant community resources like placement opportunities, services provided within the agency and assisting families to understand and to become adept at using/navigating the system, and to have access to necessary and available educational supports.

Develop comprehensive, customized, personalized plans for each family, tracking progress, and coordinating services across different settings.

On behalf of the agency, represent families in meetings with provider, or other entities to ensure their needs are met and rights are protected.

Acting as a bridge between families and the agency. Be well studied and have the ability to engage in discussion to explain in detail complex information and advocating for and working to affect clear communications at all times.

Timely articulate to those in need perceived and or evident significant risks that may impact a given family pertaining to service matters to Executive Leadership Team as/when required.

Identify and document and perceived and or actual heightened issues from both internal and external audiences to the attention of Associate Executive Director, Operations and Executive Director. Timely, assess and review complaints, concerns, or questions relative to family issues or concerns and submit an Executive Report to the Executive Director's Office.

Work in all events to provide for a timely, positive, professional resolution of conflict between family and the agency in resolving barriers to the delivery of the highest quality of services to individuals.

Develop and facilitate effective inter/intra functional communication systems and methods to ensure the appropriate and timely flow of communications with families and throughout the organization as it pertains to the delivery of quality service for their loved one. Also, facilitates communication on inflow of information between family, administration and among service delivery departments and management.

Timely and in an informed manner, work to accurately and professionally assess family dynamics as necessary, provide clear demonstration of support, and build rapport with family members.

Provide and make accessible information and workshops on parenting/guardianship skills, child development, age-appropriate development and community resources.

Work with other agency professionals across all settings to provide comprehensive support to families.

Engage with community members to identify families in need and encourage them to access the agency's services.

Must maintain working knowledge of current DDD Community Care Program and Supports Programs, Policy and Procedures.

Must demonstrate proficiency in the mechanics surrounding Medicaid Eligibility requirements, CMS standards and associated processes for individuals receiving DDD services or prospective new placements and provide guidance to families, or service recipients representatives.

Must have working knowledge of agency core services provided to include Residential, Day Habilitation, Special Needs Behavioral, Special Needs Medical, Special Education, Vocational Training, Community Employment, Social Services Programs, In Home supports, respite, recreation, therapeutic services, early intervention, etc. This is necessary to support the delivery of informed, accurate communications on the agency's behalf to families and guardians and support coordinators and ensures that information being communicated aligns with state defined regulatory standards to including Medicaid, CDF, HUD, DVR, DDD, OOL, CCW, OSY, WIOA, WFNJ/NJLWD, DOH etc.

The agency anticipates that the incumbent will work at every opportunity to gain deeper knowledge about the agency's services to enable accurate and informed advice/guidance to families, support coordinators etc., as authorized and defined by the agency.

Provide timely and informed feedback to service recipients seeking services or their representatives in a manner consistent with the agency's service description tools including agency designed guides to services.

Understand and have working knowledge of the service the agency provides as being Payee and have the ability to articulate the process to service recipients seeking services or their representatives.

Have working knowledge of the Supportive Housing Connection (SHC) and Housing Urban Development (HUD) Subsidies, agency HUD and non-HUD housing, Residency Agreements and explain to service recipients seeking services or their representatives.

Ability to educate and counsel when needed, as needed, families on their rights and available services.

Provide timely and informed guidance and support to families during any events where there is a misunderstanding. Seek first to understand and gather clarification from the agency to enable your ability to support the family during a crisis or emergency working in alignment with agency policies.

In collaboration with the Associate Executive Director, Operations, develop and implement guidance programs to address family issues as it pertains to the agency's services.

Ensure compliance with all legal and ethical standards during service delivery at all levels.

Develop and maintain a functional, positive, cooperative relationships with service recipients, families, guardians, Support staff, volunteers, all agency departments/functional components, and community members including, CARF, DDD, HUD, and other State/Federal and Local agencies.

Develop a working knowledge of DDD, Licensing, HUD and CARF regulations and related agency Policies and Procedures. Assure the completion and maintain a checklist of accurate records electronically of all required documentation/records and administrative assignments pertaining to service recipients, programs, staff and agency administration in accordance with agency, CARF, DDD, HUD, Licensing, CCW and/or other funding source standards and requirements.

Timely and Professionally channel Administrative, Operations or Personnel matters within the respective department's Line Management Team. Seek guidance from immediate supervisor on managerial and supervisory matters for desired administrative outcomes.

Respect confidentiality of all information pertaining to service recipients, employees and others throughout the Agency at all times.

