Children's Services/ICW - Family Voluntary Services (FVS) Caseworker

Puyallup Tribe of Indians•Tacoma, WA

20h•Onsite

About The Position

The Family Voluntary Services (FVS) Caseworker role within Children’s Services/ICW focuses on developing, implementing, and evaluating case plans for enrolled Puyallup Tribal children identified as needing care by the Puyallup Tribal Court. This position facilitates family reunification or other permanent placement planning as directed by the Tribal Court, making decisions solely in the best interest of the children. The FVS Caseworker works with families on a voluntary basis to mitigate identified risks before a child's removal from the home, supporting children, parents, and extended family in achieving case plan goals. Continuous risk assessments are conducted to protect children from abuse and neglect while aiming to keep them in their homes. The caseworker engages families and builds on their willingness to participate in services offered by the Puyallup Tribe or allied agencies. Additionally, the role may support children eligible for the Extended Foster Care Program by educating them on available resources, assisting with schooling, vocational programs, or higher education, and preparing them for adulthood. If risks cannot be mitigated or other factors arise, the FVS Caseworker will initiate court procedures for child removal. The position requires preparing detailed reports for court, developing case summaries, and attending court proceedings. Maintaining complete case records, including court documents, school and health records, and correspondence, is essential. Responsibilities also include administering financial support records, service agreements, tribal affiliation, and enrollment information. Active participation in departmental staff meetings and case reviews with supervisors and the Local Indian Child Welfare Advisory Committee is expected. Home visits and inspections are conducted to ensure families' needs are met and they are benefiting from services. The caseworker must initiate and maintain documentation for financial, medical, and educational services, manage crisis situations, and maintain extreme confidentiality. Prioritization of workload based on client emergencies, transporting clients, and adapting to changes in Tribal and State Children’s Services systems are also key aspects of the role. Determining suitable and safe living conditions for children and families and performing other assigned duties are part of the responsibilities. This position has no supervisory responsibilities.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree (B. A.) from four-year college or university in Social Services Field required.
Two years related experience in case management and/or training working with Native American children and their families preferred.
Equivalent combination of additional education and less experience.
Internship hours completed in a social work setting may count as experience.
Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations.
Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals.
Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public.
Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.
Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.
Must possess independent decision-making skills, have or be willing to learn de-escalation and crisis intervention techniques.
Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.
Current First Aid and CPR certification and HIV/AIDS training certificate.
Must pass Washington State Department of Social and Health Services criminal history and CPS background inquiry every two years unless otherwise indicated.
Must have and maintain a valid and unrestricted Washington State driver’s license and proof of insurance.
The driver’s license must not contain any restrictions that would otherwise prevent the employee from driving a GSA vehicle.
Willing to attend training for professional development.
Knowledge of legal requirements of Puyallup Tribal Court- Children’s Code, and U.S. Federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978.
Knowledge of Native American family dynamics.
Sensitive to and familiar with the social/cultural needs of Tribal children and their families.
Must pass tuberculosis test.
Knowledge of DCFS systems and procedures.
Willing to travel with little or no notice.
Requires the ability to operate a typewriter, personal computer, multi-line telephone, calculator, facsimile and photocopier.
Requires the ability to read, write, communicate, and interpret information accurately in English.
Requires the ability to concentrate and consistently produce accurate work.
The employee is regularly required talk or hear.
The employee is frequently required to sit.
The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; reach with hands and use hands to finger, handle and feel.
The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

Nice To Haves

Two years related experience in case management and/or training working with Native American children and their families preferred.
Part-time work is prorated in crediting experience (e.g., if you work 20 hours per week for a 12-month period you will be credited with 6 months of experience).

Responsibilities

Initiates, facilitates and assists in obtaining referrals to outside agencies and professional providers in establishing services necessary to achieve case planning goals.
Performs case consultation and collaboration with CPS Investigator, professional therapists, medical personnel, school officials, legal professionals, and other community agencies for optimal outcomes of case plans.
Develops appropriate case plans, attends staffing and team meetings to determine needs of clients toward completing their case plans.
Works with families to mitigate identified risk on a voluntary basis prior to the removal of the child(ren) from the home via court structure.
Supports and encourages the children, parents, and extended family members to participate in achieving documented case plan.
Protection of children from child abuse/neglect with ongoing continuous risk assessments while keeping children in their own homes.
Engages the family and builds on the willingness of the family to engage in services provided by the Puyallup Tribe or allied agencies.
May also provide support to children who are of appropriate age to access the Extended Foster Care Program.
Educating youth on resources and services available, assist the youth/young adult with schooling, vocational programs or higher education & engage them in the program, and help them launch them into adulthood successfully.
Initiates court structures to remove children if risk cannot be mitigated to keep the child safe, or if additional factors arise.
Prepares detailed, comprehensive and accurate reports to court, develops case summaries, and attends predetermined and emergency court proceedings.
Stays informed of all court proceedings.
Maintains complete case records of case progress including court documents, school and health records, and correspondence.
Responsible for administration of financial support records, service agreements, service episode information, tribal affiliation and enrollment.
Actively participates in departmental staff meetings.
Prepares case summaries to staff with team case reviews, casework supervisor and the Local Indian Child Welfare Advisory Committee when needed and applicable.
Conducts home visits/inspections with clients to ensure the needs of the family are being met and they are benefitting from services provided by the FVS.
Initiates and maintains appropriate documentation for financial, medical and educational services for children and families.
Manages crisis situations as they arise.
Maintains and ensures extreme level of confidentiality regarding client issues.
Ability to prioritize workload based on client emergency situations.
Responsibility for transporting clients to and from appointments.
Ability to adapt and be flexible to constant changes in Tribal and State Children’s Services systems.
Determine suitable and safe living conditions for children and their families.
Performs other duties as assigned.