Child Welfare Caseworker - Intake

Position Overview

Under supervision and utilizing a team approach, provides direct casework services to children, birth families, kinship caregivers, and foster families in situations involving abuse, neglect, dependency, risk to harm, and/or families in need of services. Positions in this classification are responsible for conducting investigations, assessing child risk and safety, and providing ongoing, direct casework services to ensure the well-being and permanency of children.

Employees will exercise independent judgement within established policies, procedures, and legal guidelines. Work will include direct interactions and face-to-face contact with children, families, caregivers, and community partners, often in complex and high-risk situations. Caseworkers are responsible for developing and implementing service plans, coordinating resources, and monitoring progress towards safety and permanency goals. Work is performed in a combination of office and field settings and is subject to strict, regulatory, legal, and documentation requirements.

If assigned to Intake/Ongoing

• Provides direct casework services to families in which children may be dependent, neglected, or abused, and secures protection for children from potentially unsafe environments.
• Conducts home visits with parents, children, kinship caregivers, and foster families to ensure the safety and well-being of children.
• Assesses family functioning, risk factors, and available supports to develop service plans that reduce safety concerns and improve family stability.
• Assesses client needs and implements services that promote family preservation, placement stability, reunification, concurrent planning, and permanency.
• Collects relevant information for possible legal action and presents factual evidence in court proceedings.
• Develops and supports a team-based approach when working with birth families, kinship caregivers, and foster families.
• Ensures youth receive educational and independent living services.
• Assists families and children in accessing appropriate community resources.
• Develops and maintains professional relationships with agencies serving children and families.
• Maintains regular contact with treatment specialists, educational providers, medical providers, and other service team members.
• Provides support to foster families to maintain placements and facilitate timely reunification, while pursuing alternative permanency plans when necessary.
• Prepares written assessments, reports, and related documentation.
• Provides foster families with guidance regarding the placement process, roles, responsibilities, child needs, and reunification efforts.
• Advocates for both natural families and foster families.
• Participates in placement matching decisions and coordinates pre-placement and post-placement activities.
• Performs other related duties as required and assigned.

If assigned to Intake – Rapid Response

• Conducts Specialized and Third-Party investigations.
• Completes Rules Violation investigations involving agency foster homes.
• Sends required notifications to licensing agents regarding Specialized Investigations and Rules Violations.
• Investigates new referrals of abuse and neglect for open, ongoing, and 90-day cases. Facilitates conferences with all parties involved, including weekly Thursday morning meetings to review outcomes of specialized investigations
• Performs other related duties as required and assigned.

If assigned to Adolescent Services – Special Placement

• Travels frequently out of state and throughout Ohio to residential treatment facilities.
• Participates in ongoing, intensive communication and frequent team meetings/conferences to support youth with complex diagnoses, including medication management, specialized education planning, and step-down transitions
• Attends residential committee meetings.
• Works with youth in various custody statuses.
• Performs other related duties as required and assigned.

If assigned to Adoptions

• Provides adoption readiness services for youth in permanent custody of Montgomery County Children Services.
• Prepares adoption finalization reports.
• Attends adoption finalization hearings.
• Develops and updates adoption recruitment information for Adopt US Kids and A Child Is Waiting.
• Prepares youth and prospective families for adoption.
• Performs other related duties as required and assigned.

If assigned to After Hours

• Works second and third shifts, weekends, and holidays as scheduled.
• Responds to community crisis situations.
• Answers the child abuse hotline and identifies referrals requiring urgent or emergency supervisory review.
• Completes referrals in SACWIS.
• Searches for placements when youth enter the custody of Montgomery County Children Services.
• Receives and documents calls regarding AWOL youth, treatment or medication consent, and contacts the administrator on-call when required by policy and procedure.
• Responds to walk-in reports of abuse, neglect, dependency, and general inquiries.
• Performs other related duties as required and…