Family Services Specialist II
About The Position
The City of Alexandria, a vibrant and diverse city bordering Washington D.C., is seeking a Family Services Specialist II to join the Department of Community and Human Services. This role is crucial in providing essential safety net services to help residents achieve well-being, safety, and self-sufficiency. The department's behavioral health programs offer compassionate services that support self-determination and recovery. The Family Services Specialist II position is at the specialist level within the class series, focusing on complex duties such as interviewing and investigating cases of suspected child/adult abuse or neglect, managing out-of-home placements, guardianships, emergency protective orders, and adoptions. This role involves testifying in legal proceedings and placing children in foster/adoptive homes. Employees in this role engage with others and influence outcomes through participation in task forces, strategic planning, mentoring, teaching, and conducting outreach. Program areas typically include Adult/Adult Protective Services, Child Protective Services, Foster Care, and Adoptions. In some agencies, positions may also involve Child Care and Employment Services. The Family Services Specialist II provides intensive, specialized, and culturally competent services to children and families with complex psychosocial diagnoses and histories of abuse/neglect, ensuring child safety and well-being in foster care while working towards permanency within state/federal timelines. This may include providing independent living services to foster youth not living in a family-like setting, while maintaining family supports, or offering ongoing support or prevention services to support relatives raising children or to prevent child abuse/neglect if children are reunified with a prior custodian.
Requirements
- Minimum of a Bachelor's degree in a Human Services field or minimum of a Bachelor's degree in any field with a minimum of two years of appropriate and related experience in a Human Services area (Section 22VAC40-670-20 of the Administrative Code of Virginia)
- Considerable experience in assigned program area and completion of required training programs or equivalent combination of training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities
- Considerable knowledge of social work principles and practices
- Considerable knowledge of human behavior and motivational theory
- Considerable knowledge of laws, policies, and regulations relating to human services program areas
- Considerable knowledge of social, economic, and health problems
- Skill in operating a personal computer and the associated software
- Skill in the operation of a motor vehicle
- Demonstrated ability to interview, assess needs, counsel and refer clients to other resources as needed
- Demonstrated ability to develop and implement service plans in order to insure the delivery of appropriate services to the client
Nice To Haves
- Master's degree in a human services field
- Some years of relevant experience
- Master’s degree in social work
- Some social work experience
- Fluent and bilingual in both English and Spanish
Responsibilities
- Provide case management services for children/youth in foster care
- Conduct monthly face-to-face visits with each child/youth in foster care
- Document monthly face to face worker visits, Structured Decision-Making tools, and mandated screens (court, and if applicable education and independent living, etc.) in OASIS
- Secure funding for needed services through the Family Assessment and Planning Team process
- Meet with supervisor regularly to address the case direction, services, and needs
- Complete Medicaid and Title IV-E redeterminations
- Maintain and document regular contact with foster care children/youth, community partners, parents, relatives, and providers via face-to-face contact, e-mail, or phone
- Facilitate monthly treatment team meetings which focus on safety, well-being, and permanency on each assigned foster care case
- Develop, write, and submit Foster Care Service Plans and Reviews
- Represent the Department in court proceedings to include interpreting laws, filing petitions, compiling evidence, preparing court reports, and testifying
- Provide or arrange transportation on each foster care case for visitation, appointments, school, etc.
- Use creative strategies to intervene with varied client populations
- Coordinate with peers and community partners to develop plans of service to meet the social, health and emotional needs to resolve client challenges
- Prepare social histories, psychosocial assessments and develop treatment plans
- Provide specialized casework to assist clients in confronting and resolving emotional and environmental problems
- Collaborate with the Family Engagement Unit to locate relatives, refer for Family Partnership Meetings, and for Family Finding
- Collaborate with the Independent Living Coordinator to ensure foster care youth receive needed life skills training and assessments
- Collaborate with public school systems to meet the educational needs of foster children/youth
- Provide continuous 24-hour on-call service for foster care cases, and immediate response to child protective service complaints and/or cases crises during working hours and on a 24-hour on call rotating basis
- Provide crisis intervention to foster children/youth or their families
- Guide case planning in accordance with local, state, and federal foster care policy
- Reviews all policy changes when implemented
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
