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Family Safety Practitioner III - Protection and Preservation

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Family Safety Practitioner III - Protection and Preservation

Salary

$73,994.34 - $123,324.03 Annually

Location

RESTON (EE26), VA

Job Type

FT Hourly W BN

Job Number

25-00014

Department

Family Services

Opening Date

12/28/2024

Closing Date

1/17/2025 11:59 PM Eastern

Pay Grade

S26

Posting Type

Open to General Public

• Description

• Benefits

• Questions

Job Announcement

This position includes a signing bonus of $2,500 (full-time) for new county hires.

Provides clinical casework services for a caseload of children at risk of abuse or neglect and their parents or caretakers. Casework responsibilities include completion of comprehensive assessments and service plans, care coordination, crisis intervention, and brief counseling. Attends court hearings and provides professional and legal testimony as needed. Completes casework and documentation in compliance with federal, state and local policies and procedures. Develops partnerships with community agencies to provide a holistic approach to service delivery, guaranteeing collaboration and coordination of services offered to children and their families. Will receive Child Protective Services (CPS) cases as needed. Coordinates and attends intra-agency and inter-agency meetings. Mentors and trains staff and provides supervision in the absence of the unit supervisor. Uses automated information systems to maintain case documentation.

Schedule: A flexible schedule including evening and/or weekend work will be required. In addition, the position requires being part of Child Protective Services (CPS) on-call rotation that includes evening, overnight, weekend, and holiday hours which may require immediate response into the field.

Duties and responsibilities:

• Cover supervisor when supervisor not available or on leave;

• Contributes to the development of protocols, policies, procedures, grants and contracts for a social services program, department, and other entities;

• Manages service contracts and provide and directs other contract-related functions;

• Assists the supervisor in planning and carrying out training for new staff, providing guidance to staff. May directly supervise staff, and covers for the supervisor in their absence;

• Serves as a policy expert in an area of social work specialization;

• Coordinates or oversees the daily activities of a program or project to include staff supervision, oversight of administrative functions/requirements associated with the program or project, evaluation of the program or project for its impact/effectiveness, and making recommendations for changes or improvements;

• Conducts comprehensive clinical assessments and prepares and implements service plans;

• Works with clients to develop a plan of service to meet social, health, emotional and economic needs. With the client, formulates objectives and identifies actions to resolve the clients' problems;

• Conducts home visits to families for the purpose of monitoring, counseling and supervision;

• Provides crisis intervention on a timely basis to clients or families whose well being is seriously and immediately threatened, to include Child Protective Services after-hours;

• Conducts mediation services to families in conflict;

• Investigates allegations of abuse and neglect of children, elderly persons and incapacitated adults who live in the community and institutional facilities;

• Makes assessment of risks posed to clients in accordance with state and local policies, and works to ensure risks are eliminated or minimized;

• Performs emergency removal of children from their homes when required, places children in foster homes and residential programs, and coordinates services for them as needed;

• Represents the agency in court proceedings; prepares testimony and testifies in Juvenile, Circuit, Criminal, Civil and Federal Courts;

• Interviews and counsels natural parents, adoptive parents, foster parents and children to be placed in foster homes or residential facilities and those involved in adoption placement;

• Evaluates child's readiness for placement and recommends placement, ensuring compliance with legal provisions;

Works with the community to identify families, children and individuals needing services and to coordinate these services using a wrap-around approach;

• Advocates and assists families and individuals in obtaining services (e.g., mental health, intellectual disability, alcohol and drug, housing referrals, home based services, training and medical services);

• Communicates and works with colleagues, clients and the community in a manner that supports the agency and program goals and objectives;

• Participates as a contributing member on interagency, multi-disciplinary teams, community groups and professional organizations;

• Collaborates and contributes to child specific teams on non-agency cases as assigned to assist in identifying community resources and services for families;

• Assesses eligibility for foster care protect/prevent funds;

• Participates, collaborates and contributes to Comprehensive Services Act activities for families on caseload;

• Provides training and education on a variety of social work topics;

• Recruits volunteers and manages volunteer services;

• Uses automated technology and hard copy files to maintain and update case data, notes, documents, records, contacts and summaries of information;

• Manages and maintains program data and outcomes.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

• Ability to maintain professional ethics and confidentiality of client information;

• Knowledge of regulations and guidelines relating to the assigned area of social service specialization;

• Ability to schedule and manage workload sufficiently to meet deadlines;

• Ability to assess safety and risk;

• Ability to assess trauma and root causes of dysfunctional family dynamics;

• Ability to engage with families;

• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of individuals;

• Ability to meet deadlines and keep up with documentation;

• Ability to participate in and attend home visits, school visits, and court hearings.

Note: All applicants selected from this solicitation must successfully complete DFS's Child Welfare Institute program prior to joining their assigned unit.

Illustrative Duties

(The illustrative duties listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list. A complete list of position duties and unique physical requirements can be found in the position job description).

