DSHS HCLA Adult Protective Services Lead - Social Service Specialist 4

State of Washington • Thurston County – Lacey, WA

5d • Hybrid

About The Position

DSHS's Home and Community Living Administration is hiring for an Adult Protective Services Lead to join our Central Intake team in Lacey, WA. Adult Protective Services processes and investigates reports of abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation involving vulnerable adults across Washington. This role leads some of the most difficult cases in Thurston County: cases where someone's safety is at risk, where the public is watching closely, or where several parties are involved with competing interests. The work takes place in homes, care facilities, and hospitals throughout the community. You will interview vulnerable adults and the people connected to their care, gather evidence, and reach findings that can have important outcomes. A substantiated finding can keep someone from working with vulnerable adults or children in the future, so the process has to be careful and fair every time. This role also strengthens the team around it. Other intake specialists will bring their questions to you, from case strategy to policy interpretation, and your guidance helps them build the skills and confidence to handle their own caseloads well. This position also will complete intakes and perform advanced level specialized case management in conducting complex investigations of abandonment, abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, personal exploitation, or self neglect of vulnerable adults who are eighteen and over.

Requirements

• One year of experience as a Social Service Specialist 3.
• OR Three years of experience as a Social Service Specialist 2.
• OR A bachelor’s degree or higher in social services, criminal law/justice, or a related field AND four years of experience as a Social Service Specialist 2.
• OR A master’s degree in social services, criminal law/justice, or a related field AND two years of paid social service experience equivalent to a Social Service Specialist 2.
• OR Eight years of equivalent combination of education and/or work experience closely related to adult protective services investigations in social services, human services, criminal law/justice or an allied field will substitute in lieu of degree requirement.
• A two-year Master's degree in one of the above fields that included a practicum may substitute for one year of paid social service experience.
• Paid Social Service experience must include assessing risk and safety to children and providing direct family-centered practice services.
• Employees must successfully complete the formal training course sponsored by their division within one year of their appointment.
• Investigative judgment: Assesses complex or unclear situations and makes sound decisions, even when accounts conflict or information is limited.
• Communication: Conducts interviews on difficult subjects and adapts the approach to ensure understanding. Utilizes communication aids and interpreters when needed.
• Crisis response: Recognizes risk early and de-escalates tense situations while keeping everyone safe.
• Time management: Organizes a full caseload of urgent, sensitive cases and consistently meets deadlines.
• Writing: Produces clear, accurate documentation that holds up in legal and administrative settings.
• Mentoring: Guides newer investigators through case decisions and policy questions, building their confidence over time.
• Policy knowledge: Applies appropriate laws, and Adult Protective Services policy accurately in daily casework.
• Equity and cultural competence: Understands how culture, disability, trauma and life circumstances shape a person's choices, and treats every client with fairness and respect.

Responsibilities

• Provide on the job training, mentoring, feedback, coaching and consultation to veteran level staff and lower who complete intakes and conduct investigations in the community and in licensed and/or certified settings
• Conducts classroom and on the job training and assistance with staff in formal training plans who are transitioning to intake and fieldwork
• Provides social services professional staff with guidance and direction on: Case actions, Appropriate assessment and intervention techniques, Applicable and appropriate community and departmental resources, Caseload and time management
• In conjunction with the supervisor, assigns and audits work, triages intake reports, detects error trends, identifies training needs, and reviews case actions for accuracy and provides feedback for annual performance evaluation
• Provides coverage of assigned caseloads in the absence of a social service specialist
• Coordinate with AAG office attorneys
• Perform other duties as assigned

Benefits

• Opportunities in this job classification that perform unannounced visits in unregulated environments, such as private residences, to conduct investigations for allegations of abuse and/or neglect of vulnerable adult individuals, may be eligible for an additional 10% assignment pay in addition to the advertised salary

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level