Family Services Specialist II

Virginia Department of Social Services•Alexandria, VA

10d

About The Position

The City of Alexandria is bordered by Washington D.C. and the Potomac River, Arlington and Fairfax counties, and Maryland. The small city has a cosmopolitan feel with 150,000 people living within its 15.75 square miles. At the Department of Community and Human Services, we provide essential safety net services to help city residents enjoy a sense of well-being, safety and self-sufficiency. Our behavioral health programs provide compassionate services that support self-determination and recovery. The beauty of our diverse and resilient people and our commitment to race and social equity, coupled with a historic district dating to 1749, charming waterfront, vibrant arts community and unique places for foodies and shopping, make the City of Alexandria a uniquely wonderful place to live, work and play. We invite all qualified candidates to learn more and apply for our Family Services Specialist II position. General Statement of Duties: A Family Services Specialist II provides intensive, specialized, culturally competent services to children and families, with complex psychosocial diagnoses and histories of abuse/neglect, to ensure the safety and well-being of children in foster care, while working toward permanency within State/Federal timelines. The work may involve providing independent living services to foster youth not living in a family-like setting, while maintaining family supports. The work may also include ongoing support services or prevention services; to support a relative or interested party, who may have stepped forward to raise the child/ren or services to prevent child abuse/neglect, if the child/ren are reunified with a prior custodian.

Requirements

Considerable knowledge of social work principles and practices; human behavior and motivational theory; laws, policies, and regulations relating to human services program areas; investigating and interviewing techniques; legal procedures as related to program area; and social, economic, and health problems.
Skill in operating a personal computer and the associated software and the operation of a motor vehicle.
Demonstrated ability to: communicate effectively both orally and in writing; interview, assess needs, counsel and refer clients to other resources as needed; investigate high risk cases; testify in court proceedings; develop and present training programs and other presentations; interpret program laws, policies and regulations; develop and implement service plans in order to insure the delivery of appropriate services to the client; analyze case information to make sound judgments within the framework of existing laws, policies, and regulations; respond to the client's emotions in order to accomplish services objectives; develop speeches and represent the agency on program training and workshops; work in stressful situations and maintain diplomacy; plan and manage own work activities including service delivery preparing reports, and correspondence, record keeping responsibilities and related activities; establish and maintain effective relationships with others; and stay abreast of current trends and developments in the social work field.
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.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in a human services field or Master’s degree in social work.
Some relevant experience.
Employees must possess a valid driver's license issued by the state of their residence if they are in a position with driving responsibilities.
Some social work experience
Licensed or license-eligible candidate in the field of social work
Fluent and bilingual in Spanish and English.

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.