Social Worker IA&T: In-Home Services Unit

Overview

Purpose of Organizational Unit:
The Child Protective Services In-Home Services Unit's primary purpose is to execute the agency's legal mandate to serve families in which abuse, neglect or dependency has been substantiated or found In Need of Services. Work in this unit entails:

• Counseling and planning with the child's family intended to strengthen the ability of families to protect and care for their own children, to minimize harm to children and youth, and to ensure permanence in children's lives.
• Arranging for provision of and assisting families in utilizing appropriate services and community resources.
• Obtaining the cooperation of law enforcement agencies as required obtaining suitable care and services for the children in or out of their family origin
• Initiation of court action when necessary.

Primary Purpose of the Position:
This agency is mandated to provide services to children who have been identified as neglected, abused, or dependent. The primary purpose of the Child Protective Services In-Home Social Worker, Investigations, Assessment and Treatment (SW IA&T) is to execute this mandate. This is an advanced, professional level casework position, providing counseling and case management services for children who are identified as neglected and/or abused or dependent.

This is done by assessing family situations to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the family system and to evaluate the level of risk the child may face in the home. The social worker also provides other services to families with children under the age of 18 years who have requested such services from the agency in conjunction with protective services.

Treatment and immediate responses will be provided to crisis situations for at risk children in the most complex and hostile of cases.

Regular working hours are from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. However, in order to make the mandated number of face-to-face contacts in some situations, clients may need contact after hours and overtime may be required. Employees are given the option of flexing their workday to accommodate their clients' schedule without putting the social worker in an overtime situation.

Employee serves on a rotation basis for periodic radio coverage.

None

• Intervention developed:
  The In-Home Services SW IA&T is responsible for reviewing the case and becoming familiar with the family dynamics, identified problems and strengths of the family. Utilizing the Child and Family Team process, a Family Services Agreement is devised jointly with the family based on the Risk Assessment and Initial Case Plan. The Family Services Agreement contains objectives that are measurable, time limited, describe specific desired outcomes and identify necessary behavior changes.
  
  Identified needs, objectives and activities are directed toward alleviating the problems that lead to the abuse, neglect or dependency and addressing underlying issues that may contribute to the need for protective services. Once the case plan is devised, the helping process is defined.
• Providing/arranging for counseling or supportive services:
  The In-Home Services SW IA&T provides counseling to the client directed toward the development and utilization of family support systems including recognition of development and utilization of strengths, overcoming personal, social, and environmental barriers, and utilizing agency and community resources. The worker seeks community resources to assist the client in attaining their goals.
• Monitoring and assessment:
  The In-Home Services SW IA&T must monitor the Family Services Agreement and complete a Risk Assessment at various intervals in all neglect, abuse and/or dependency cases requiring continued mandated services. After a Family Services Agreement is negotiated, ongoing monitoring and assessment is necessary to determine if the plan continues to be appropriate and that the plan of intervention continues to address the identified needs of the parent and children.
  
  This monitoring includes regular interviews with the…