Chair and maintain timely accurate notes of Pre-Admission Meetings, complete all required Pre-Admission Documentation, and secure all new admission documentation consistent with licensing, state and agency regulations. Assure successful admission into programs.

Ensure all required information and documentations for service recipient's placement are obtained and maintained in service recipient's record file for effective plan development, effective service delivery, acquisition of a Full Licensing Certification, and fulfillment of DDD requirements, HUD or SHC requirements, Office of Licensing requirements, Community Care Waiver (CCW) requirements, Center for Medicaid Services requirements and agency objectives.

Admissions

Timely respond to phone calls, emails, and online inquiries from prospective service recipients, support coordinators or care givers regarding admissions requirements, programs, and application process.

Lead informational tours of the program or agency for potential service recipients and their families, highlighting key features and benefits.

Review application materials, verify documentation, and ensure applications are complete according to agency and state defined admissions criteria.

Providing requested and or necessary guidance to prospective service recipients or their representatives on application procedures, and program selection.

Organize and or attend agency fairs, high school visits, and other events to promote the agency and attract prospective service recipients. Team with our agency Development, Marketing and Communications department for suggestions, and assistance.

Develop and maintain an accurate database service recipient records, tracking application progress, and updating admissions databases.

Outreach and work with referral sources (e.g. support coordinators, case managers, families) to effect timely and appropriate admissions.

Provide information and referral services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families and provide individual advocacy as needed

Collaborate with admissions committees' chairs, program directors/assistant directors, and other departments to provide comprehensive information to applicants. Record keeping is a key component to this activity. Must keep a detailed comprehensive note.

Assist with agency development, review and implementation of marketing materials, brochures, and communication strategies to reach potential applicants. Availability to attend meetings, discussions with the (DMC) team and others within the agency to effectively engage and produce results.

Familiarize and execute Referral Vetting and Admission Protocol

Review and analyze placement referrals, transcribe the referral literature into a summarized simplified abstract, present referral (s) to the respective Admissions Committee chair for review, and presentation.

Partner with the agency Development, Marketing and Communications department to market Services to the community and other external relevant parties to build a referral base and garner potential placement referrals.

Serve as a backup for chairing Adult Services Admissions Committee. Assist to maintain and to update all department admissions using established electronic filing and other resources provided by the agency to effectively capture and store documents for Residential Services Referrals, to maintain referral Tracking Spreadsheets, Census Records, and related correspondences internally etc.

Review the agency's referral portal daily to check on the status of potential new referrals received, access, review and process available referral contents as required.

Responsible for collecting all agency and state defined/required referral information. Must comprehensively vet prospective applicants/candidates to the highest extent of your ability to ensure a seamless service recipient selection and admission into the, Adult Services.

Obtain necessary information in referral packets for admission. A checklist is required to be maintained for this process.

Responsible for reviewing and analyze placement referrals. Ability to interpret and transcribe the referral literature from the full referral documents into a summarized abstract utilizing the agency "Placement Referral Summarized Clinical Abstract- Adult Services" Form.

Responsible for fully and accurately completing the "Placement Referral Summarized Clinical Abstract- Adult Services" Form" and to efficiently and electronically manage and store all necessary information using the agency's share drive and other authorized electronic resources. Referral files must be accessible, organized and ready for review by authorized Adult Services Admissions Committees Members prior to any Residential Admissions Meeting. Collaborate and summarize relevant comments/feedback provided by committee members ahead of the meeting.

Assist to schedule and complete an interview with the prospective service recipient and his/her caregiver(s), guardians, etc. and involve the vetting team in the interview and assures that the team determines in advance the program's ability to serve or not serve the individual and advises the committee during the Admissions Meeting.

Responsible to provide all relevant, required Service Recipient Placement Interview Information to the Chairs Committees to update the completed "Placement Referral Summarized Clinical Abstract-" Form for individuals intended for Services.

Assist in assembling the Placement Referral Summarized Clinical Abstracts, preparing the agenda for and presenting referral (s) to the Admissions Committee for review.

Ability to record accurate, comprehensive Meeting Minutes. Assist as required to update the Residential Program Roster & Census Report Spreadsheet, Vacancy Report, update the General Referral Status Spreadsheet for all referrals received tracking.

Ability to timely and accurately complete the Package Provider Response Form and submitting to both the referring Support Coordinator and DDD Community Development Unit.

Participate in the agency's Pre-Admission Meeting process; ensure completion of Pre-Admission Document. Ensure that all new admission documents are aligned and consistent with licensing, state and agency policies.

