Family Safety Practitioner II - Foster Care and Adoption

Job Announcement

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

If your goal is to build a career that makes a difference, consider joining the dedicated practitioners in the Division of Children, Youth, and Families (CYF) of the Department of Family Services (DFS). We are seeking a dynamic professional to join our dedicated, multi-disciplinary team. In this role, you would provide clinical casework services to support the permanency of children in foster care as well as their parents and caregivers.

We hire only the most caring and motivated individuals to serve families and children in our community.

Grow your career with Fairfax County!

With more than 16,000 employees, Fairfax County is a diverse workforce offering employees stimulating and challenging opportunities across a broad scope of career opportunities. As a Fairfax County employee, you impact the well‑being of our community every day.

This is an exciting time to join Fairfax County Government as we shape racial and social equity policies in the county through the One Fairfax Policy. Using this framework, we intentionally consider equity when making policies or delivering programs and services.

The Department of Family Services (DFS) is committed to strengthening the well‑being of its diverse community by protecting and improving the lives of all children, adults, and families through assistance, partnership, advocacy, outreach, and quality services.

As an integral member of the FC&A Program, performs a vital role to achieve permanent living arrangements for children in foster care and adoption. Work hours are Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., however, evening and/or weekend work is required.

• Conducts face‑to‑face contacts and attends home visits to ensure children in foster care and adoption are safe and that their physical, emotional, and educational needs are being met
• Conducts comprehensive assessments to include but not limited to the following areas: safety, permanency, and wellbeing; educational, social, and independent living skills; substance abuse, and developmental concerns; family relationships such as parent‑child conflict and domestic violence; assessing the family (i.e., parenting capacity, family relationships, social supports, physical health challenges and disabilities, and basic needs such as shelter, food, and clothing)
• Collaborates with the parents, prior custodians, foster parents, and children when appropriate, to develop a family‑centered, solution focused service plan ensure safety, permanency, and wellbeing of the children in foster care
• Coordinates and collaborates with foster families and others to deliver services (i.e., home‑based family and individual counseling, health insurance and medical care, parenting support, and domestic violence interventions) to children and parents/family members
• Responds and intervenes in emergency crisis around placement of children in foster home, congregate care facilities, and trial home placements with parent or relative caregivers
• Conducts court‑related services to include writing and submitting service plans to court, consulting with county attorney, writing affidavits, filing petitions, and testifying in court
• Documents assessments, critical incident reports, detailed case contacts, progress notes, and service plans in a timely manner in accordance with local and state policy
• Participates in required trainings and meetings and serves as a representative on work groups and contributes to development of written product
• Coordinates and attends intra‑agency and inter‑agency meetings
• May be required to be on‑call rotation that includes evening, overnight, weekend, and holiday hours which may require immediate response into the field
• Performs other duties as assigned to ensure child safety and improve outcomes in families

• Knowledge of child protection laws, rules, and regulations
• Knowledge of foster care and adoption laws, rules, and regulations
• Ability to interview, assess needs, counsel, and refer clients to other resource as needed
• Knowledge of childhood trauma and attachment
• Knowledge of…