Social Services Specialist IV

Social Services Specialist IV

Agency: 650 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Supervisory Organization:
Claremore Veterans Home

Job Type: Regular

Compensation: $38.08 per hour

Positions in this family are assigned responsibility for providing social services to children and adults in communities, facilities, institutions or hospitals.

The functions performed in this job family will vary by level, unit and organization, but may include the following:

• Manages a caseload and provides services for individuals and their families.
• Evaluates the needs of individuals and families; assists the family as a unit to function more adequately; counsels clients and arranges for needed treatment or services.
• Participates on a psychiatric team to gather social data, counsels individuals under the direction of a psychiatrist, psychologist or other social services specialist.
• Assesses the needs of individuals and determines eligibility for specific programs; interviews clients, both in an office setting and on home visits, completes necessary case documents and compiles data to determine eligibility.
• Develops and plans casework services and treatment for individuals with specialized problems in development, retardation, maladjustment or dependency.
• Develops and implements specialized treatment programs within the community; utilizes community resources; initiates projects with foster or adoptive parents.
• Investigates selected food stamp cases, conducts interviews and obtains information to determine food stamp violations or food stamp fraud.
• Participates in staff conferences and interdisciplinary team meetings for the purpose of determining overall treatment.
• Performs other related duties as assigned consistent with the responsibilities of the position and agency operations.

Levels are distinguished based on the complexity of assigned duties, the level of expertise required for completion of work assignments, and the responsibility assigned for the supervision of others. This is the leadership level where employees provide direct supervision to lower level staff. Responsibilities may also include planning, organizing and directing a social work department or an entire social work program in a state facility or may serve as a clinical supervisor in a mental health facility.

Employees assigned to this level will supervise a staff of professional and paraprofessional social service specialists who provide a wide variety of case work and social services to clients and patients, as well as provide consultation and assistance to persons in other professional fields. Some employees direct comprehensive programs of social services and consultation in a number of treatment settings providing a wide variety of casework and social services to clients and patients;

confer with medical staff and department heads on professional problems and assignment of work.

Knowledge,

Skills and Abilities

required at this level include knowledge of social work principles and practices; of casework principles and methods; of current social and economic problems; of the principles of family economics and budgeting; of human relations; of community, state and national health and welfare resources; of psychological terminology; of the principles of interviewing; of social assistance requirements; of therapeutic treatment; of psychiatric and medical terminology;

of social welfare legislation as it pertains to the state administration of public welfare; of the functions of public welfare agencies; of social resources in Oklahoma as related to public assistance; of individual and group behavior; of social and psychiatric casework method and principles and their application to problems in psychiatric social work; of mental and emotional disturbances; of the principles of clinical interviewing;

of community, individual, and family social, economic, and health problems; of medical social work methods and principles; of literature in the field of social work; and of supervisory principles and practices.

Ability is required to deal effectively and courteously with people; to exercise good judgment in evaluating situations; to present ideas and facts effectively and accurately; to consult with staff and agencies; to effectively treat social and emotional problems; to plan and organize a program; to relate professional training to casework practice and supervision in the field of family services; and to plan and direct the work of a professional staff.

Candidates must possess sufficient proficiency in the English language to perform the essential functions of the position.

Education and Experience requirements at this level consist of a master's degree and two additional years of qualifying experience plus one additional year of qualifying experience or social service administration experience; or a bachelor's degree and three years of experience in professional social work…