Child Welfare & Adult Protection Services Manager

Child Welfare & Adult Protection Services Manager

This position functions within a state-supervised, county-administered human services structure. Position provides a full range of intake and ongoing child welfare services and supervision for a variety of program areas such as child abuse and neglect cases, youth in conflict cases, foster care, adoption, and adults unable to protect their own interests. Positions at this level typically are assigned continuous supervisory responsibilities over other social caseworkers and may assist with specialized caseloads in which the incumbent is responsible for ensuring the provision of intensive treatment on a regular basis.

Essential Functions

• Provides continuous supervisory responsibilities over four lower-level social casework positions.
• Reviews case plans and case reports for technical judgment and appropriateness to assigned cases.
• Assists the Social Caseworkers in the unit with difficult and unusually complex cases; reviews progress and evaluates goals to help them develop, maintain and modify family service plans.
• Assists in training new Social Caseworkers and acts as liaison between Director and the Caseworkers.
• Provides administrative supervision and evaluates Social Caseworker performance.
• Assesses and diagnoses child's disability, daily living skills, need or protection and evaluates problems to develop appropriate treatment plan. May assist with identifying specialized foster care in order to accommodate special needs placements
• Provides oversight on cases involving special problems such as relinquishment, counseling and resultant work with attorneys and court; performs adoptive home studies, including court ordered studies and predisposition reports.
• Provides oversight on investigations of alleged physical abuse, neglect and parent-conflicts; determines if situation warrants placing children outside the home; supervises placement of children in foster care and ensures parent/child visits are taking place; and determines when and if to recommend that children return to the home.
• Provides oversight on case plans and oversees counseling services to families regarding parenting skills, family problems, parent-child relationships and problems with the community. Supervises the RED Team process—the assessment of any new child abuse or re-abuse complaints.
• Supervises the intake assessment and evaluation process, referrals for ongoing counseling services, and case planning to a variety of other cases including adults unable to protect their own interests and family conflict and youth in conflict cases.
• Determines the need for recommending placement of clients into foster care. Supervises the client's progress in placement.
• Ensures that staff are making home visits with clients, organizing services such as day care, financial assistance, health (physical and mental), and legal.
• Testifies in court on a variety of ongoing cases, makes recommendations to the courts on abuse and neglect cases, placement of children, guardianship of adults, and on custody investigations.
• Authorizes written reports of appropriate documentation of case plans, recommendations, contacts, assessments, etc.
• Has a high level of proficiency in the following areas:
• Theories, principles, and concepts of social casework practice (assessment and treatment oriented) related to all of the assigned program areas.
• Social work principles and methods.
• Medical symptoms related to injuries or failure to thrive in children.
• Effects of domestic violence on children and the laws dealing with child abuse, neglect and other dependency conditions.
• The needs of senior citizens, persons with physical disabilities, persons who are LGBTQIA, persons with developmental delays, persons with a mental illness diagnosis, persons affected by addiction and persons who are deemed to be incompetent.
• Skills in interviewing techniques, crisis intervention methods and relevant treatment modalities.
• Community resources, agency rules, regulations and procedures related to assigned program areas.
• Establish rapport with clients.
• Independently analyze complex situations, formulate plans and make quick decisions as needed.
• Clearly and concisely express oneself both verbally and in written format.
• Establish and maintain harmonious professional relationships with other employees, peer supervisors, outside agencies and the public.
• Testify effectively in court hearings.
• Travel by car in order to make home visits and to visit foster parents and children in placement when necessary.
• Experience and Training Guidelines
• Any combination of experience and training that would likely provide the required knowledge and abilities is qualifying.

Supervisory Responsibilities Instructions may be received from the Director when cases are assigned and during the progress of a case. The Director is available to provide instructions and to act as a consultant at the request of the incumbent. Work is reviewed for compliance to policy and general conclusions through spot checks,…