Child Welfare & Adult Protection Services Manager

Lake County Government•Leadville, CO

5d•$78,000 - $88,000•Onsite

About The Position

This position functions within a state-supervised, county-administered human services structure. Position provides a full range of intake and ongoing child welfare services and supervision for a variety of title XX program areas such as child abuse and neglect cases, youth in conflict cases, foster care, adoption, and adults unable to protect their own interests. Positions at this level typically are assigned continuous supervisory responsibilities over other social caseworkers and may assist with specialized caseloads in which the incumbent is responsible for ensuring the provision of intensive treatment on a regular basis. The assignment of these duties may not in and of itself warrant the classification of a position to this level. The county appointing authority may determine the functioning level of the employee based on the Essential and Marginal Functions section of this profile and “underfill” the position at a lower level.

Requirements

Master’s degree in social work preferred or a bachelor’s degree and at least 7 years of full-time professional social casework experience in a public or private social services agency.
In order to meet the minimum educational requirements of a human behavioral science degree, the applicant must have a degree with major course work (equivalent to 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours) in either development of human behavior, child development, family intervention techniques, diagnostic measures or therapeutic techniques such as social work, psychology, sociology, counseling or child development.
All training required by the Colorado Department of Human Services for certification and ongoing training requirements (State and County)
Standard office equipment and vehicle for considerable travel.
Work requires contact with legal, medical, mental health, substance abuse, and psychiatric professionals; members of the judicial system, clients; community organizations and resources; foster parents and other members of the agency for the purpose of developing effective treatment plans for clients and to help clients solve problems; and to educate the community about protection of clients and services available.
Theories, principles, and concepts of social casework practice (assessment and treatment oriented) related to all of the assigned program areas.
Social work principles and methods.
Medical symptoms related to injuries or failure to thrive in children.
Effects of domestic violence on children and the laws dealing with child abuse, neglect and other dependency conditions.
The needs of senior citizens, persons with physical disabilities, persons who are LGBTQIA, persons with developmental delays, persons with a mental illness diagnosis, persons affected by addiction and persons who are deemed to be incompetent.
Skills in interviewing techniques, crisis intervention methods and relevant treatment modalities.
Community resources, agency rules, regulations and procedures related to assigned program areas.
Establish rapport with clients.
Independently analyze complex situations, formulate plans and make quick decisions as needed.
Clearly and concisely express oneself both verbally and in written format.
Establish and maintain harmonious professional relationships with other employees, peer supervisors, outside agencies and the public.
Testify effectively in court hearings.
Travel by car in order to make home visits and to visit foster parents and children in placement when necessary.
Applicants must be authorized to lawfully work for any employer in the United States. Lake County is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in social work preferred

Responsibilities

Provides continuous supervisory responsibilities over four lower-level social casework positions.
Reviews case plans and case reports for technical judgment and appropriateness to assigned cases.
Assists the Social Caseworkers in the unit with difficult and unusually complex cases; reviews progress and evaluates goals to help them develop, maintain and modify family service plans.
Assists in training new Social Caseworkers and acts as liaison between Director and the Caseworkers.
Provides administrative supervision and evaluates Social Caseworker performance.
Assesses and diagnoses child’s disability, daily living skills, need or protection and evaluates problems to develop appropriate treatment plan. May assist with identifying specialized foster care in order to accommodate special needs placements
Provides oversight on cases involving special problems such as relinquishment, counseling and resultant work with attorneys and court; performs adoptive home studies, including court ordered studies and predisposition reports.
Provides oversight on investigations of alleged physical abuse, neglect and parent-conflicts; determines if situation warrants placing children outside the home; supervises placement of children in foster care and ensures parent/child visits are taking place; and determines when and if to recommend that children return to the home.
Provides oversight on case plans and oversees counseling services to families regarding parenting skills, family problems, parent-child relationships and problems with the community. Supervises the RED Team process—the assessment of any new child abuse or re-abuse complaints.
Supervises the intake assessment and evaluation process, referrals for ongoing counseling services, and case planning to a variety of other cases including adults unable to protect their own interests and family conflict and youth in conflict cases.
Determines the need for recommending placement of clients into foster care. Supervises the client’s progress in placement.
Ensures that staff are making home visits with clients, organizing services such as day care, financial assistance, health (physical and mental), and legal.
Testifies in court on a variety of ongoing cases, makes recommendations to the courts on abuse and neglect cases, placement of children, guardianship of adults, and on custody investigations.
Authorizes written reports of appropriate documentation of case plans, recommendations, contacts, assessments, etc.
Create a CORE services plan for each fiscal year.
Ensure proper expenditure of CORE funds and Child Welfare Block in accordance to rules of Volume VII.
In coordination with the Human Services Director, develop yearly budget for Child Welfare and APS and monitor expenditures of programs.
In collaboration with the Finance Manager, create and manage contracts with providers on paper and in TRAILS.
In collaboration with the Finance Manager, establish and update direct payment accounts with providers.
In collaboration with the Finance Manager, ensure accuracy of invoices into TRAILS and ensure proper payment to providers.
Search for providers to satisfy treatment plan needs and coordinate services. Collaborate with community agencies to create services if none exist which meet client needs.
Coordinate and supervise Continuum Quality Improvement (CQI) teams to mitigate lack of resources and accessibility of services. This is a process required by the State.
Drive Program Area 3 (PA3) prevention services. Responsible for creating a PA3 Plan, receiving referrals, determining appropriateness, finding services, tracking families in Trails and reporting to the State.
Increase community’s use of the PA3 program to ensure more access to prevention services by families who qualify.
Coordinate with a local mental health provider through a regional contract which includes ongoing monitoring and evaluation of efficacy.
Prepare reports, such as the Commission Report, and participate in frequent state-wide surveys for the purpose of accessing case load, recruitment and retention practices and community needs.
Participate in the state CORE services quarterly meeting.
Participate in bi-monthly Senate Bill 94 (services provided to youth through Probation) meetings.
Act as an ICPC (Interstate Compact for Placement of Children) coordinator. SAFE home study certified in order to conduct home studies for foster placement or adoptive homes as a receiving state for an ICPC.
The incumbent independently evaluates the case and develops extensive ongoing case plans. The incumbent is expected to deal with unusual and/or difficult cases when they arise and provide appropriate supervisory assistance.