Caseworker B - Adult Protection

Caseworker B - Adult Protection

Employment Type: 0 - Full-time Regular
Pay Range: $62,092.00 - 93,138.00
Location: Castle Rock, Lone Tree, or Highlands Ranch, CO
Overtime Exempt: Y
Elected Office / Department: HUMAN SERVICES

This is a professional level social caseworker position providing case management, referral, placement, and assessment/evaluation for Douglas County at-risk adults as well as developmentally delayed adults that may be at risk of maltreatment.

Generally, the hiring range is $62,092-$77,615 annually. Qualifications, education and experience as it relates to the position will be taken into consideration when determining hiring salary.

Douglas County offers an excellent comprehensive benefit package including but not limited to: Medical/Dental/Vision/Retirement. For a more detailed overview please view the full Employee Benefit Guide.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: (The following examples are illustrative only and are not intended to be all inclusive.)

• This position provides investigation, assessment, case management and service coordination for disabled and /or elderly adults at risk of abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
• Develops and implements case plans to address physical, mental, financial, social, and behavioral needs and promote safety while maintaining the highest level of independence possible for clients.
• Handles crisis intervention, family mediation and service/resource coordination. Provides follow-up to ensure proper implementation of service plan.
• Screens reports received on the APS intake hotline and provides appropriate referrals for reports not meeting APS criteria.
• Maintains knowledge of available community resources and provides these to customers and clients.
• Maintains professional knowledge base around adult protection, aging issues, disability, case management and required computer skills.
• Collaborates with the Douglas County Colorado Adult Protection Team to identify community wide safety issues such as frauds, scams and other issues that impact the health safety and welfare of our disabled and senior citizens. Drives a vehicle to various locations on County business, must maintain a valid driver license and an acceptable driving record.
• Inputs and maintains documentation of contacts, assessments, and service provision in the state APS data base (CAPS).
• Keeps the community up to date and educated on adult protection concerns and needs through information sharing and specific education and training. Provides support and assistance to community agencies, organizations and businesses dedicated to serving the community.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED: This position requires consistent communication with an Adult Protection Supervisor and will receive at a minimum weekly clinical supervision.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: None.

INDEPENDENT JUDGMENT: Work is highly independent under the general guidance of a supervisor. Worker chooses courses of action in consultation with supervisor and others as appropriate. Incumbent has wide range to use individual judgment in selecting the proper means to achieve the desired results. The worker impacts the community interest by preventing institutionalization, preventing harm to clients’ physical or emotional status, strengthening the family systems, and educating the community about the needs of our aging and disabled citizens.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

• A bachelor’s degree from a higher education institution with course work related to the job responsibilities of child welfare social caseworker. Course work examples can include and are not limited to, the development of human behavior, child development, family intervention techniques, diagnostic measures, or therapeutic techniques.
• At least one year of related professional, internship, or volunteer work experience in a human services related agency.
• A combination of education and experience may be considered.

COMPETENCIES, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

Knowledge:

• Knowledge of family dynamics and assessing for safety within the family.
• Knowledge of acceptable social casework techniques and practices, knowledge of aging and disability issues, and knowledge or existing laws that relate to the protection of individuals
• Knowledge of interviewing techniques sufficient to elicit information.
• Knowledge of crisis intervention theory sufficient to be able to perform the duties related to the work assignment.
• Knowledge of advanced level of casework techniques including in-depth family engagement approaches, abuse and neglect dynamics, and documentation requirements.