Contributes to the development of protocols, policies, procedures, grants and contracts for a social services program, department, and other entities;

Manages service contracts and provide and directs other contract-related functions;

Assists the supervisor in planning and carrying out training for new staff, providing guidance to staff;

Serves as a policy and practice expert in mandated services that supports the protection and wellbeing of vulnerable populations, governed by state and federal laws, administrative code, state-level policies and procedures, accreditation standards, and/or court orders for compliance with public welfare or other court-mandated services;

Coordinates or oversees the daily activities of a program or project to include staff supervision, oversight of administrative functions/requirements associated with the program or project, evaluation of the program or project for its impact/effectiveness and making recommendations for changes or improvements;

Uses case management, documentation management technology, and hard copy files to maintain and update case data, notes, documents, records, contacts, and summaries of information in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws and policies;

Manages and maintains program data and outcomes;

Conducts initial and ongoing, comprehensive clinical and social assessments of the family system;

Advocates for and assists families and individuals in obtaining services (e.g., mental health, intellectual disability, alcohol and drug, housing referrals, financial assistance for basic needs, home based services, training, and medical services);

Provides family, individual, and group counseling and conducts mediation services to families in conflict;

Investigates complaints of alleged abuse or neglect, and in consultation with supervisor, makes assessment of risks posed to clients in accordance with state and local policies, and works to ensure risks are eliminated or minimized;

Performs risk and safety assessments to determine if people at risk of harm should be separated from their current living situation including, emergency separations of children from their homes when required;

Addresses, and if necessary, diffuses initial and ongoing crises with clients, assesses safety issues and refers clients to emergency services as needed (e.g., mental health services, child protective services, foster care, adult protective services, emergency shelter, homeless shelter);

Prepares written reports and required documentation supporting decisions related to immediate and ongoing safety needs;

Provides crisis intervention on a timely basis to clients or families whose wellbeing are seriously and imminently threatened;

Assists clients with identifying and utilizing available personal and community resources and refers clients to other public and private agencies and services.

Required Knowledge Skills and Abilities

(The knowledge, skills and abilities listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list.)

Knowledge of current social service problems and methods/approaches to address issues;

Knowledge or skill with crisis intervention or conflict resolution techniques;

Knowledge of regulations and guidelines relating to the assigned area of social service specialization;

Ability to analyze case information to reach sound decisions based on such information;

Ability to demonstrate advanced critical thinking and judgment by understanding and applying governing policy and statutes alongside best practices and unique case factors;

Ability to engage with persons effectively and empathically from different cultures who may be experiencing stressful family situations;

Ability to maintain a high level of sensitivity and confidentiality while performing client related tasks;

Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing;

Ability to use case management and documentation technology to establish and maintain case records;

Ability to maintain professional ethics and confidentiality of client information;

Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of individuals;

Ability to schedule and manage workload sufficiently to meet deadlines;

Ability to engage children, adults, and/or families under safety-sensitive, time-limited, and difficult circumstances, to gather information and make informed decisions that are inclusive of their language, race, and culture;

Ability to engage and work with community partners and organizations;

Ability to collaborate as a team member to create and support safety planning and monitoring;

Ability to engage with juridical systems and processes to support the safety needs of clients as needed or when required by statute;

Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of individuals;

Ability to schedule and manage workloads sufficiently to meet deadlines;

Ability to provide guidance, direction, supervision and coaching to less experienced staff;

Ability to provide management and oversight of a program or project;

Ability to develop and present training programs and other presentations;

Ability to set boundaries and participate in self-reflective practice and working knowledge of the National Association of Social Workers' Code of Professional Ethical Standards;

Skill in defining and explaining complex rules and guidelines in a variety of settings and providing sound guidance and direction to staff;

Skill in writing and reviewing reports that are behaviorally specific, factually correct, include conclusions and recommended action.

Employment Standards

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a bachelor's degree in social work, psychology, sociology, or a *related field, plus four years of experience in social work, psychology, sociology, or a *related experience. A master's degree in a related field may be substituted for one year of the required experience.

*A related field/experience is based solely on the position description.

CERTIFICATES AND LICENSES REQUIRED:

Valid driver's license.

Positions within this class are required to complete the state mandated training in the functional area within a specified time period.

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

The appointee to the position must satisfactorily complete a criminal background check, driving record check, and a Child Protective Services check.

This position is considered essential personnel and will be required to report to work during times designated countywide as approved for unscheduled leave regardless of the emergency situation (i.e., weather, transportation, other disaster).

Requires being part of an on-call rotation that includes evening, overnight, weekend, and holiday hours which may require immediate response into the field.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master's degree in social work (MSW) or a related human services degree.

• Minimum of two (2) years of experience in child protective services intake and/or on-going and child abuse and neglect prevention.

• Minimum of two (2) years of experience in service plan development and care coordination.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

Sufficiently mobile to attend home visits, court, and meetings and community events outside the office. Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing. Ability to use automated technology. All duties performed with or without reasonable accommodations.

SELECTION PROCEDURE:

Panel interview; may include practical exercise.

This job announcement is listed with a closing date of 2/7/25 and interested applicants are advised to submit their applications as soon as possible. Interviews will be conducted on a regular basis throughout the recruitment with candidates whose qualifications best fit our needs. If your application is received later in the recruitment process, it may not be reviewed or considered. The application process may close prior to the currently advertised closing date when the position has been filled.

The population of Fairfax County is very diverse where 38.7% of residents speak a language other than English at home (Spanish, Asian/Pacific Islander, Indo-European, and others (https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/demographics/fairfax-county-general-overview) ) and we encourage candidates bilingual in English and a foreign language to apply to this opportunity.

Fairfax County Government prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetics, political affiliation, or military status in the recruitment, selection, and hiring of its workforce.

Reasonable accommodations are available to persons with disabilities during application and/or interview processes per the Americans with Disabilities Act. Contact 703-324-4900 for assistance. TTY 703-222-7314. DHREmployment@fairfaxcounty.gov EEO/AA/TTY.

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