Kinship Care Licensing Supervisor | Social Service Supervisor - Tacoma

Our vision is to ensure that “All Washington's children and youth grow up safe and healthy, thriving physically, emotionally, and educationally, nurtured by family and community”.

This is a hybrid position and requires reporting to the Tacoma office at least once per week.

This position supports the mission of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) by helping protect children and strengthen families through the work of the Licensing Division’s Kinship Care Licensing program. Kinship Care Licensing focuses on assessing and licensing relatives and other individuals with a significant relationship to a child who may provide care when the child cannot safely remain in their own home.

In this role, you will supervise a team of Social Service Specialists who provide professional licensing services to kinship caregivers, including home studies and updates, licensing and renewal assessments, amendments, facility complaints, and health and safety monitoring visits. You will also provide advanced consultation and support on complex or high-profile cases involving children or vulnerable adults.

to learn more about DCYF.

As a first-line supervisor, you will provide leadership, coaching, mentoring, and on-the-job training to Social Service Specialists while supporting their transition from formal training to independent fieldwork. You will conduct case reviews, facilitate meetings and case staffings, establish procedures that support efficient workflow, and provide final approval of staff work products.

You will also use planning, accountability, and tracking processes to ensure casework is completed in accordance with law, policy, and other requirements while supporting staff performance and development. A key part of this role is fostering a kin-first and culturally responsive approach, helping staff recognize and respect the strengths, heritage, values, and cultural identities of families while supporting children in maintaining meaningful connections to their families, cultures, and communities.

• Perform supervisory personnel functions, including setting performance goals, performance evaluation, and scheduling staff for five (5) SSS3s.
• Prioritize and assigns work to a unit of Kinship Care Licensing staff who conduct kinship home studies, licenses, updates, renewals, amendments, licensing complaints and health and safety monitoring visits.
• Provide informal training regarding licensing functions and home study assessment requirements, licensing, maintenance and relicensing of kinship caregivers for staff, divisions, programs, the community or others, and arranges for formal agency training for staff.
• Develop onboarding training plans for incoming staff and assists the Social Service Specialist 4 with the delivery of onboarding training.
• Provide case consultation and reviews of home study assessments and reassessments.
• Conduct monthly reviews, case staffing, unit meetings, and other meetings as needed.
• Provide ongoing guidance to Kinship Care Licensors regarding home study/licensing process, policy, and procedure.
• Provide direct technical assistance to Social Service Specialists regarding the licensing and maintenance, support, retention and recruitment of kinship homes.
• Assist Kinship Care Licensors by providing training and technical assistance.
• Collaborate with the community, including the provider community, law enforcement, medical personnel and families of children in out-of-home care.
• Perform quality assurance on staff documentation, assessments, reports, case…