Manage and ensure that all required information and documentations for agency service recipient's placement is available and maintained in service recipient's file for effective plan development, effective service delivery, acquisition of a Full Licensing Certification, and fulfillment of DDD requirements, HUD or SHC requirements, Office of Licensing requirements, Community Care Waiver (CCW) requirements, Center for Medicaid Services requirements and agency objectives.

Standard

Attending and supporting advocate and family meetings and related services.

Attend and actively participate in all service and professional meetings, conferences, seminars, workshops and committees as assigned or as necessary for successful completion of agency functional goals.

Assure timely, thorough and effective communications regarding agency service recipients' welfare as required to all appropriate parties including but not limited to program staff, supervisors, directors and/or administration.

Timely inform the Associate Executive Director, Operations regarding a guardian's inability to comply with agency service delivery polices/procedures, provision of required documents, or their intentional declination to consent to service delivery, e.g. medical treatment, community integration activities, photograph taking/publication, etc.

Participate in Ad Hoc Agency committee (s) as assigned.

As defined by the agency and state law, timely initiate "on call" procedures with respect to arising incidents including 911 emergency calls, life threatening incidents, and/or operational breakdown etc. and complete Unusual Incident Reports (UIR) in a timely manner consistent with agency policy and state law.

Responsible to timely and responsibly report to immediate Supervisor or through the chain of command any suspected incidents of abuse, neglect or exploitation of service recipients and complete Unusual Incident Reports (UIR) in a timely manner consistent with agency policy and state law.

Perform duties according to the trained protocols and methods, in the manner and spirit of the ideals of the field of Human Services and within profession/job specific guidelines, including wearing appropriate work attire, modeling professionalism and being a role model for staff, service recipients etc.

Downloading, copying, transferring, and transmitting of agency documents to personal accounts, and/or distribution externally is prohibited. The agency uses various technical software programs to detect these activities.

Must fully cooperate with all investigations, inspections, etc. internally and externally including full cooperation with the Department of Human Services, the Division of Developmental Disabilities, Office of Licensing, Licensee or any other duly authorized person regarding the care and service given to individuals served by this Agency.

Employees who may encounter individuals served shall be subject to and comply with the requirements for random drug testing for controlled dangerous substances. Criminal history record background checks will be conducted at least once every two years for agency's employees. Any employee who is required to undergo a criminal history record background check and refuses to consent to, or cooperate in, the securing of a criminal history record background check shall be immediately removed from the person's position and the person's employment shall be terminated.

The Arc of Union County, Inc. is contracted with the New Jersey Department of Human Services to provide and facilitate essential personal care and health promotion services to individuals with disabilities and other comorbid conditions. As an essential employee, you are required to adhere to your assigned operations work schedule and/or as directed by upper management.

ADA Expectations

This position requires an employee to perform duties in an indoor and/ or outside setting where exposure to weather elements, dirt, and dust, unpleasant smells, and/or loud noises are possible including occasional temperature fluctuations depending on the climate/season/weather. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Physical Demands: The physical demands for this position must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee may be regularly required to maintain a stationary position (standing and sitting), move/traverse, kneel, bend, reach with hands and arms for extended periods of time, twist, carry, lift up to 35 pounds, Agility with wrist and finger dexterity to access, key and sort electronic information or file documents, ability to view computer and/or electronic device for extended period and other physical duties as directed by your supervisor and/or Director.

The essential Cognitive Functions of this position may include ability to analyze, compute, hear and repeat information, take notes, read documents, generate written information, independently problem solve, tolerate interruptions, maintain positive public relations, organize, verbally communicate, and converse with a diverse group of people among others.

The Arc of Union County will reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with a disability so that they can perform the essential functions of a job unless doing so causes a direct threat to these individuals or others in the workplace and the threat cannot be eliminated by reasonable accommodation or if the accommodation creates an undue hardship to The Arc of Union County.

The Arc of Union County is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against due to a disability.

Work Environment - The agency offers safety training such as Universal Precautions/Infectious diseases, COVID-19 Education and Safety Practices among others to promote a safe environment for all employees and service recipients including visitors. Personal Protective Equipments and necessary supplies such as disinfectants are supplied to all employees free or charge as needed. Each employee is responsible for completing the offered training and implementing the health and safety protocols and mitigation practices consistently.

Must be able to intervene and apply the appropriate verbal de-escalation and/or physical intervention techniques during a crisis in accordance with agency policies and procedure.

The agency may assign employees to any duties and to any work site it deems necessary in its sole discretion.

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