Specialized Services Child Welfare Specialist
Listed on 2026-02-16
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Social Work
Child Development/Support, Family Advocacy & Support Services -
Child Care/Nanny
Child Development/Support
Overview
JOB TITLE: Specialized Services Child Welfare Specialist (S-CWS)
REPORTS TO: Specialized Services Program Manager
STATUS: Full Time, Exempt
Benefits: LCFS Full-Time Employee Benefits (link provided in original posting)
Salary Range: $52,416 - $57,416
OFFICE
LOCATION:
The office location will be based on the office nearest to the candidate’s residency. Travel is required across the 102 IL counties. This is generally in the county where the office is located and the surrounding counties for work-related responsibilities. Opportunities currently available in Chicago, Oakbrook, Joliet and Kankakee.
What We Do
Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois improves the well-being of people across the state by protecting children, strengthening families and building futures for those who have experienced trauma. LCFS is a welcoming organization serving children, individuals, families and communities of all faiths, races, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender expressions and gender identifications.
Who We Are
- Champions in supporting children, youth and families throughout Illinois so they are able to reach their full potential
- Dynamic and innovative leaders who believe in collaboration with their team of professionals and are revolutionizing the impact on services to families
- A community which embraces and is committed to being WIDE (welcoming, inclusive, diverse and equitable)
- Impacts of the child welfare community by addressing institutional racism and implicit bias to increase positive outcomes for children and families of color
- Creators of culture focused on supporting families and ensuring all children find safe, loving permanent homes, particularly by reuniting them with their families
Objectives of the Position
Under the direction of organizational leadership, the Specialized Services CWS is part of the child welfare team that achieves LCFS vision for all children and families having the opportunity for safe, healthy and meaningful lives. This role collaborates with a child welfare team consisting of child welfare specialists, medical and mental health personnel to build relationships, supports, partnerships and strengths amongst the youth, their identified caregivers and families to ensure youth who are involved in the Illinois foster care system and who have a history of medical, mental health issues and/or multiple placements, delinquency or other level needs.
The goals of the role are to ensure:
- Safety, permanency and well-being
- Successful and sustainable transitions and maintenance in the least restrictive arrangements
- Intensive wraparound and case coordination services for social, emotional and physical well-being
- Natural and formal life-long supports, connections, safety, stability and permanency
- Supportive youth-led strength building, positive development, pro-social life skills opportunities, behavior and medical adaptability, skills and empowerment
Roles and Responsibilities
(non-exhaustive list)
- Serve with a team of supervisors and direct service child welfare professionals in partnership with children, parents and community providers to assess, plan, evaluate and make linkages for safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes
- Implementation and referral of individualized and targeted services for youth and families, such as counseling, respite, mentoring, educational support, case management, crisis intervention, and tailored services to meet the specialized needs of children and families
- Collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams and partners for continuous quality improvement, interventions, service delivery and achievement of program outcomes
- Participate in System of Care principles to include ensuring provision of social/emotional/mental/behavioral health services; regular participation in clinical and medical staffing and level of care eligibility/maintenance reviews
- Participate in regular supervision, mediation, problem resolution, and crisis response by effectively responding to parent, child, provider and stakeholder concerns; includes on-call support
- Assess and maintain knowledge of child welfare laws, policies and trends for recommending program adjustments and…
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