Skills:

• Assess for protective services/interventions to meet protective goals, to intervene on behalf of the abused, neglected, or exploited clients who have no other person to act on their behalf. Skill in making decisions in emergency situations where there is no opportunity or time to seek supervisory assistance or conduct significant analysis of the options.
• Reading - understands and interprets written material including technical material, rules, regulations, instructions, reports, charts, graphs, or tables and applies what is learned from written material to specific situations.
• Writing - recognizes and uses correct English grammar, punctuation, and spelling, communicates information in a succinct and organized manner, produces written information which may include technical material that is appropriate for the intended audience.
• Oral Communication - expresses information to individuals or groups effectively considering the audience and nature of the information, makes clear and convincing oral presentation, listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately.
• Problem Solving - identifies problems, determines accuracy and relevance of information, and uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives to make recommendations.
• Planning and Evaluating - organizes work, sets priorities, determines resource requirements, determines short- or long-term goals and strategies to achieve them, coordinates with other organizations or parts of an organization, monitors progress, and evaluates outcomes.

Abilities:

• Integrity/Honesty - contributes to maintaining the integrity of the organization, displays high standards of ethical conduct, understands the impact of violating these standards on an organization, self, and others, and is trustworthy.
• Self-Management - sets well-defined and realistic personal goals, displays a high level of initiative, effort, and commitment towards completing assignments in a timely manner, works with minimal supervision, is motivated to achieve, and demonstrates responsible behavior.
• Interpersonal Skills - shows understanding, courtesy, tact, empathy, and concern, develops, and maintains relationships, may deal with people who are difficult, hostile, and/or distressed, relates well to people from varied backgrounds and situations, and is sensitive to individual differences.
• Decision Making - makes sound, well-informed, and objective decisions, perceives the impact and implications of decisions, commits to action even in uncertain situations to accomplish program, and causes change.
• Teamwork - encourages and facilitates cooperation, pride, trust, and group identity, fosters commitment and team spirit, and works with others to achieve goals.
• Diversity - is sensitive to cultural diversity, race, gender, and other individual differences in the workforce.
• Customer Service - works with customers to assess needs, provide assistance, resolve problems, and satisfy expectations, know products and services, and is committed to providing quality products and services.
• Flexibility - is open to change and new information, adapts behavior or work methods in response to new information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles, and deals effectively with ambiguity.
• Stress Tolerance- Deals calmly and effectively with high stress situations (for example, tight deadlines, hostile individuals, emergency situations, dangerous situations).
• Information Management- Identifies a need for and know where or how to gather information and organizes and maintains information or information management systems.
• Conflict Management - manages and resolves conflicts, grievances, confrontations, or disagreements in a constructive manner to minimize negative personal impact.
• Attention to detail - is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail.

CERTIFICATIONS, LICENSES, & REGISTRATIONS:

• Must possess a valid Colorado Driver’s License upon hire, with complying insurance. Review of motor vehicle record is required at time of hire and periodically throughout employment.
  
• This position requires successful completion of a criminal background check including fingerprinting through a national database.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

Physical Work Environment: Work is performed in a typical office environment. Noise level is moderate. Some off-site work is required. This position has daily contact with the public, County officials, County employees, community organizations, and other human service providers. Contact with clients under a wide variety of circumstances. Subject to varying and unpredictable situations. Subject to many interruptions. Pressure to multiple calls and inquires.

Physical Demands: Position is primarily sedentary with heavy computer use. Requires hearing, talking in a clear, effective manner. Close vision for computer use.

Material and Equipment Directly Used: Computer, iPad or similar device, smartphone, copier/scanner/fax machine; may operate a county vehicle.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Closing Date: 2/21/2025 5:59PM MST. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until a suitable candidate is selected.

The job details outlined in this posting may represent a modified summary of the full job description. For a full copy of the job description CLICK HERE to view our job classifications.

In the event of an emergency/disaster in or near the County, all County employees are expected to make every effort to be available to assist the County Manager, Elected/Appointed Officials and Department Directors to ensure the continued operation of any and all necessary County functions. This may mean being available to perform additional duties and hours beyond what is normally required. In the event that an exempt employee does work more than 40 hours a week in support of County operations during an emergency, such employee may receive overtime or other appropriate wage compensation in accordance with existing County policies or at the discretion of the County.