Social Worker Or Human Services Professional Iii - Kauai

Job Title

Social Worker or Human Services Professional

Social Workers and Human Services Professionals seek to improve the overall quality of life of people within the context of their environment through the remediation and prevention of their problems, and by improving accessibility, accountability, and coordination of service delivery among a variety of professionals and/or agencies tasked with providing appropriate services to clients. These professionals come from a variety of interdisciplinary bases, establish working relationships of mutual respect and trust with the clientele served, and utilize a variety of helping interventions to enable these clients to function as effectively as possible.

These positions are found in a variety of settings and work with diverse types of people. They may be found in hospitals and other health service agencies, social service agencies, schools, correctional facilities, and programs concerned with substance abuse, aging, and family violence.

Although work settings and clientele may differ, all Social Workers and Human Services Professionals use similar professional concepts, principles, and techniques regardless of the program in which they work. Social Worker or Human Services Professional III positions are distinguished by the complexity of assigned cases and level of authority assumed by the worker. The following summarizes the types of positions found at this level:

Type A: The fully independent Social Worker or Human Services Professional workers who provide the full range of core human services work such as assessment of needs; development and implementation of service plans, which may include direct services such as advising/counseling and/or referral/coordinative services; and monitoring, evaluating, and making appropriate adjustments to services plans.

Examples of positions performing this type of work are those providing ongoing support to developmentally disabled clients who have been declared eligible for services, or positions which serve as part of a multi-disciplinary team and provide a social services assessment and care coordination component to assure access to services for children with special health needs; or positions which oversee child care providers, facilities, and homes to ensure conformance to regulatory and child safety standards, and to assure that eligible families receive child care subsidies and other supportive services to facilitate employment.

Type B: These Social Worker or Human Services Professionals do not function at the fully independent worker level. All or a major part of their assigned cases consists of clients for whom it is difficult to determine or obtain appropriate services; who may be hostile or resistant to services; or who present significant complexities due to factors such as multiple and/or severe psychosocial, physical/mental, and environmental problems.

Examples of positions performing this type of work are those who investigate cases of alleged child abuse or neglect in child protective services units but do so under the guidance of a more experienced worker or unit supervisor.

Program Areas for the current vacancies are:

Department of Human Services (DHS):

General Human Services (GHS) - Work with one of the following programs:
1) employment-related or first-to-work services, child-care licensing services, and economic assistance to eligible families and individuals;
2) administrative planning, development, and implementation of comprehensive statewide social service programs;
3) medical assistance; and
4) vocational rehabilitation services, including eligible individuals who are blind, deaf-blind or visually impaired.

To qualify, you must meet all the requirements for Social Worker or Human Services Professional as outlined below. Your application will be evaluated based on the following requirements and you will be notified of your qualification for either the Social Worker OR Human Services Professional recruitment(s), as appropriate.

Legal Authorization to Work: The State of Hawaii requires all persons seeking employment with the government of the State shall be citizens, nationals, or permanent resident aliens of the United States, or eligible under federal law for unrestricted employment in the United States.

BASIC EDUCATION: Social Worker:
In accordance with Act 238, SLH 2005, applicants must possess a bachelor's or master's degree in social work from a program of study accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, or a doctoral degree in social work from a college or university accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, or a comparable regional accreditation body. Human Services Professional: A bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year college or university which included a minimum of 12 semester credit hours in courses such as counseling, criminal justice, human services, psychology, social work, social welfare, sociology or other…