Foster Care Coordinator

FLSA STATUS:

Hourly

EFFECTIVE DATE:

7/11/2019

THIS POSITION REPORTS TO:

Director of Admitting

THIS POSITION MAY SUPERVISE:

None

NUMBER OF INCUMBENTS:

DEPARTMENT:

Foster

CREATED BY:

Amber Jester, Director of Admitting

Summary:

Foster Coordinator orchestrates alternative care for animals in need instead of shelter care. Foster Care Coordinator oversees placement of animal into the foster, ensuring proper sanitary, efficient and humane care of the shelter animals while in foster care, supervision of foster volunteers, necessary communication with other departments of the organization.

Specific duties of the Foster Coordinator include, but are not limited to:

Recruit, train, mentor/supervise, and serve as primary contact for foster volunteers and establish positive relationships with foster volunteers with ensuring compliance with all HSNT SOP’s and policies.
Facilitate movement of shelter animals into foster care and oversee continuous care including vaccinations and alteration of animals while in foster until their scheduled adoption return.
Ensure all animals have clear, appropriate photos before entering any foster program and updated photos upon return into the shelter.
Monitor health and behavior of animals in foster care and report any important findings/issues to medical personnel, behavior personnel or Admitting Director as appropriate
Coordinate and ensure booster vaccine, health recheck, dewormers, flea/tick preventative, spay/neuter surgery and drop off times and timely scheduled with foster volunteers
Coordinate with Veterinary Technician to ensure foster animals receive appropriate and timely medical checks and treatments for basic issues.
Coordinate with Veterinary Technician and/or Shelter Veterinarian, as appropriate, for foster animals to receive more advanced medical checks and treatments
Counsel/demonstrate the management or solution for basic behavioral issues (with a focus on positive reinforcement techniques)
Coordinate with approved, outside behavior expertise or Director of Admitting for foster animals to receive more advanced behavior checks and treatments.
Keep all foster materials and programs up to date, and provide appropriate orientation materials, manuals, and handouts to all foster volunteers Follow up with long-term fosters biweekly to ensure animal’s mental and physical health, their satisfaction and compliance with our foster programs and services
Develop and maintain advanced or specialized foster parent training programs to ensure continual growth of foster programs such as kitten/puppy rearing and socialization, bottle feeding, basic obedience, behavior modification, etc.
Oversee and provide a response within 48 hrs to all foster communications and document response on a communication log.
Oversee and provide rapid response to foster animal emergencies. When on call, must have a plan in place for quickly and efficiently responding to various foster emergencies.
Establish and communicate emergency protocols for foster volunteers.
Manage the Humane Society of North Texas Foster Network Facebook page and provide regularly scheduled newsletter to get fosters up to date and engaged.
Keep all staff up to date on changes to foster programs; provide staff training for foster program procedures as needed; ensure that staff are providing accurate information to foster volunteers
Uphold the shelter’s values and mission statement during interactions with the public and other staff
Track and report monthly data on foster programs
Ensure foster animal and foster volunteer information is accurate in the shelter database.
Manage the foster database using a combination of PetPoint and Excel or other volunteer management software
Send out a monthly newsletter to all foster volunteers with updates, events, and other pertinent information
Orchestrate and/or attend organizing special events pertinent to any foster programs
Approve euthanasia decisions in accordance with HSNT’s current view and policies.
Establish and provided monthly foster numbers to report to Directors and Board
Establish and update Foster SOP’s and policies with Director of Admitting approval to create opportunity for continuous improvement.

Knowledge, Skill, and Abilities Needed to Perform the Essential Functions of this Position

Working knowledge of breeds, diseases, medical conditions, and animal handling and behavior.
Ability to handle animals safely and with patience and gentleness.
Ability to represent the Humane Society of North Texas in a professional manner in all situations with the public, volunteers, and staff.
Ability to create and sustain positive working relationships within the Humane Society of North Texas, with volunteers, the public, and be a team player.
Must be patient, courteous and work well under stressful conditions.
Knowledge and ability to accurately work with detailed information in paper and computerized format.
Must be detail oriented and have strong time management skills.
Proficient or able to become proficient within 6 weeks with social media platforms, webinar software, Google Suite; Gmail, Google Doc, Google Sheets.
Experienced working with the public providing excellent customer service
Must be able to deal with an often fast-paced and changing workload, which at times can be stressful.
Must be able to regularly lift and/or move up to 40 pounds without assistance, up to 80 pounds with assistance.

Required Professional Licensing or Certifications

CET within 3 months of employment

Physical Demands

Must be able to work standing for 6 or more hours and be able to bend/kneel repeatedly and have a reasonable degree of agility to move through tightly cramped areas in various situations.
By nature of the industry, consistently exposed to animals/animal allergens under conditions with limited alternatives available. There also may be occasional exposure to dead, sick, unruly, and/or dangerous animals in addition to exposure to parasites and infectious diseases.
While performing the duties of this job this position may be exposed to animal odors or airborne particles
The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate

Working Conditions

The individual performing this job may be required to work more than 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required by the individual. Other duties than those listed herein may be assigned.

Approvals

Senior Director: Ellen Rawlins Date: 7-11-19

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