Social Services Specialist (Tier 1) (Head Start)

Hillsborough County•Tampa, FL

18h

About The Position

The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) has launched a new public “Education & Awareness” website for the Florida Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse in accordance with House Bill 531 (2025). Effective January 1, 2026, any job announcement that requires Clearinghouse screening must include the following link: https://info.flclearinghouse.com . Ideal Candidate The ideal candidate will have a High School Diploma, as well as one or more years of experience interacting with clients in a social services environment gathering and providing information and developing case plans. Excellent written and verbal skills are required. Ability to work independently with a high-volume workload is necessary. Outstanding customer service skills with both internal staff and outside clients is essential. Knowledge of Head Start/Early Head Start Performance Standards is desirable.

Requirements

Graduation from high school or possession of a GED Certificate; AND One year of experience interacting with clients in an office environment to gather and provide information. OR An equivalent combination of education, training, and experience that would reasonably be expected to provide the job-related competencies noted above.
Knowledge of applicable Federal, State, County and community social service programs, policies and procedures.
Skill in interviewing clients to identify deficiencies in elementary personal, legal, social, economic, and health needs.
Skill in conducting speech, hearing, and other routine physical tests and documenting findings.
Ability to work effectively with others.
Ability to collect and compare data to standards.
Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
Ability to use a computer terminal to quickly and accurately enter data.
Maintain the ability to pass the background checks required for the position. These background checks may include but are not limited to: Criminal History Background Check using Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Level 1 and Level 2 Background screening (Ch. 435 Florida Statutes) Child Abuse, Abandonment and Neglect Record Check using the State Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) Sex Offender and Sexual Predator record check using the list maintained by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE)
Possess the necessary job-related license(s) or certification(s) that may include possession of a Florida Driver License (Class E) or an applicable Commercial Driver License (CDL)

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of Head Start/Early Head Start Performance Standards is desirable.

Responsibilities

Interviews clients, reviews documents and completes forms to acquire a limited amount of readily available financial and other information which may be used for comparison against elementary standards to determine eligibility for basic social services programs.
Provides elementary social services program information to clients.
Provides elementary social services directly to clients where program eligibility is easily determined; or refers clients to others where program eligibility requires more in-depth analysis.
Schedules and administers client health screenings, coordinates client transportation needs, schedules meetings and public workshops, and maintains follow-up on the status of these activities.
Obtains information from service providers to authorize payment for their services.
Performs telephone answering, filing, mail handling, photocopying, distribution, record keeping and other clerical duties.
Performs other related duties as required.

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