Social Worker III - Adult Services​/Guardianship

Primary Purpose of Organizational Unit

This social worker position is assigned to the Adult Service Unit, which is part of the Service Division of a local department of social services which provides crisis assistance and on-going supportive services to eligible individuals and their families.

The social worker in this position has the responsibility of assisting aged, disabled, and other adults experiencing medical, social, and community problems to identify their problems. The worker strives to enhance the client’s problem‑solving and coping capacities with the purpose of providing services to enable the individual to live independently in his or her community.

The normal work hours are from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm. The worker may have to work overtime on some occasions for which he/she will receive compensatory time.

This position now has the added responsibility to investigate Adult Protective Service reports, assess competency of adults and make recommendations regarding the need for a guardian.

Protective Services for Adults is a multi‑factored service based on an awareness of the vulnerability of some adults to abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Abuse means willful infliction of physical pain, injury, or mental anguish or unreasonable confinement, or the willful deprivation by a caretaker of services which are necessary to maintain mental and physical health. Neglect refers to a disabled adult who is either living alone or not able to provide for himself or herself the services which are necessary to maintain mental or physical health or is not receiving services from his caretaker.

Exploitation means the illegal or improper use of a disabled adult or his resources for another’s profit or advantage. The protective service component consists of provisions in the state law for intervention in crisis situations in which adults are reported to be in need of protection. It is the role of the social worker to ensure that the agency’s actions are consistent with statutory and state requirements.

Adults who are in need of this protection are persons 18 years of age or older with disabilities or handicaps such as age, physical, mental or socioeconomic, which have incapacitated them to such a degree that they are unable to take care of themselves and who have no one able or willing to assist them with the care of their needs.

Guardianship involves the provision of services to individuals who are alleged to be incompetent and their families. It includes legal proceedings in which an adult is declared incompetent by the court and another party is given the responsibility for duties relative to the adult’s personal affairs and/or property. The nature and scope of a guardian’s responsibility are determined by the court, based on applicable provisions of the law and the circumstances of the individual case.

Guardianship ends with the death of the incompetent adult or with a judicial restoration of the adult’s competency.

The legal determination that an adult is incompetent means that the adult is considered incapable of making important decisions concerning his/her personal welfare and/or financial resources. The authority in this position is given to a guardian to make decisions such as where the adult will live, including the geographical area and type of living arrangement; how the adult’s income will be spent;

and whether the adult will have recommended medical treatment or surgery. To the extent that the guardian is given authority over these and other areas of the adult’s life, the adult no longer has the right to make decisions in those areas. Because of the effect of declaring an adult legally incompetent and giving his/her authority to make decisions to guardian, guardianship should be considered only when other less drastic methods of assisting adults are not sufficient.

Denotes essential function. This worker will have the case management responsibility to provide supportive services to individuals and families residing in the county. The social worker receives case assignments through…