Social Worker II; Foster Care

This position is being announced due to an upcoming retirement. The selected candidate is expected to begin employment on January 1, 2026, to ensure a smooth transition.

Work in this class involves providing professional social work services to clients in a variety of settings including local human service agencies, correctional facilities, teaching hospitals, medical schools, psychiatric hospitals and mental retardation centers. Work involves evaluating the client's situation and his/her ability to deal with it, developing a social history, psychosocial assessment, service plan and/or treatment plan and follow-up. Services may include placement in a residential facility;

basic counseling, support, and reinforcement in areas such as death and dying, employment, vocational, medical, health, or behavioral issues. Employees address such problems as adjustment to illness or disability, placement into an institution, rest home or nursing facility; financial concerns; socialization issues of the socially handicapped or those debilitated by age or illness. They may provide information to and confer with schools, natural parents and foster parents on habilitation plans, behavior management, and other problem areas or needs.

Employees may be involved in recruitment, evaluation, and training of foster parents and other care providers. Employees may develop community or service resources and/or develop volunteer programs. In certain treatment settings workers participate on habilitation/treatment teams and provide the social work perspective. Positions at this level combine difficult services performed under supervisory guidance with relatively conventional services performed under more relaxed supervision.

Work is differentiated from Social Worker I by the range of cases, the difficulty of personal contacts, and the theoretical knowledge required to perform the work. Employees report to a higher level professional or program manager.

Employees independently perform assessments to identify needs and establish an appropriate service/treatment plan and may provide supportive/directive counseling to clients and families in addressing needs. In some settings behavioral approaches are used to maximize client involvement. Employees may serve as inter/multi-disciplinary team member. Employees may refer clients and families to a variety of services to meet financial, psychological, emergency care, emotional, or other needs.

Employees may assume a case manager role to follow the client through agency and external services.

Clients present employees with a broad range of service needs. Employees, regardless of the setting, must be able to make accurate assessments/evaluations and use analysis and judgment to develop an appropriate service/treatment plan. Employees utilize knowledge of a range of services and of supportive level counseling and other counseling techniques to provide services to clients.

Work requires an understanding of social work practices and theories, an understanding of the availability and interactions of a variety of community services and agencies and of a range of service providers. Some settings require a knowledge of medical terminology and disease processes and/or mental retardation/developmental programs and behavior management techniques.

Employees utilize agency guidelines, specific federal or state standards, and principles of a variety of supportive counseling techniques to provide services to clients.

Employees are aware of program aims and objectives and address these with clients independently. Employees usually receive new program requirements/regulations and on-the-job training from social work supervisors.

Direct client interactions, services development, and referrals are documented in accordance with agency requirements. Work is reviewed through quality control, technical and administrative review provided by the supervisor and/or specific regulatory body.

Decisions regarding assessments and services impact on clients and their families; employees may provide direction or instruction to lower level staff, volunteers or care providers.

Service/treatment decisions affect the client, family, and facility operations and impact on the social psychological emotional, or physical health of the client.

Contacts vary depending upon the agency and/or service area and usually include the client, service providers, community agencies and groups. Contacts may also include volunteers, foster/natural parents, court officials, schools, nursing homes, interns and residents.

Employees work with clients, families, habilitation/treatment teams in the development and implementation of treatment plans. Contact with other professionals is required in the coordination of services,…