Generalist Case worker Lead

CHAFFEE COUNTY POSITION DESCRIPTION

TITLE: LeadSocial Caseworker - Generalist FLSA STATUS: Exempt

DEPARTMENT: Human Services Start date:

Salary: $65,000 to $80,000

DIVISION: Child Welfare Team

GENERAL STATEMENT OF DUTIES:

Position provides intake and/or ongoing casework services for a variety of program areas such as child abuse and neglect cases, youth in conflict cases, and adults unable to protect their own interests. May also provide for the provision of ancillary services such as recruitment and supervision of foster care homes, home studies, placement of clients into foster and day care homes and institutions, emergency on-call availability and response, arrangement for and monitoring of core services, transportation for clients and family to promote successful completion of treatment plans, and information and referral services. As lead worker, this position will provide administrative supervision, direction and decision-making, consultation to other caseworkers within their unit and assist with training of new workers.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

The following duty statements are illustrative of the essential functions of the job and do not include other non-essential or marginal duties that may be required. The County reserves the right to modify or change the duties or essential functions of this job at any time.

• Provides intake assessments and evaluation, conducts investigations of allegations of child abuse, neglect and parent/child conflicts; determines if situation warrants placing children outside the home; supervises placement of children in foster care and coordinates parent/child visits; and determines when and if to recommend that children return to their home.
• Develops effective case plans and provides counseling services to families regarding parenting skills, family problems, parent/child relationships, and problems with the community. Assesses any new child abuse or re-abuse complaints and provides crisis intervention in these situations.
• Determines the need for recommending placement of clients into foster care and for adults into boarding care or nursing homes. Locates placement appropriate to client's needs. Monitors client's progress in placement.
• Makes home visits with clients, organizes services such as core services, day care, transportation, financial assistance, health (physical and mental), and legal, and provides information on available services.
• May provide other ancillary social casework services such as recruiting new foster home parents and conducting foster home studies and certifications. Monitors quality and safety of care in foster homes and other placement facilities.
• Testifies in court on a variety of ongoing cases and/or shelter hearings in initial stages of child welfare cases, makes recommendations to the courts on abuse and neglect cases, placement of children guardianship of adults, and on custody investigations.
• Develops and writes reports for appropriate documentation of case plans, recommendations, contacts, assessments, etc.; develops and files case file Information In accordance with state mandates and standards; completes forms and writes correspondence.
• Utilizes state mandated information systems for case management, report writing and documentation.
• May provide transportation services to children and their families to various scheduled appointments, visits and placement activities.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
• Provides individual or family counseling on an ongoing basis to children and their parents who are experiencing severe problems in the parent-child relationships.
• Makes collateral contacts with such community resources as law enforcement and medical personnel to obtain additional information, coordinate services, or secure their assistance.
• Provides administrative supervision and decision-making in the areas of prioritizing responses, assigning cases, monitoring decisions of newer caseworkers to ensure good practice and procedure are met, provides consultation to other caseworkers within their unit, assists with training of new caseworkers and provides assistance to on-call workers as needed.
• Supervises visits between children, parents and other relevant persons.
• Regularly confers with foster parents or other caretakers providing care to the children placed with them.
• Participates in staffing’s with school, mental health facilities, child protection review teams, and other professionals involved with the family members.
• Serves as an information and referral source to other employers and to the public
• Responds to emergency situations after working hours.
• Prepares and maintains client records; completes required forms and reports
• Assess with foster care program. Help with recruitment, planning events, licensing foster home and other support of the foster care coordinator.
• Be the back up for Family engagement facilitor when needed. Set in as supervisor as needed.
• Manage requirements for IV-E funding. To make sure we meet all requirements from the state. Including the FEM’s and kinship funding.

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

Social Caseworker positions are classified in three levels: Entry Level, Journey Level and Senior Level, differentiated by education requirements, acquired experience, level of supervision required and level of responsibility.Lead worker must qualify for senior level.

Senior Level: These are positions that require thorough knowledge of the theories, principles, and concepts of social casework practice (assessment and treatment oriented) related to all of the assigned program areas. Knowledge of social group work principles and methods. Knowledge of medical symptoms related to injuries or failure to thrive in children. Knowledge of the battered child syndrome, and the laws dealing with child abuse, neglect and other dependency conditions. Knowledge of the problems of the elderly, physically disabled, mentally impaired,, emotionally disturbed, alcoholics, drug addicts, and senile. Knowledge and skill in interviewing techniques, crisis intervention methods, and relevant treatment modalities. Knowledge of community resources, agency rules, regulations, and procedures related to assigned program areas. Ability to establish support with multi-problem, dysfunctional clients. Ability to independently analyze complex situations, formulate plans, and make quick decisions as needed. Ability to clearly and concisely express oneself both verbally and in written format. Ability to testify effectively in court hearings. Ability to independently assess and evaluate need for protection of children; to testify in court; to make decisions regarding suitability of foster and adoptive parents; to make decisions in crisis situations; to be non-judgmental in child abuse situations and to be sensitive to individual values; to relate to a wide variety of individuals such as clients, co-workers, and other professionals.

