Family Care Worker I/II - Bilingual Preferred (Open and Promotional)

County of San Mateo • San Mateo, CA

3d • Onsite

About The Position

The County of San Mateo's Human Services Agency is seeking qualified Family Care Workers (Human Services Care Counselors) for the Children and Family Services (CFS) branch. Family Care Workers provide services to children and families whose cases are assigned to Children’s Services Social Workers with the goal of supporting safety for children and family preservation or reunification where possible. Family Care Workers provide field-based services including, but not limited to, monitoring of parental care in high-risk situations, supervision of court-ordered visits between children and parents, in-home supportive services, parent education, translation and accompaniment to Emergency Response social work staff. Spanish-speaking staff are expected to provide interpretive services and be on-call. This position may be required to work nights, weekends, and holidays and be on-call after regular hours. Additionally, Family Care Workers can and may be asked to perform duties in the any other Human Services Care Counselor assignments depending on workload/census, coverage impacts, or other reasons.

Ideal Candidate: The ideal candidate is a compassionate, culturally responsive professional who builds trust with children and families while maintaining clear, appropriate boundaries. They are confident working with families in challenging situations, remain calm during conflict or crisis, and can de-escalate situations using sound judgment, empathy, and effective communication. The ideal candidate will have: Experience working with children, youth, and families in child welfare, family support, or a related human services setting. Experience providing parent education, family coaching, or in-home support services to high risk/high need families. Demonstrated ability to engage families from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and build collaborative relationships. The ability to step into challenging situations, take initiative, and work independently while collaborating effectively with multidisciplinary partners. Strong boundary-setting, de-escalation, and conflict resolution skills while maintaining a strengths-based, trauma-informed approach. Excellent observation, documentation, and communication skills. Bilingual or multilingual skills are highly desirable.

Requirements

• Eighteen units in any of the following areas: Psychology, Sociology, Counseling, Child Development or related fields and eighteen months experience working with children or families or related work experience with families in their own homes (for Human Services Care Counselor I).
• Eighteen months of experience providing advice, assistance, supervision and direction to dependent and neglected adolescent age children or providing services, monitoring, supervision and assessment of children and their families whose cases are assigned to Children's Services Social Workers (for Human Services Care Counselor II).
• Be at least 21 years of age (if assigned to Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program).
• Previously been employed as a full-time or served as a volunteer at a group home, short-term residential therapeutic program, or substance abuse treatment program for at least one year (if assigned to Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program).
• A Bachelor of Arts or Sciences Degree in Psychology, Sociology, Counseling, Child Development or related field (if assigned to Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program).
• Have completed 12 semester units of Early Childhood Education, Adolescent Development, or Foster and Kinship Care Education, or Psychology and have completed at least 100 hours of on-the-job experience with youth (if assigned to Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program).
• Knowledge of: Child and adolescent development and behavior.
• Knowledge of: Principles and practices of childcare and custody.
• Knowledge of: Group dynamics.
• Knowledge of: Infant and preschool development stages.
• Knowledge of: Common safety practices and procedures including first aid.
• Knowledge of: Individual and group counseling techniques, especially behavior modification.
• Ability to: Effectively engage children, youth and adults.
• Ability to: Provide care for infants, preschoolers, youth and adults.
• Ability to: Provide accurate observation and effective reporting of parental and child behaviors.
• Ability to: Assess appropriateness of parenting skills and behaviors, as well as child's safety.
• Ability to: Teach families how to effectively maintain a supportive home environment and how to effectively manage the behavior of children and youth under their care.
• Ability to: Work effectively in a multidisciplinary team-based setting.
• Ability to: Sense, evaluate, and handle tense group and individual situations as they develop.
• Ability to: Make good, independent decisions and accept responsibility for those decisions.
• Ability to: Exercise good independent judgment and remain calm in emergency situations.
• Ability to: Deal effectively with parents, other agencies, and the general public.
• Ability to: Instruct, train and provide general oversight to new or lower-level personnel.

Nice To Haves

• Bilingual or multilingual skills are highly desirable.
• Spanish-speaking staff are expected to provide interpretive services and be on-call.

Responsibilities

• Provide one-on-one training to parents and/or guardian on positive parenting and practical strategies for strengthening relationships with the child.
• Provide instruction and modeling of parenting skills, including effective discipline, nurturing, intellectual stimulation, behavior management, and physical care; provide assessment of needs as appropriate.
• Provide in-home caregiving and support services to families which include meal preparation, household organizing and cleaning, supervision of children in the home, and other related tasks necessary to keep the family functioning, which are provided on both a scheduled and crisis basis.
• Provide in-home monitoring and perform unannounced home visits, including identifying and elevating potential safety risks.
• Supervise court ordered visitation between parents and child(ren).
• Assist Children’s Services Social Workers with separation of children from home, placements, translations and attendance at supportive meetings.
• Transport children to supervised visits and various appointments.
• Record in Child Welfare Services Case Management System (CWS/CMS) a summary of each contact and closing summaries with/on behalf of clients or court.
• Complete administrative tasks such as record keeping, attendance at staff meetings, regular family consultation with social workers, and consultation with collateral agencies as required.
• Serve as liaison between family and social agencies.
• Testify in Court regarding observed behaviors during provision of services such as visits or parent education sessions.
• Provide relief coverage at the residential facility.
• Perform after hours on-call duties.
• Perform related duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Current County of San Mateo and County of San Mateo Superior Court of California employees with at least six months (1040 hours) of continuous service in a classified regular, probationary, extra help/limited term position prior to the final filing date will receive five points added to their final passing score on this examination.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Associate degree