Caseworker B- Family Engagement

Caseworker B- Family Engagement

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

The Family Engagement Meeting Facilitator Caseworker B is responsible for organizing and leading meetings where families actively participate in discussions regarding their children's safety, well-being and permanency, ensuring all voices are heard, and through facilitating collaborative decision-making processes between families, community partners and child welfare staff; often requiring strong communication skills, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to build positive relationships with diverse families and relevant stakeholders.
Facilitator will also provide facilitated group supervisions and a variety of staff development opportunities to child welfare caseworkers and supervisors for the enhancement of child welfare practice, technical skills and advancement of skills.
Facilitator will also participate in the facilitation and management of the Lived Experience Advisory Board.

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.)

• Demonstrates a thorough knowledge and understanding of social casework principles, concepts, and ethics by using a strength-based and solution focused practice.
• Practices effective strategies that result in effective engagement of families.
• Designs agenda, engages participants in advance, and facilitates family engagement meetings using a structured framework and cadence with clients, stakeholders and child welfare staff with a focus on safety, permanency and well-being, as well as child welfare best practice. Ensures clear focus on key topics.
• Guides discussions to encourage open communication and active participation from all participants. Utilizes effective group facilitation techniques to manage diverse perspectives and address potential conflicts. Summarizes key points and next steps to ensure clear understanding.
• Establishes positive rapport with child welfare staff, families and community partners through outreach and personalized communication.
• Actively listens to family concerns, needs, and strengths. Fosters a welcoming and inclusive environment for all families. Provides relevant resources and support systems to address family needs.
• Gathers feedback from all participants to inform program development and improvement. Participates in data collection and analysis, including tracking attendance, participation, and feedback from family engagement meetings. Analyzes data to identify trends and inform future family engagement strategies.
• Independently analyzes complex situations, formulates plans and makes quick decisions as needed. Mediates difficult interactions between parties of the case with diplomacy and tact.
• Develops a plan to provide a variety of services referrals and to define goals and objectives, determines need for social, behavioral, medical, and/or, psychological services, and monitors individual and family progress, cooperation, and acceptance of services.
• Represents the Department in accordance with Title 19 of the Colorado Children’s Code and Colorado Code of Regulations (Volume VII).
• Prepares case records, reports, and documents and complies with state and federal standards in providing extensive case documentation in the Colorado Trails system.
• Drives a vehicle to various locations on County business, must maintain a valid driver license and an acceptable driving record.
• Be available to participate in consultation with caseworker staff and supervisors regarding strategies for difficult or complex cases.
• Perform special studies and projects as assigned and required and performs other duties as assigned.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED: Under general and routine supervision, the employee receives assignments and is expected to carry them through completion with substantial independence. Work is reviewed for adherence to instructions, accuracy, completeness, and conformance to standard practice or precedent.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: NONE

INDEPENDENT JUDGMENT: Ability to exercise independent judgment in managing complex family dynamics and making decisions that align with best practices.

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

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

Knowledge:

• Knowledge of family dynamics and assessing for safety within the family.
• Knowledge of child development and age-appropriate milestones.
• 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, child abuse and neglect dynamics, and documentation requirements.
• Advanced knowledge of and experience with the Colorado Trails Database system or similar.
• Familiarity with family engagement best practices and strategies

Skills:

• 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 and ability to manage complex and sometimes conflicting situations.
• 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 - Excellent communication and interpersonal skills. 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. Ability to work under stressful conditions in a professional manner. Ability to deliver effective customer service and communication skills in a professional manner with a diverse client base, some of whom may be or become angry, difficult and/or distressed.
• 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. Organizational skills and ability to manage multiple tasks.

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. Cultural competency and sensitivity to diverse families and ability to build trust and rapport with individuals from various backgrounds
• 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. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from court, management, clients, customers, and the general public via all communication forums.
• 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. Ability to establish, maintain and collaborate effectively with peers, clients, service providers and management. Ability to work independently and as a team member.
• 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 generally performed in a typical office environment. Material and equipment generally used include a Laptop, cell phone and/or audio equipment. Working remotely may be authorized. Meetings with recipients, providers, citizens and other agency individuals may be required. Must be comfortable with speaking/presenting at a County-level hearing or in court.

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: 3/19/2025 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.