Job Announcement
Supports the Division of Children, Youth and Families (CYF). If you are looking to work in a diverse community to strengthen the well-being of children and families, then this opportunity may be ideal for you. DFS is committed to strengthening the well-being of its diverse community by protecting and improving the lives of all children, adults, and families through assistance, partnership, advocacy, outreach, and quality services. To learn more about DFS and its Mission, Vision, and Values, please click here.
Please note: This job announcement may be used to also fill future full-time Social Services Specialist II positions for the Parenting Education Program.
ABOUT THIS POSITION: Under general direction of the Parenting Education Program Social Services Supervisor, the Social Services Specialist II (SSS II) performs tasks independently to protect children and build family resilience as articulated by local, state, and federal policies and laws. Work hours are Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m, however, evening and/or weekend work is required. The SSS II is a part of PEP within the Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention Services Program and performs the following duties and responsibilities:
Establishes a trusting relationship with families while providing parenting education classes and workshops throughout the Fairfax County community.- Engages various community stakeholders to determine how best to partner with them to increase parental capacity and protective factors.
- Provides support for parenting education programs by conducting outreach and partnership activities.
- Facilitates parenting groups and workshops for parenting education programs.
- Enters client information and other data into various computer systems while maintaining client records.
- Partners with the family to assist them in developing natural support systems which may include both formal and informal supports.
- Represents the Prevention Program in staffings such as case consultations and Review, Evaluate, and Direct (R.E.D) team, other meetings, and events as needed.
- Works a flexible schedule to include evenings and weekend dependent upon the needs of the program.
- Performs other duties as assigned to ensure child safety and improve outcomes in families, including providing Child Protective Services (CPS) functions to support families referred to CPS.
The primary purpose of the CYF Division is to ensure child safety and improve outcomes in families. To ensure that the division can carry out its purpose and meet the agency’s responsibilities related to child safety, permanency and wellbeing, the CYF director may reassign this position’s related work duties and responsibilities within the job class. At the discretion of the CYF director, the Parenting Education Program Social Services Specialist may perform related work duties and responsibilities within the job class to ensure that the Division can carry out its purpose and meet the agency’s responsibilities related to child safety, permanence, and wellbeing. May need to work a flexible schedule to include evenings and weekends and may be required to be on-call rotation that includes evening, overnight, weekend, and holiday hours which may require immediate response into the field.
Illustrative Duties
(The illustrative duties listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list. A complete list of position duties and unique physical requirements can be found in the position job description.)
Conducts comprehensive clinical assessments and prepares and implements service plans;
Works with clients to develop a plan of service to meet social, health, emotional and economic needs. With the client, formulates objectives and identifies actions to resolve the clients' problems;
Advocates for and assists families and individuals in obtaining services (e.g., mental health, intellectual disability, alcohol and drug, housing referrals, financial assistance for basic needs, home based services, training and medical services);
Works with the community to identify families, children and individuals needing social services and coordinates these services using a wrap-around approach;
Provides family counseling and conducts mediation services to families in conflict;
Performs emergency removal of children from their homes when required, places children in foster homes and residential programs, and coordinates services for them as needed;
Investigates complaints of alleged abuse or neglect, and in consultation with supervisor, makes assessment of risks posed to clients in accordance with state and local policies, and works to ensure risks are eliminated or minimized;
Provides crisis intervention on a timely basis to clients or families whose well being are seriously and imminently threatened, to include Adult Protective Services and Child Protective Services after-hours;
Represents the agency in court proceedings and prepares testimony and testifies in Juvenile, Circuit, Criminal, Civil and Federal Courts;
Interviews and counsels natural parents, adoptive parents, foster parents and children to be placed in foster homes or residential facilities and those involved in adoption placement;
Evaluates child's readiness for placement and recommends placement ensuring compliance with legal provisions;
Conducts and documents interstate and intrastate family home studies to evaluate and make recommendations on the family's ability to provide a safe and nurturing environment for children;
Evaluates and may assist in training foster and adoptive parents;
Communicates and works with colleagues, clients and the community in a manner that supports the agency and program goals and objectives;
Participates as a contributing member on interagency, multi-disciplinary teams, community groups and professional organizations;
Collaborates and contributes to child specific teams on non-agency cases as assigned to assist in identifying community resources and services for families;
