Medical Foster Care Administrator

Position Summary:

Under the supervision of the Medical Director, the Nurse Administrator (Medical Foster Care Program) role is to work within the local community and lead agency structure to assure that the MFC Program is implemented in accordance with established guidelines and contract requirements. Additionally, the Nurse Administrator will employ best practices in staff supervision and staff development, to provide primary support and appropriate oversight to the nurse case managers, and to model a trauma-informed, strengths-based, client-centered culture with the support of site-specific supervisors.

Essential Duties:

• Understand and promote the organization's Mission, Vision, and Core Values to ensure alignment with organizational policies and procedures.

Staffing and Education

• Oversee the recruitment and hiring of all nurse case managers, nursing assistant supervisors, and support staff ensuring that they can implement the MFC philosophy and model.
• Ensures that all staff attend all required MFC education sessions.
• Assesses and develop strategies to address knowledge and skill gaps of nurse case managers, nursing assistant supervisors, and support staff.
• Provides adequate orientation, professional development opportunities and study time to remediate gaps in necessary knowledge and skill.
• Assigns client caseloads and monitors nurse case manager's ability to build and manage caseload.
• Monitors assistant nursing supervisor's ability to provide staff supervision and client intake
• Provides useful feedback, and develops a plan with staff to address performance and resolve issues when they arise.
• Builds confidence and skill of nurse case managers.
• Provides supervision and evaluation of nurse case managers, nursing assistant supervisors, and administrative support staff (including time and leave, performance evaluations, disciplinary action, etc.).
• Effectively assists nurse case managers and nursing assistant supervisors in analyzing complex problems and case situations.
• With the assistance of site supervisors, prepares monthly reports on caseload and activities for review by medical director
• Maintain and track charts through chart reviews to ensure ACS compliance.

Program Intake

• Screen and assesses appropriateness of placement requests from ACS.
• Identify and match resources for home placement, along with home finder.
• Introduce foster parents to foster children prior to placement.
• Arrange for initial foster parent health education and skills building.
• Creates, implements and maintains a care plan for each identified problem at intakes.

Budget and Contracts

• Monitor budget to ensure compliance with fidelity to MFC model and contract agreements.
• Understand and actively participates in monitoring MFC contract with the agency.
• Research, develop and monitor contracts with outside vendors for services to MFC clients.
• Oversee and approve appropriate home care, pharmacy, equipment, and supplies for foster children.
• Manage follow up after yearly MFC audit including any needed remediation and/or corrective action plan.
• Schedule and coordinate directly with ACS nursing staff the yearly MFC audit.

Community awareness, support, and referral systems

• Actively participates in all MFC-related ACS policy meetings.
• Develop and maintain community referral sources for the MFC Program.
• Develop and implement external and internal systems to assure timely receipt and disposition of referrals to and from the MFC Program, in collaboration with the referral coordinators.
• Working within agency and within budget and contract specifications, ensures that MFC staff have the right tools to do their job effectively.
• Manage organizational structure and systems adequately so that case managers may stay focused on clients.
• Proactive with local, state, and national issues that may affect sustainability of program.

Quality Improvement and Evaluation

• Oversee and ensure timely and accurate medical record documentation.
• Read and interpret reports; shares appropriately with team and partners.
• Ensure implementation of quality improvement strategies.
• Develop methods for ongoing assessment of staff development needs; compares available data to structure appropriate continuing education and guidance of staff.
• Provide routine surveillance of potential client care incidents.
• Evaluate implementing agency outcomes and interventions.

Create and Maintain MFC Nursing Culture

• Maintain relationships based on trust, support and growth with team colleagues and community members.
• Work collaboratively with nurses, social workers, administrative staff, doctors and community health care providers.
• Take a leadership role in Program-Based Health Center meetings, monthly foster care supervisors and staff meetings, Family Team Conferences, and other CAS site meetings.
• Ensure that supervision of MFC nurse case managers utilizes principles and concepts of motivational interviewing, coaching and reflective practice (modeling therapeutic relationships, change theory, self-efficacy, trauma-informed, client centered, strength based, and solution focused approaches).
• Develop and implement regular reflective practice supervision within the program and conducts field visits.
• Ensure that own reflective practice and ongoing professional and personal development needs are addressed.
• Provide regular case conferences and team meetings.
• Ensure rewards and incentives are aligned with goals of program.
• Perform other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree required.
• NYS Registered Nurse Licensed required.
• 7-10 years' experience in pediatric nursing; with special needs children preferred.
• 5 years of supervisory experience preferred.

Key Competencies:

• Excellent verbal and writing skills.
• Goal oriented with strong time management skills.
• Flexibility and ability to work under pressure.
• Bilingual (Spanish) ability a plus.
• Comfort in working in multiple Windows-based digital platforms including Microsoft Word, Outlook, Teams and Excel
• Comfort in use of electronic health records (Children's Aid uses E-Clinical Works)