Family Partner Position
Position Summary:
The Family Partner is a peer with shared lived experience who works with families raising a child
with emotional, behavioral, mental health, developmental or other health challenges. The Family
Partners role is to support the family, help them to engage and actively participate on their team
and/or treatment process and make informed decisions that drive the process. The Family Partner
uses personal and professional life experience to provide consultation and coaching to increase
awareness and improve parent/caregiver-professional partnerships and maximize parent/caregiver
voice, choice and involvement.
Essential Duties include:
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Utilizes personal and professional life experience and best practices for high fidelity
wraparound, provide peer support to parents and caregivers.
Facilitate engagement, access and participation; maintain meaningful involvement with the
parent/caregiver and their child’s planning process.
o Explore strengths, needs, culture and vision with the child and family.
o Participate in child and family team meetings to ensure access, voice and choice
within the child and family team process and support the parent/caregivers
connection to the child and family team.
o Encourage the family and team to bring concerns into the open.
o Model effective communication, frame and reframe a concern to facilitate
collaboration, patience and strengths-based approach.
o Provide a consistent source of encouragement and hope.
o Provide non-judgmental, unconditional support to parent/caregiver and attend to
language and attitudes of all team members to promote family friendliness and avoid
blaming and shaming the family or anyone else on the team.
o Maintain connection to the parent/caregiver and family based on the plan and family
needs and follow-through on tasks and assignments.
Model, practice and support family/parent/caregiver to talk about sensitive issues, reframe
negative concerns and manage respectful communication.
Maintain personal and professional boundaries, appropriate to the peer role and to ensure the
safety and protection of self and the families served.
Participate in regular supervision with Peer Supervisor/Regional Director and Clinical
Director.
Able and willing to accommodate flexibility in work schedule in order to meet family needs
and consistent with the practice model and program design – some evenings and weekend
work included.
OFSN HR Forms 2014
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Represent core agency and program values and principles in all work settings.
Develop and maintain constructive and positive relationships as a member of a team,
demonstrating qualities of dependability, empathy, genuineness, respect as a team member
and as a peer.
Produce and maintain accurate and timely documentation according to the assigned schedule
(e.g., scheduled reports, timesheets, progress notes and other paperwork as required).
Attend staff meetings and scheduled trainings.
Demonstrate culturally effective sensitivity and responsiveness to varying cultural
characteristics and beliefs.
Maintain strict confidentiality standards according to HIPAA.
Maintain assigned office and community based work schedule.
Qualifications are:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty and
responsibility satisfactorily. An emphasis is placed on knowledge and growth from lived experience
over formal education systems. This is considered a peer delivered service position and preference is
given to parents and primary caregivers who have experience navigating multiple child-serving
agencies, including mental health, addiction treatment services, child welfare.
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Ability to articulate the experience and perspective of a parent/caregiver of a child with complex
needs.
Ability to work independently and part of a team.
Ability to work with diverse cultural, religious, racial, educational, socio-economic and
alternative cultural backgrounds.
Commitment to child safety and family stability.
Comprehensive knowledge of Microsoft Office
General knowledge of office machines and telephones
Must be able to lift 25 pounds
Must pass a criminal and abuse background check
OFSN is a 501(c)3 Family-Run Organization, and a Chapter of the National Federation of
Families on Children's Mental Health. OFSN is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Personnel are
chosen on the basis of ability without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin,
disability, marital status or sexual orientation, in accordance with federal and state law. OFSN is
a family-run organization that values those who have direct experience raising a child with
significant mental and behavioral health challenges. OFSN gives preference to hiring
individuals who have this direct experience.
OFSN HR Forms 2014