Family Safety Practitioner III - Foster Care

Position Overview

This position includes a signing bonus of $2,500 (full-time) for new county hires.

Under general direction of the supervisor in the Division of Children, Youth and Families (CYF), this position performs tasks independently to protect children and build family resilience as articulated by local, state, and federal policies and laws. The specialist provides advanced clinical casework services for a caseload of children in foster care and adoption and their parents and caregivers. Casework services are focused on permanency planning through comprehensive assessments, service plan development, identification and implementation of services/resources, crisis intervention and brief counseling.

Submits service plans to court and provide testimony to the court regarding the status of the youth and family towards permanency planning. Records case information in an electronic case management system and completes the required documentation to obtain funding for client services according to state and local policy. Participates in required trainings and meetings and may serve as a representative on work groups and may contribute to development of written product.

Develops partnerships with community agencies to provide a holistic approach to service delivery, guaranteeing the collaboration and coordination of services offered to foster children and their families. Serves as a leadership role in the team which may include supervising staff in the absence of the supervisor, representing the supervisor in meetings, and training/mentoring new staff. 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, permanence, and wellbeing, the CYF director may reassign this position’s related work duties and responsibilities within the job class.

• Contributes to the development of protocols, policies, procedures, grants and contracts for a social services program, department, and other entities;
• Manages service contracts and provide and directs other contract-related functions;
• Assists the supervisor in planning and carrying out training for new staff, providing guidance to staff;
• Serves as a policy and practice expert in mandated services that supports the protection and wellbeing of vulnerable populations, governed by state and federal laws, administrative code, state-level policies and procedures, accreditation standards, and/or court orders for compliance with public welfare or other court-mandated services;
• Coordinates or oversees the daily activities of a program or project to include staff supervision, oversight of administrative functions/requirements associated with the program or project, evaluation of the program or project for its impact/effectiveness and making recommendations for changes or improvements;
• Uses case management, documentation management technology, and hard copy files to maintain and update case data, notes, documents, records, contacts, and summaries of information in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws and policies;
• Manages and maintains program data and outcomes;
• Conducts initial and ongoing, comprehensive clinical and social assessments of the family system;
• 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);
• Provides family, individual, and group counseling and conducts mediation services to families in conflict;
• 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;
• Performs risk and safety assessments to determine if people at risk of harm should be separated from their current living situation including, emergency separations of children from their homes when required;
• Addresses, and if necessary, diffuses initial and ongoing crises with clients, assesses safety issues and refers clients to emergency services as needed (e.g., mental health services, child protective services, foster care, adult protective services, emergency shelter, homeless shelter);
• Prepares written reports and required documentation supporting decisions related to immediate and ongoing safety needs;
• Provides crisis intervention on a timely basis to clients or families whose wellbeing are seriously and imminently threatened;
• Assists clients with identifying and utilizing available personal and community resources and refers clients to other public and private agencies and services.

• Knowledge of current social service problems and methods/approaches to address issues;
• Knowledge or skill with crisis intervention or conflict resolution…