County Caseworker ; LG; Luzerne County Child Welfare

Job Title

Employees in this class provide a full range of social and case management services to children, youth and families, and others to assist them in attaining a more satisfactory social, economic, emotional, or physical adjustment.

The Adolescent Unit provides services to adolescents and their families. Clientele are defined as abused, neglected adolescents who exhibit numerous adjustment difficulties such as: parent child conflict, truancy and school problems, abuse of drugs and alcohol, teenage pregnancy, psychological/emotional difficulties, learning disorders and delinquency problems. Youth are served within their own homes, foster care, community based facilities and residential facilities. The Supervisor of the Adolescent Unit works closely with contracted Specialized Adolescent Assessment Unit workers.

SAAU provides assessment and refers families to community-based agencies in an effort to circumvent LCCYS involvement. When a family is in need of ongoing and/or court mandated services SAAU opens the case and an ongoing AU worker is assigned to the case.

The Independent Living Program is an educational life skill program that is mandated by the Department of Human Services. All foster children who have been "in care" after their 14th birthday are provided with a thorough comprehensive life skills education program. The program is offered either individually or in groups, and enhances life skills, prior to termination from agency services. The agency contracts 2 SIL workers to provide intensive case management with the adolescents in this group.

The Concurrent Planning Unit consists of five Caseworkers and one Social Services Aide. This unit was developed as a response to the Adoption and Safe Families Act, in an effort to ensure that children placed in foster care placement achieve a permanent plan in a timely manner. The Child Welfare Standards of safety, permanence, timeliness, and well-being are woven through this unit's practice.

It's main function, permanency planning, is achieved through the casework model. Each caseworker, along with the family, develops, monitors, and updates Family Service Plans which seek to aid the family in the return home of their children. Family visitation, court preparation, linkage to community services, family support, and ASFA related documentation comprise the duties of the Concurrent Planning Caseworker. As the name "Concurrent Planning" suggests, caseworkers in this unit are considering dual plans when working with families.

If necessary, the goal of termination of parental rights and adoption is explored and considered when the grounds exist. As always, the best interest of children is always considered in the casework model, as are the standards of timeliness, safety, well-being, and permanence.

The Child Protective Services (CPS) Intake Unit assesses all reports of sexual/physical abuse or neglect. Following Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public Welfare laws, regulations, and guidelines as well as Luzerne County procedures and policies, the CPS Intake department evaluates each child and family using a comprehensive risk and safety assessment methodology and case management techniques. The unit determines if the child is abused or neglected and takes appropriate measures to ensure safety.

Services are provided within the home environment and sometimes through separation of the child(ren) from the family. The department assesses reports of abuse and/or neglect received through the Screening Unit or during the after hours crisis coverage. The unit evaluates the family's needs while ensuring the safety of the child(ren) and determine if the family should be served by Luzerne County Children and Youth Services and/or another community agency.

Additional duties include assessing requests from the Juvenile Court to complete custody assessments, as well as providing short-term ongoing protective services. Court related issues of dependency;
Protection From Abuse Orders are also part of the Intake Unit's job duties. Public information is provided to the community through speaking engagements and meetings with the community and workers such as medical staff, teachers, daycare workers, and foster parents.

The General Protective Services (GPS) unit provides treatment services to children and their families. The agency has GPS Intake, Ongoing and Protective Services units. The General Protective Caseworker provides casework services to children and families to obtain appropriate treatment services to meet the family's needs and to prevent further child neglect. The units work very closely with their families in order to keep families together or to reunite families as quickly as possible.

Caseworkers utilize community resources, coordinate services and ensure that the children and family's needs are being met. They also work with families whose children are out-of-home placements, whether…