Adoptions Social Service Supervisor - Puyallup

Our vision is to ensure that “Washington state’s children and youth grow up safe and healthy— thriving physically, emotionally, and educationally, nurtured by family and community."

This full-time permanent position requires time in the field and the office. Travel is a requirement of this position. This position will travel within its assigned areas of work, and the incumbent may be required to travel with clients as cases require, as well as travel to attend training and meetings in other locations.

The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) is seeking a Social Service Specialist 5 (SSS5) to supervise Social Service Specialists for Region 5 in the Adoptions Unit. This supervisory position will manage Adoptions/CFWS staff who are stationed at the Tacoma and Puyallup Offices. The culture of the regional programs permanency team is collaborative, supportive, innovative, and passionate about the work.

Our office is focused on supporting our team as they learn and develop their skills in child welfare practice. If you have child welfare experience and are looking for an opportunity to expand your leadership skills, mentor others, and continue your professional growth and development in a supervisory role, we encourage you to apply.

to learn more about DCYF.

In this role, you will use your strong assessment and engagement skills to supervise Social Service Specialists. You will provide staff with advanced-level guidance and specialized case management knowledge to accomplish the agency's goals of child protection, permanency planning, and enhancing child well-being, ensuring child safety is at the forefront of all decision‑making. This position provides Social Service Specialists with on‑the‑job training, mentoring, feedback, coaching, and consultation, including field observations and modeling of case management skills and techniques.

This position tracks performance and expectations of their staff and holds them accountable for ensuring they are following DCYF policy, regional practice, State and Federal law, and the Indian Child Welfare Act. In performing all assigned duties, the Adoption Supervisor adheres to the Child Safety Framework with a focus on child safety through the life of a case, and permanency and wellbeing through understanding and respecting the strengths of clients, including their heritage, cultural beliefs and values, communication and learning style.

When working as a Social Service Specialist 5, this position makes sure its staff are knowledgeable of racial equity and social justice framework and are implementing culturally relevant, ADA‑sensitive, and individualized service plans with clients, which are goal‑directed, have specific behavioral objectives, and are time‑limited.

• Supervise and mentor a unit of Social Service Specialists and complete casework.
• Provide mentoring, coaching, counseling, consultation, on‑the‑job training, and feedback.
• Manage and support Social Service Specialists in formal training plans who are transitioning to fieldwork.
• Perform quality assurance on staff documentation, assessments, reports, case management, and payment initiation.
• Ensure Social Service Specialists document case activities and information gathered within the case file and FAMLINK.
• Prepare written staff performance evaluations utilizing the Performance Evaluation system.
• Consult with administrators and human resources regarding corrective or disciplinary action.
• Timely hiring of new staff when vacancies occur and following HR process to update PD and fill positions as needed.
• Train new and existing staff to gather accurate and complete information, organize information, and make case decisions.
• Keep staff informed of policies, rules, and regulations affecting their jobs and the children and families they serve.
• Provide consultation and oversight to ensure accurate application of the child safety framework.
• Review and revise service referrals, letters, court reports, and…