County Caseworker 2 (LG) - Luzerne County Child Welfare (Multiple Vacancies) - SECOND SHIFT

Luzerne County•Wilkes-Barre, PA

22h•$35•Onsite

About The Position

Employees in this class provide a full range of social and case management services to children, youth and families, and others to assist them in attaining a more satisfactory social, economic, emotional, or physical adjustment. An important aspect of this work is the employment of casework skills in obtaining essential information, counseling clients and members of their families, and helping them to utilize all available resources. Work also involves the application of problem-solving techniques, providing counseling to maximize service delivery and to achieve service plan goals, monitoring client behavior, and interacting with agencies which make up the service network. Work is performed in accordance with established regulations, policies, and procedures, but employees are expected to exercise initiative and judgment in discharging their duties. Supervision may be exercised over paraprofessional and/or clerical staff. Work is reviewed by a professional social service or administrative supervisor through regularly scheduled individual and group conferences, and the review of records and reports.

Requirements

Six months of experience as a County Caseworker 1; or Successful completion of the County Social Casework Intern program; or A bachelor's degree with a social welfare major; or A bachelor's degree which includes or is supplemented by 12 college credits in sociology, social welfare, psychology, gerontology, criminal justice, or other related social sciences and one year of professional social casework experience in a public or private social services agency; or Any equivalent combination of experience and training which includes 12 college credits in sociology, social welfare, psychology, gerontology, criminal justice, or other related social sciences.
Knowledge of current social case management principles, techniques, and methods.
Knowledge of current social, economic, and health problems and resources and their impact on the growth and development of people.
Knowledge of individual and group development and behavior and ways of working effectively with adults and children who have social, economic, emotional, or health problems.
Knowledge of the basic principles and methods of program interpretation and community organization.
Knowledge of social welfare policy and law as they relate to agency function and purpose and societal structures.
Ability to work effectively with people and aid them in constructive use of their potential in adjusting to their specific problems.
Ability to understand and accept the needs and rights of others and to work with adults and children who are physically challenged, emotionally troubled, or economically disadvantaged.
Ability to conduct individual and family interviews and use them to identify individual and family problems.
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients, their families, other staff, outside agencies and institutions, and the general public.
Ability to plan and organize work, prepare adequate records and reports, set priorities, and maintain a caseload effectively and timely.
Ability to plan, organize, and direct the work of others.
Ability to interpret and apply relevant laws, regulations, and policies governing agency services.
Ability to adequately express ideas orally and in writing.

Nice To Haves

Seniority - Worked as a Caseworker 1 for at least six months; completed the University of Pittsburgh Foundations of Pennsylvania Child Welfare Practice course and the Individual Training Needs Assessment (ITNA) with casework supervisor; Provided official documentation of the course completion from the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work; for the next lower class(es) by the closing date of this posting 08/14/2026.

Responsibilities

Provide services to adolescents and their families, including those who are abused, neglected, and exhibit adjustment difficulties such as parent-child conflict, truancy, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, psychological/emotional difficulties, learning disorders, and delinquency.
Serve youth within their own homes, foster care, community-based facilities, and residential facilities.
Provide ongoing case management services to adolescents in the Independent Living Program, focusing on life skills education prior to agency service termination.
Develop, monitor, and update Family Service Plans to facilitate the return of children to their homes.
Engage in family visitation, court preparation, linkage to community services, family support, and ASFA-related documentation.
Consider dual plans for families, including the potential for termination of parental rights and adoption when grounds exist, always prioritizing the best interests of children and adhering to standards of timeliness, safety, well-being, and permanence.
Assess all reports of sexual/physical abuse or neglect, evaluating each child and family using comprehensive risk and safety assessment methodology and case management techniques.
Determine if a child is abused or neglected and take appropriate measures to ensure safety, which may include services within the home or separation from the family.
Assess family needs while ensuring child safety and determine appropriate service provision by Luzerne County Children and Youth Services and/or other community agencies.
Assess requests from the Juvenile Court to complete custody assessments and provide short-term ongoing protective services.
Handle court-related issues of dependency and Protection From Abuse Orders.
Provide public information to the community through speaking engagements and meetings with community members and professionals.
Provide treatment services to children and families to obtain appropriate treatment services to meet family needs and prevent further child neglect.
Keep families together or reunite families as quickly as possible by utilizing community resources, coordinating services, and ensuring children's and families' needs are met.
Work with families whose children are out-of-home placements, including foster care, formal or informal kinship care.
Ensure the safety of children, preserve families, and network family and community to equip families with the necessary knowledge to prevent future child abuse/neglect.
Perform primary screening and telephone coverage to receive all new referrals to the agency regarding child abuse and neglect.
Determine the appropriateness of Children and Youth Services intervention and perform preliminary screening assessments on referred children.
Refer families to community resources and alert Intake Supervisors of referrals requiring immediate agency response.
Document referral data on an agency intake assessment form and complete accompanying computer data entry.
Provide a response to the referral source, including telephone, written, and in-person contacts when appropriate.
Distribute referral information to the appropriate unit.
Recruit, evaluate, train, approve, and support Resource Family Foster and Foster/Adopt homes.
Conduct comprehensive studies of resource family applicants to determine approval and appropriate use.
Locate appropriate placement settings for children using internal and external resources.
Provide ongoing training and support to resource families, assessing their ongoing needs for specialized training or support.
Offer trainings on an ongoing basis to better equip resource families in their role.
Tailor placements to best meet each child's specific needs in conjunction with other agency departments.