Social Worker III - Foster Care

Gaston County Government • Gaston County Department of Social Services, NC

2d • Onsite

About The Position

Joining the team at Gaston County Government means being part of a community that is dedicated to improving the lives of its citizens. We are a dynamic organization that values innovation, collaboration, and commitment to service. As an employee of Gaston County, you will have the opportunity to make a difference in your community every day. Whether you are working in public safety, social services, or administration, your contributions will help improve the lives of our residents and build a better future for our county. Gaston Social Services: Protecting, caring for and empowering children and adults who are temporarily or permanently unable to care for themselves through the administrating of federal, state and county programs focused on improving the well-being of our citizens.

Requirements

• Master's Degree in Social Work from an accredited graduate school.
• Bachelor's Degree in Social Work from an accredited school of Social Work with a Child Welfare Collaborative (CPS positions only)
• Bachelor's Degree in Social Work and one year of experience in the areas of case management, assessment and referral, supportive counseling, intervention, psychosocial therapy, or treatment planning; Master’s degree in counseling from an accredited college/university in human services field and one year of directly related experience.
• A four-year degree in human services field with at least 25 semester hours of approved coursework and two years of directly related experience.
• A four-year degree and three years of related experience.
• A valid driver’s license is required.
• The applicant selected must undergo a criminal background check and pass a drug screening test prior to employment.

Nice To Haves

• Good communication skills in working children & adolescents
• Appropriate child development knowledge
• Knowledge of separation and loss impact for children being removed from their family and home environment would be especially helpful.

Responsibilities

• Providing case management services for children in custody of the Department of Health & Human Services and aggressively seeking permanence for them, including seeing each child, attending all court hearings and preparing all necessary reports and documentation, contacting and seeing all appropriate family members and collaterals, coordinating and facilitating visits between child and family, advocating for and obtaining all services the child needs (medical, emotional, education, as well as placement), making home visits (announced and unannounced) to removal home and foster home/group facility – all of such as is required by NCDHHS-Division of Social Services Policy, North Carolina Juvenile Statue, and through local court direction.
• Creating a case file that captures and specifically documents a child’s life while in foster care and away from family/caretakers.
• Transporting and accompaniment of child (and sometimes caretakers) to appointments that help to achieve the well-being or permanency goals, visitation between child and caretaker, drug screenings of caretakers, and court.
• Participating and preparatory work for Permanency Planning Team Meetings, Child & Family Team Meetings, Treatment Team meetings for children and mental health needs, and Care Review Meetings for oversight of treatment level and appropriate placements.
• Participating in weekly unit/team staffing, individual staffing (as needed), local trainings, professional development trainings, and state-mandated trainings.
• Preparing monthly reports capturing statistical data.
• Must be available to work mandatory emergency shelters & other duties/tasks as needed or assigned.

What This Job Offers

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