Position Summary

The Adoption Recruiter plays a critical role in engaging with children and youth in foster care throughout Illinois who are in need of an adoptive family and collaborating with case management teams to identify what type of family can best meet their needs. The Adoption Recruiter is responsible for identifying, recruiting, engaging, and referring adoptive families for. Working closely with the Adoption Listing Service of Illinois, DCFS, private child welfare agencies, and prospective adoptive families, the Adoption Recruiter serves as a connector between waiting children and families seeking to provide permanency.

This position is responsible for managing recruitment efforts, maintaining strong relationships with youth and prospective licensed families, supporting child-specific recruitment initiatives, and ensuring timely communication and referrals to child welfare professionals.

The ideal candidate is passionate about permanency, highly organized, relationship-oriented, technologically proficient, and committed to exceptional customer service.

Essential Responsibilities

Child-Centered Engagement

• Conduct an in-depth review of  child’s registration forms and other related documents to identify the child’s needs, strengths, and growth
• Meet with youth in person on a monthly basis to understand their needs and have an understanding of what they are looking for in a potential adoptive family
• Work in conjunction with permanency workers to determine each child’s strengths, challenges, desires, preparedness for adoption, and whether the child has needs that should be addressed before moving forward with the adoption process.
• Develop recruitment plan tailored to child’s strengths and needs
• Create child profile with strengths-based narrative to post on the Illinois Heart Gallery and AdoptUSKids Photolisting

Family Recruitment and Engagement

• Recruit prospective adoptive families through webinars, virtual events, community outreach,    digital marketing initiatives, and in-person recruitment events.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for prospective adoptive families.
• Provide information, guidance, and support to families exploring adoption from foster care.
• Build and maintain relationships with both prospective and licensed adoptive families.
• Conduct follow-up communications and nurture prospective families through the recruitment process.
• Assist families in identifying adoption opportunities that align with their interests, strengths, and capacity.

Child-Specific Recruitment and Referrals

• Conduct individualized matching services by comparing characteristics of waiting children with characteristics of licensed families
• Review child-specific recruitment opportunities and identify potential family matches.
• Refer qualified adoptive resources to DCFS staff and private child welfare agency professionals.
• Collaborate with caseworkers, supervisors, adoption specialists, and agency partners regarding potential family referrals.
• Coordinate full disclosure meetings between case management teams and potential families 
• Support the goals of the Adoption Listing Service of Illinois and other permanency initiatives.
• Participate in child-specific recruitment efforts, including Heart Gallery and waiting child initiatives.

Database Management and Reporting

• Maintain accurate records within Let It Be Us proprietary databases and CRM systems.
• Track family inquiries, referrals, outcomes, and recruitment activities.
• Generate monthly, quarterly, annual, and ad hoc reports.
• Ensure timely and accurate documentation of recruitment activities and outcomes.
• Monitor performance metrics and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.

Collaboration and Partnership Development

• Work closely with Let It Be Us team members to achieve organizational goals.
• Develop and maintain positive working relationships with DCFS, private child welfare agencies, CASA programs, foster parent organizations, and community partners.
• Participate in team meetings, strategic planning discussions, and program development initiatives.
• Foster a culture of transparency, collaboration, communication, and accountability.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree or Bachelor’s degree in Social Work or related field.
• Minimum of three (3) years of experience in one or more of the following: child welfare case management, diligent recruitment, foster care, adoption, family recruitment, foster care licensing, permanency services. 
• Knowledge of the Illinois child welfare system, including DCFS and private child welfare agencies.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships with families, agency partners, and stakeholders.
• Must be able to drive to meet with staff, agencies, clients. 
• Must have own vehicle. 

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working directly with adoption, foster care, permanency, or family recruitment programs.
• Experience with child-specific recruitment and matching.
• Experience utilizing CRM systems, databases, and digital communication platforms.

Competencies

Successful candidates will demonstrate:

• Passion for permanency and improving outcomes for children and youth
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills
• Excellent customer service and responsiveness
• Ability to work independently while contributing effectively to a team
• Exceptional organizational and time management skills
• Comfort working in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment
• Ability to create structure and manage multiple priorities simultaneously
• Strong problem-solving and critical-thinking abilities
• High level of professionalism, integrity, and confidentiality
• Proficiency with technology, including databases, CRM platforms, Google Workspace, Zoom, Microsoft Office, and virtual communication tools

Benefits

Let It Be Us offers a competitive compensation and benefits package for full-time employees, including medical insurance contributions, dental, vision, disability coverage, paid holidays, paid time off, retirement plan participation, and professional development opportunities.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Let It Be Us is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to creating an inclusive workplace and providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

To Apply

Please send resume and cover letter to Susan McConnell at susanmcconnell@letitbeus.org.