Family Services Specialist IV

Virginia Department of Social Services•Front Royal, VA

About The Position

This role involves providing intensive case management and planning for families and children, focusing on achieving permanency through reunification, kinship placement, or adoption. The specialist will conduct assessments, liaise with the court system, facilitate visitations, connect families with community resources, and support adoption processes. Basic duties include providing psychosocial support, ensuring proper assignment of abuse/neglect reports, maintaining 24/7 response capabilities, offering guidance to staff, preparing social histories and treatment plans, representing the agency in court, providing direct intervention for complex cases, developing and conducting training, supervising social work interns, conducting field visits, functioning as a lead worker, and coordinating program functions.

Requirements

Comprehensive knowledge of social work principles and practices.
Comprehensive knowledge of human behavior and motivational theory.
Comprehensive knowledge of laws, policies, and regulations relating to human services program areas.
Comprehensive knowledge of investigating and interviewing techniques.
Comprehensive knowledge of the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Comprehensive knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services to include needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of satisfaction.
Comprehensive knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Comprehensive knowledge of therapeutic treatment technique.
Some knowledge of supervisory practices and principles if required in specific assignment.
Skill in operating a personal computer and the associated software.
Skill in the operation of a motor vehicle.
Demonstrated ability to provide guidance and training in program areas to other employees if required in specific assignment.
Demonstrated ability to write court reports, home studies, evaluations, mediation agreements, letters, committee reports, presentations, and general information.
Demonstrated ability to make clinical judgments, assess clients’ needs, and formulate plan of action.
Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.
Demonstrated ability to interview, assess needs, counsel and refer clients to other resources as needed.
Demonstrated ability to investigate high profile cases.
Demonstrated ability to testify in court proceedings.
Demonstrated ability to develop and present training programs and other presentations.
Demonstrated ability to interpret program laws, policies and regulations.
Demonstrated ability to develop and implement service plans in order to insure the delivery of appropriate services to the client.
Demonstrated ability to analyze case information to make sound judgments within the framework of existing laws, policies, and regulations.
Demonstrated ability to respond to the client's emotions in order to accomplish services objectives.
Demonstrated ability to develop speeches and represent the agency on program training and workshops.
Demonstrated ability to work in stressful situations and maintain diplomacy.
Demonstrated ability to plan and manage own work activities including service delivery preparing reports, and correspondence, record keeping responsibilities and related activities.
Demonstrated ability to establish and effective relationships with others.
Demonstrated ability to 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/human services programs.
Completion of required training programs.
Work experience in a leadership role.
Equivalent combination of training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities.

Nice To Haves

Possession of a BSW or MSW degree.
Possession of a Commonwealth of Virginia Social Worker license.

Responsibilities

Develops and implements intensive service plans (case plans) aimed at achieving permanency, such as reunification with biological parents, kinship placement, or adoption.
Performs in-depth assessments of family dynamics, risk factors, and the needs of children removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect, or dependency.
Acts as a liaison between the agency and the court system, preparing detailed court reports and testifying regarding the child’s safety, placement, and progress.
Supervises and arranges visits between children in foster care and their biological parents, siblings, and significant family members to support reunification efforts.
Connects families and foster parents to community services, including therapy, medical care, and education, to remove barriers to permanency.
Prepares children and adoptive families for adoption, including completing adoption subsidy documents and legal paperwork.
Provides persons, families, or vulnerable populations with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses, neglect and abuse.
Ensures that reports of suspected abuse/neglect are assigned to appropriate staff.
Ensures that the local department has staff on duty 24 hours per day, seven days per week to respond to reports of abuse/neglect.
Provides guidance, consultation and supervision to other staff in the absence of the supervisor.
Prepares social histories and psychosocial diagnoses and develops treatment plans which identify problems, clinical methods for dealing with them, and the means by which services will be provided either within the agency or through referral to other community resources.
Represents the agency in both civil and criminal court proceedings which involves interpreting laws, filing petitions, preparing court records, testifying before the court, preparing witnesses for examination, and compiling evidence.
Provides direct intervention and service delivery for difficult, complex social work cases, and coordinates casework.
Develops and conducts training for staff, interns and other professionals in the community.
Supervises social work interns by guiding them in their service delivery, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, and communicating with the school liaison about their progress.
Conducts field visits to residential facilities, consults with therapists and residential staff and participates in the staffing and planning of meetings.
Functions as a lead worker providing guidance and training to other staff.
May perform same functions described in Family Services Specialist III.
Coordinates program functions, develops programs, and evaluates materials.