Social Worker-Invest​/Assess and In-home services; CPS

Position: Social Worker-Invest/Assess and In-home services (CPS)
This is advanced, professional-level casework providing protective, investigative, counseling, and case management services for children who are at risk for neglect and/or abuse. Employees are assigned to local departments of Social Services and provide social work services, including treatment and immediate response to crisis situations for at-risk children in the most complex cases in the departments. Work involves an investigation of alleged neglect and abuse, substantiation of the alleged neglect or abuse as prescribed by federal and state guidelines, providing expert testimony in court hearings, and following up with case management and preventive services for clients.

Employees analyze situations and determine appropriate courses of action immediately or in short time spans, often under very stressful conditions. Employees may provide group, family, or individual treatment to clients of any age and any developmental, mental, medical, substance abuse, financial, or family problem. Employees typically report to a Social Work Supervisor III under general supervision. Employees may have combined investigative and treatment roles or may have separate functions depending on the size and organizational structure of the departments of Social Services.

This position works a rotating on-call schedule, which may require night and weekend work. The primary duties of this position would include: (1) receiving reports of suspected child abuse, neglect, or dependency and evaluating these reports to determine if the reported information meets the statutory guidelines for child maltreatment (2) CPS assessments to gather sufficient information to determine the following: if child maltreatment occurred, if there is a risk of future maltreatment and the level of that risk, if the child is safe within the home and, if not, what interventions can be implemented to ensure the child’s protection and maintain the family unit intact if reasonably possible, continuing services needed to reduce the risk of maltreatment occurring in the future, and out of home placement if necessary to protect the child from harm (3) provision of CPS in-home services where the worker and families determine the strategies to be used to change the conditions and behaviors that resulted in child abuse and neglect;

to work with the family, their support system, and other service providers to reduce or eliminate the risk of maltreatment (4) to seek removal of custody through the juvenile court when the child cannot be maintained safely in the home of the parent or caretaker or voluntarily placed safely with relatives or other kin while services are continued (5) placement of children in foster homes or group care-settings, which includes direct treatment and counseling for the children themselves, their biological families and their foster families;

and preparation of cases for court and testimony in juvenile court and criminal court (6) develop and implement permanent plans for children such as reunification with parents, adoptive placement or other kinship placements (7) position may be assigned other related duties and activities as deemed appropriate by the supervisor. Competency in computer skills required.

Comprehensive knowledge of the principles, practices and techniques of Child Welfare and social work, and their application to social services casework, group work and community programs.

Thorough knowledge of the federal, state and local laws, ordinances, standards and regulations, and department policies and procedures of the Children/Family Services division of the Department of Social Services.

Thorough knowledge of family and group dynamics and risk factors impacting families' ability to protect and care for children.

Thorough knowledge of counseling and intervention methods and techniques.

Thorough knowledge of HIPAA guidelines and ability to apply guidelines to client information and records

Good knowledge of human behavior and variables affecting behavior, including socioeconomic challenges.

Good knowledge of current social, economic and health trends and services, and the ability to adapt trends to practical program…