Participates, collaborates and contributes to Comprehensive Services Act activities for families on caseload;
Provides training and community education on a variety of social work topics;
Assesses and authorizes purchase of social services to qualifying clients that will help to meet their social, health, emotional and economic needs;
Conducts home visits to families for the purpose of monitoring, counseling and supervision;
Recruits, develops, trains, and monitors individual service providers. Recruits volunteers and manages volunteer services;
Uses automated technology and hard copy files to maintain and update case data, notes,
documents, records, contacts and summaries of information. Maintains case notes, documents and records, enters and updates case load data, contacts and summaries of information;
Prepares and provides reports on casework;
Performs or reviews initial assessment of client's presenting need and conducts additional assessment as necessary to develop a coordinated service plan that establishes goals, tasks, and time frames with appropriate county and community-based service providers;
Addresses, and if necessary diffuses, initial crisis situation with clients, assesses safety issues and refers clients to emergency services as needed (e.g., mental health services, child protective services, adult protective services, women's shelter, homeless shelter);
Demonstrates expertise in community service resources to identify, classify and describe services that address a broad array of client service needs-collaborates with service delivery professionals from all disciplines to identify service resource information requirements-translates those requirements into an automated catalog of resources necessary for client referrals and the development of client service plans;
Negotiates, facilitates, and coordinates the creative use of limited community-based service alternatives and assists staff from other county human service agencies in creative use of community resources;
Consults with community-based organizations (CBO) staff on resources and service strategies that support service area work with individuals and families.
Required Knowledge Skills and Abilities
(The knowledge, skills and abilities listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list.)
Knowledge of the principles and practices of social work;
Knowledge of current social service problems and methods/approaches to address issues;
Knowledge of regulations and guidelines relating to the assigned area of social service specialization;
Ability to analyze case information and to reach sound decisions on the basis of such information;
Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing;
Ability to use automated technology to establish and maintain case records;
Ability to maintain professional ethics and confidentiality of client information;
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of individuals;
Ability to schedule and manage workload sufficiently to meet deadlines.
Employment Standards
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a bachelor's degree, plus two years of professional social work experience. A master's degree in a related field may be substituted for one year of the required experience.
CERTIFICATES AND LICENSES REQUIRED:
Valid driver's license.
NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
The appointee to this position will be required to complete a criminal background, a driving record check, and a Child Protective Services check to the satisfaction of the employer.
This position is considered essential personnel and will be required to report to work during times designated countywide as approved for unscheduled leave regardless of the emergency situation (i.e., weather, transportation, other disaster).
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s degree in social work (BSW) or a related human services degree.
- Experience with facilitating group classes and knowledge of concepts related to adult learning.
- Experience partnering and engaging with families and community stakeholders.
- Knowledge of child development practices of children and youth from 0 – 18 years.
- Experience working in multi-disciplinary teams and networking to access community-based resources.
- Proficient knowledge with Microsoft office suite to include Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
- Working knowledge of services offered within the child welfare setting (child protective services, foster care, adoption, family prevention, permanency planning, or domestic/sexual violence).
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:Work requires performing tasks with risks of secondary traumatic stress (STS).
Ability to navigate through and make decisions in stressful and crisis situations.
Sufficiently mobile to make home visits, attend meetings, and community events outside the office.
Ability to operate a motor vehicle to attend meetings and events not accessible via public transportation.
Ability to use automated technology.
Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing.
Ability to lift up to 15 pounds.
All duties may be performed with or without reasonable accommodations.
SELECTION PROCEDURE:Panel interview; may include practical exercise.
The population of Fairfax County is very diverse where 39.8% of residents speak a language other than English at home (Spanish, Asian/Pacific Islander, Indo-European, and others) and we encourage candidates bilingual in English and a foreign language to apply to this opportunity.
Fairfax County Government prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetics, political affiliation, or military status in the recruitment, selection, and hiring of its workforce.
Reasonable accommodations are available to persons with disabilities during application and/or interview processes per the Americans with Disabilities Act. Contact 703-324-4900 for assistance. TTY 703-222-7314. DHREmployment@fairfaxcounty.gov EEO/AA/TTY.
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