WHAT DOES A FAMILY SUPPORT SPECIALIST DO?
Updated: Jun 13, 2025 - The Family Support Specialist manages parent relationships by addressing concerns, informing them of Center policies, and engaging in parent-teacher conferences. This role monitors communication between teachers and parents while supporting interventions for children experiencing difficulties. This position networks with community services, completes data entry, and assists with Nursery operations, including child discharge and care.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Family Support Specialist
1. Family Support Specialist Duties
- Case Management: Work with a case load of 6-8 clients/families.
- In-Home Support Services: Provide intensive in-home case management, support services, advocacy, trauma-informed psycho-education, and parenting skills training/teaching, coaching, crisis support, and advocacy to families.
- Collaborative Care: Work as a member of an integrated system of care, in collaboration with parents, PRTF staff, DCF, and other community providers to support the family.
- On-Call Therapeutic Support: Provide on-call therapeutic support to families, in conjunction with the clinician, working with clients in crisis during home visits.
- Documentation: Maintain documentation according to licensing, accreditation, and Medicaid regulations as appropriate.
- Treatment Plan Implementation: Participate in the implementation of treatment plans, suggesting modification as appropriate during the course of service, to ensure treatment gains made in the PRTF program transfer to the community setting/home.
- Basic Needs Assistance: Assist families with identifying basic needs, providing or accessing transportation, accessing school, job preparation, employment and housing information, and locating free family recreation activities in preparation for the client's return to the community.
- Resource Compilation: Compile and update information on resources in the local area for the team.
- Team Participation: Attend and participate in weekly rounds and child-specific team meetings.
- Community Collaboration: Develop and maintain collaborative relationships with other community agencies and organizations in consultation with clinician and supervisor, to provide comprehensive and effective treatment services for clients (i.e. schools, courts, hospitals, etc.).
2. Family Support Specialist Details
- Confidentiality Management: Maintain confidential/sensitive information, including client files.
- Home Evaluations: Provides timely, accurate, and complete required periodic home evaluations/re-evaluations and ongoing monitoring visits.
- Mandatory Reporting: Comply with mandatory reporting and complete the investigation report with third-party agencies involved.
- Regulatory Knowledge: Possesses knowledge and application of licensing and certification regulations, evaluating changing home environment and recommending appropriate corrective action when needed.
- Program Compliance: Understands, ensures, and complies with all facets of the Foster Care Program contractual agreements, including reporting requirements and supports organization strategic plan.
- Foster Family Monitoring: Monitors foster families for compliance with the regulations in Foster Care policies (Title 21, Chapter 6 Foster Care License).
- Home Study Assessment: Assesses and presents home studies with a description of families in a factual manner to complete the process of licensure and re-licensure.
- Program Activities Participation: Participates in daily activities essential to completing program objectives, family assessment, home-based family support, parental skills training, case coordination, case plan development, and documentation of services.
- Grant Reporting: Prepare activity summaries for grant reporting requirements.
- Case Plan Support: Supports the case plan for the DCS and DDD (when applicable).
- Cultural Sensitivity: Demonstrates knowledge and application of cultural sensitivity to situations involving children, foster families, and biological families.
- Outreach and Recruitment: Engages in community and internal outreach activities and recruitment/retention of adoption and foster care families.
3. Family Support Specialist Responsibilities
- Follow-up Services: Provide follow-up services to families.
- Crisis Counseling and Intervention: Conduct crisis counseling and intervention services to families.
- Home Visits: Conduct home visits on a regular basis.
- File Management: Maintain files and complete all forms for the Family Support Program.
- Report Maintenance: Keep statistical reports and other pertinent information updated on the computer.
- Parenting Classes Assistance: Assist with Parenting Classes.
- Follow-up Contacts: Conduct follow-up contacts with specific families.
- Needs Identification: Assist families with the identification of needs.
- Developmental Screenings: Conduct developmental screenings and make appropriate referrals.
- Referrals to Services: Make necessary contacts or refer families to appropriate services outside of the agency.
- On-call Shifts: Share on-call shifts with the Executive Director and Assistant Director, including serving as the administrator on-call for crisis calls one week per month.
- Crisis Nursery Admissions: Screen calls to determine admissions to the Crisis Nursery.
- Crisis Nursery Intake: Complete intake information on new and returning admissions to the Crisis Nursery.
4. Family Support Specialist Job Summary
- Parent Relationship Management: Manage parent relationships.
- Complaint and Concern Resolution: Confer with any parent who expresses a complaint or concern verbally or in writing after consultation with the Executive Director.
- Parent Meetings: Meet with any parent whose child is experiencing difficulty or whose child is targeted for intervention.
- Policy Communication: Inform parents of Center policies.
- Communication Monitoring: Monitor communication between teachers and parents.
- Parent Engagement: Engage with parents at parent-teacher conferences.
- Child Discharge: Conduct discharge of children in the Nursery.
- Child Assistance: Assist with children in the Nursery.
- Community Networking: Network with other community services and resource agencies.
- Data Entry: Complete data entry for the Nursery and Family Support.
5. Family Support Specialist Accountabilities
- Resource Identification: Assist families in identifying resources and service options available in local communities and/or available financial and/or state services (Mass Health, etc.).
- Government Benefits Assistance: Support, advocate for, and assist families in acquiring and maintaining all government benefits.
- Information and Referral Services: Provide general information and referral services to families of children and adults who contact the Family Support Center.
- Needs Assessment: Conduct needs assessments to determine qualifications for eligibility in the program.
- Navigation and Planning: Provide intensive navigation and planning to identify, provide, help arrange, or facilitate supports for families, including but not limited to interagency/community funding, in-kind community donations of services.
- Medical Support and Advocacy: Identify additional in-home medical supports, medical equipment, and advocacy, access home/vehicle adaptations, develop community inclusion opportunities, and school collaboration.
- Agency Coordination: Assist with various agencies and/or companies to ensure that there is adequate support in place.
- Family Support Plan Development: Develop family support plans and participate in the IEP/ISP process with families.
- Information Collection and Review: Collect and review information regarding an individual’s social behavior, diagnosis, cognitive ability, IEP/ISP goals, and other agency involvement to identify support and resources beneficial to the individual served and their family.
- Professional Relationship Building: Develop a professional relationship with all professionals who support the family within the community (including school or programs).
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