Family Services Specialist II - CPS

Virginia Department of Social Services•Chesapeake, VA

About The Position

The Family Services Specialist II works in Child Protective Services (CPS), investigating allegations of child abuse or neglect and assessing child safety and risk using structured decision-making tools, interviews, and observations. The role involves making decisions about child safety, including removing children from their homes and arranging placement with relatives or in foster care. The specialist prepares court documents, testifies at hearings, collaborates with law enforcement and other partner agencies, handles CPS intake tasks, and manages a demanding caseload of investigations and family assessments. The position also provides a broad range of family and client services. Duties may include conducting assessments and investigations, formulating service plans, providing counseling and crisis intervention, coordinating referrals and services, conducting home visits, supporting visitation, teaching life and parenting skills, maintaining case records and reports, arranging and authorizing services, and participating in court proceedings. The specialist may conduct foster parent orientations and volunteer training, provide information to the public, train and certify service providers, and rotate among service areas such as CPS, foster care, and adoption. Emergency on-call participation is required, and employees may work beyond normally scheduled hours in response to short-term departmental needs or citywide emergencies.

Requirements

A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in a qualifying human-services field, such as social work, rehabilitation counseling, psychology, counseling, human services, sociology, family and child development, aging studies, gerontology, or criminal justice with a minor in a listed field; other related degrees may be accepted based on curriculum and course-content similarity.
Alternatively, a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in any field plus at least two years of appropriate and related full-time-equivalent experience in a human-services-related area.
At least two years of appropriate and related full-time-equivalent experience in addition to satisfying the vocational and educational standards.
A valid driver’s license and a driving record compliant with City Driving Standards.
Participation in emergency on-call duty is required.
Strong attention to detail and ability to work in a fast-paced environment.

Nice To Haves

Current or prior experience working for the Virginia Department of Social Services, particularly in Child Protective Services.
Experience in child welfare.
Experience or knowledge of OASIS.
Experience writing service plans, reports, or similar documents.
Experience in the assigned program area and completion of required training programs, or an equivalent combination of training and experience providing the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Responsibilities

Investigate CPS referrals concerning alleged child abuse or neglect and assess child safety and risk using structured decision-making tools, interviews, and observations.
Prepare court documents related to child safety and testify in court hearings and appeals.
Make child-safety decisions, including removing children from their homes and arranging placement with relatives or in foster care.
Collaborate with law enforcement, mental health professionals, and emergency medical services partners during investigations and assessments.
Manage a demanding caseload that includes investigations and family assessment referrals.
Model professional behavior and practices from the Virginia Services Practice Model.
Complete tasks related to Child Protective Services intake procedures.
Conduct interviews and investigations, assess clients and families, formulate and implement plans, screen interstate referrals, and send and review home-study information.
Provide individual and group counseling for clients and families.
Prepare purchase orders for client services, negotiate provider rates, confirm availability and service authorization, verify client information, and process invoices.
Coordinate with agencies, organizations, and family or community members to provide services and make referrals to other social services.
Conduct home visits to observe and document family interactions, activities, and environments, and establish child visitation schedules with parents or prior custodians.
Provide direct client and family services, including teaching basic living, parenting, budgeting, or employment skills; providing mediation counseling; and accompanying clients to appointments.
Collect and compile information and data; prepare periodic and special reports; maintain records; and develop program forms.
Provide emergency services and crisis intervention, protect clients through court involvement, testify in proceedings, and arrange client placement as needed.
Conduct foster-parent orientations and classes to evaluate and screen applicants, and recruit and train volunteers.
Provide the public with information about eligibility requirements and available services.
Perform routine office tasks, including case-note dictation, data entry, typing correspondence or forms, filing, faxing, telephoning, and photocopying.
Conduct service-provider training, certify and recertify approved providers, and attend professional workshops and seminars.
Rotate through service-provider roles in areas such as CPS, foster care, and adoption.
Participate in emergency on-call duty and work additional hours when required by short-term departmental needs or citywide emergencies.