Framed within the mission, vision, and community relations plan of Blank Children’s Hospital, the Family Advocate/MDT Coordinator is responsible for the coordination of referrals identified in the multidisciplinary team staffing regarding child safety planning, medical follow-up, mental health treatment, and family support services. The Family Advocate/MDT Coordinator assists families overcome obstacles to services based upon identified needs. The successful completion of responsibilities contributes towards proactive measures to improve the overall quality of children’s health and safety. The Family Advocate/MDT Coordinator also assists the Manager with MDT meetings through coordination of monthly case review, educational trainings, and MDT case follow-up.

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• Responsible for coordination of referrals for the children and families served at the STAR Center.
• Assists families in overcoming barriers that prevent their access to treatment services.
• Ability to provide crisis counseling to support families, and coordinate additional referrals as needed.
• Responsible for the documentation and data collection in relation to patient connections to treatment services, Department of Human Services case outcomes, and prosecution outcomes for the 40+ county service area in Iowa.
• Assists in the development and on-going improvement of the STAR Center case tracking procedures to maintain Accreditation Standards of the National Children’s Alliance.
• Communicates effectively with law enforcement agencies, the Iowa Department of Human Services, and county attorneys on a routine basis to monitor the status of the pending child abuse case.
• Assists families in understanding the legal system in relation to the prosecution of child abuse cases, and connects families with victim advocacy programs and/or Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) within their communities.
• Markets programs by establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships with appropriate multidisciplinary agencies and organizations.
• Coordinates monthly case review meetings. Successfully works with MDT partners to determine monthly case and attendance by MDT professionals. Successfully utilizes Problem Based Learning (PBL) model to promote constructive feedback and suggestions for next steps to be sure families’ needs are met.
• Coordinates annual training curriculum for MDT partners and community.
• Successfully identifies topics relating to child abuse issues, best practices, or new trends.
• Successfully dentifies expert speakers, both local and national, and coordinates training dates, locations, food, marketing, etc.
• Demonstrates ability to continually assess the need for new patient and family education materials and community resource lists.
• Presents to a variety of audiences regarding the service model and initiatives implemented through the STAR Center.
• Actively evaluates programs/presentations and assesses further needs to meet and maintain Accreditation Standards of the National Children’s Alliance.
• Assist with the organization and representation of BCH at a variety of community events.

Education:

Bachelors Degree in a Human Services or related field.

Must read, write and speak fluent English.

Experience:

STAR Center awareness of services.

Child Welfare experience preferred.

Prior experience providing crisis counseling or problem solving with at-risk children and families.

Working knowledge of strength-based practice preferred.

Positive public image including public speaking and working with community partners.

Prior experience in program development, implementation, and evaluation.

Prior experience in case management preferred.

License(s)/Certification(s):

Valid driver’s license when driving any vehicle for work-related reasons.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

Must be a positive representative of Blank Children’s Hospital in all interactions.

Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Strong interpersonal communication and people skills.

Ability to develop and facilitate interagency communication to implement program goals and objectives.

Multicultural sensitivity.

Microsoft Office – basic computer skills: Access or Excel experience preferred.

Customer/patient focus.

Critical thinking using independent judgement in making decisions.

Must be able to communicate effectively with people of diverse professional, educational, and diverse lifestyle backgrounds.