CFWS Social Service Specialist ; SSS- Bremerton

Job Title

CFWS Lead Worker - Social Service Specialist 4 (SSS4).

Bremerton, WA – Region 5.

This position is full-time and permanent, requiring time in the field and the office. Travel is required within assigned areas, with clients as cases require, and to attend training and meetings in other locations.

03/01/2026

$6,107 - $8,210 with 10% assignment pay. Base salary plus assignment pay for visits in unregulated environments.

This position functions as a Lead Worker over Social Service Specialists who provide professional-level social services to clients involved with CFWS. It offers advanced case management, coaching, mentoring, on-the-job training, and assistance in transitioning staff from a formal training program to fieldwork. It includes assigning work, conducting case reviews, establishing procedures, acting as Unit Supervisor (SSS5) during absences, and making decisions.

The role ensures application of child welfare practice principles, laws, rules, and policy in leading employees, while managing complex cases and serving diverse populations.

• Serve as the lead worker assigned to the most complex cases.
• Provide on-the-job training, mentoring, feedback, coaching, and consultation to staff in multiple Field Operations program areas.
• Lead over Social Service Specialists and Social Service Support Specialists (SSSS, SSS1, SSS2, SSS3).
• With the supervisor, assign work, review work for efficacy, use data to identify trends, and review case actions for accuracy.
• Report feedback and training needs to the supervisor.
• Cover assigned caseloads when a Social Service Specialist is absent.
• Attend meetings and provide supervisory coverage in the supervisor’s absence.
• Prepare and provide testimony at administrative hearings, court proceedings, and other legal proceedings.
• Refer, coordinate, and monitor delivery of services.
• Provide goal‑directed, task‑centered, and time‑limited crisis intervention to children and families.
• Utilize shared planning activities to obtain input from others and develop collaborative case plans.
• Train, coach, and support specialists in preparing court reports, testimony, hearings, and proceedings.
• Guide staff on caseload and time management, case actions, assessment, and intervention techniques.
• Guide staff on the Safety Framework and Structured Decision‑Making process to assess risk and safety.
• Place dependent children in foster or other approved placements when necessary for complex cases.
• Support permanency planning.
• Use Fam Link to document case activities and maintain case records.
• Prepare and file dependency petitions, guardianship petitions, and other legal documents related to permanent plans.
• Produce discovery.

• Seven (7) years of paid social service experience and 30 semester or 45 quarter credits in a Social Service discipline.
• A Bachelor’s degree in social services, human services, behavioral sciences, or a related field with 30 semester or 45 quarter credits in a Social Service discipline and three (3) years of paid social service experience.
• A Master’s degree in social services, human services, behavioral sciences, or a related field with 30 semester or 45 quarter credits in a Social Service discipline and two (2) years of paid social service experience.
• One (1) year of experience as a Social Service Specialist 3 and the ability to take action to learn and grow, and the ability to take action to meet the needs of others.

* Paid Social Service experience must include at least one year of assessing risk and safety to children and providing direct family‑centered practice services.

(A two‑year Master’s degree in one of the above fields that included a practicum may be substituted for one year of paid social service experience).

• Child welfare experience in program areas:
  Child Protective Services (CPS), Child and Family Welfare Services (CFWS), Family Voluntary Services (FVS), Family Reconciliation Services (FRS), Family Assessment Response (FAR), and Adoptions/Permanency.
• Master's in Social Work with completed practicum.
• Case management experience with mandatory…