DIFFICULTY OF WORK

Senior Level: The incumbent independently evaluates each case assigned and develops extensive ongoing case plans. The incumbent is expected to deal with unusual and/or difficult cases when they arise with appropriate supervisory assistance. The incumbent is expected to be knowledgeable of guidelines and regulations available covering the work done, including but not limited to the Children's Code, Title XX, Senate Bill 94, Volume VII of the Department of Human Services Rules and Regulations, which regulate procedures to be followed, but do not provide the worker with instructions about how to treat or assess dysfunctional clients. There are a wide variety of recognized social casework techniques, and the incumbent must use judgment and situational evaluation to determine which are appropriate for each of the cases assigned.

Work is characterized by working with established guidelines as found in the Department of Social Services Staff Manuals, the Children’s Code, the Directory of Residential Child Care Facilities, Senate Bill 26, relevant laws, transmittal letters, county procedures and memoranda in determining eligibility for services and the scope of services to be delivered. Cases frequently require individualized judgment to evaluate the nature and degree of intervention and for how long the outside intervention is to continue, including the length of any placement. Decisions must frequently be made after hours, on weekends, in the midst of a hostile family situation and with little background information, creating the greatest possible degree of intricate variables and the most potentially volatile area of practice possible

RESPONSIBILITY

Senior level: This position requires the making of complex and often rapid decisions that directly impact the client and other persons immediately involved, such as the decision whether or not to place a child into protective custody, early assessment and permanence for children and families with concurrent planning to expedite permanency, comprehensive, diagnostic and treatment planning with the family and other service providers, and facilitation designed to empower families to resolve conflicts and disagreements within the extended family. Erroneous decisions, including failure to remove a child or premature return to the family, can result in physical, mental, and/or financial harm to the parties involved. Agency liability then becomes an additional issue. Consultation with the supervisor is available in multifaceted situations or when case actions are likely to have a legal impact upon the agency, family members and significant others. Work is reviewed on a spot check basis for compliance and procedures, casework strategy, accuracy, and soundness of judgment.

EDUCATION:

Minimum Education:

Journey and Senior level: Four year college degree in a behavioral science area such as Social Work, Behavioral, or Social Science, Sociology, Psychology.

Experience:

Senior Level: Four years of full-time professional social casework experience in a public or private social services agency in an assignment appropriate to the position acquired after the degree. Two year of the experience must be at Journey Level work. .

Substitutions: Master's degree in one of the behavioral science fields or a BSW degree accredited by the Council of Social Work Education may substitute for one year of the required experience. MSW degree accredited by the Council on Social Work Education may substitute for the required education and experience.

REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS:

This Position Reports to: Social Services Supervisor,

This Position has Supervisory and/or Management Responsibility for: None, except for Senior Level which may be appointed as "acting supervisor" during times the supervisor is away from the office. In such cases, the Senior Level Social Caseworker would assume the decision making and supervisory roles of the supervisor.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

Approximately 50% of the work is generally performed in a standard office environment. The balance of the work is performed out of the office. Noise level is generally moderate, but may become loud on occasion.

Employee may be exposed to:

Conditions such as fumes, noxious odors, dusts, mists, gases, and poor ventilation that affect the respiratory system, eyes, or the skin.

Disease of known or unknown origin, blood-borne pathogens, body fluids and tissue, the threat of direct or indirect violence/conflict by other individuals, and other unanticipated circumstances associated with the position.

MATERIAL AND EQUIPMENT USED:

Computer, printer, telephone, copier, fax machine, county and personal vehicles.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The following are some of the physical demands commonly associated with this position:

Mobility:

Stands 10% of the time, walks 10% of the time, and sits 80% of the time.

Ascends or descends ladders, stairs, scaffolding, ramps, poles, and the like using feet and legs or hands and arms.

Bends body downward and forward by bending spine at the waist, requiring full use of the lower

Extremities and back muscles.

Bends body downward and forward by bending legs and spine. Reaches, extending hand(s) in any direction.

Lifting:

Exerts up to 10 pounds of force occasionally or a negligible amount of force frequently to lift, carry, push, and pull or otherwise move objects.

Dexterity:

Handles, seizes, holds, grasps, turns, or otherwise works with hand or hands.

Fingers, picks up, pinches, or otherwise works primarily with fingers rather than with the whole hand or arm.

Vision:

The vision requirements for this position are as follows: Close vision (clear at 20 inches or less).

Distance vision (clear at 20 feet or more).

Peripheral vision (ability to observe an area than can be seen up and down or to the left or right while eyes are fixed at a given point).

Depth perception (three-dimensional vision, ability to judge distances and spatial relationships). Ability to adjust focus (ability to adjust the eye to bring an object into sharp focus).

Communications: Individual must be able to clearly understand the English language and be understood while speaking the English language. Multilingual skills including Spanish are an asset.

Driving: Must be able to operate a motor vehicle.

Signature:_______________________________________ Date:_______________________

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $65,000.00 - $80,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 10 hour shift
• On call
• Weekends as needed

Education:

• Bachelor's (Required)

Experience:

• Social work: 3 years (Required)

Work Location: In person

Salary : $65,000 - $80,000