START Social Worker III/ or Trainee

Buncombe County•Asheville, NC

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Buncombe County is hiring a START Social Worker III or Social Worker III Trainee in the Social Services – Child Welfare Department. The position reports to a START Social Work Supervisor III and partners with a START Family Mentor to co-work child welfare cases requiring mandated Child Protective Services. The work includes Foster Care cases and serves children and families affected by parental substance use, with the goal of ensuring children’s safety, permanency, and well-being. The START model is an intensive intervention model for substance-abusing parents and families that integrates addiction and recovery services, family preservation, community partnerships, and child welfare and substance use disorder treatment practices. The model also aims to address system issues that prevent families from accessing services. The position starts in person, with a hybrid schedule allowed over time. The employee must reside or relocate within a two-hour drive of 200 College Street, Asheville, NC 28801, within six months of hire. The typical schedule is Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with some evenings and weekends. Time-and-a-half leave is accrued for hours worked over 40. The candidate will be hired as a fully qualified Social Worker III or as a Social Worker III Trainee, depending on qualifications. Trainees are expected to advance to Social Worker III once fully qualified. Pay is based on education and experience above minimum qualifications. The listed hourly pay ranges are $29.51–$35.50 for Social Worker III and $25.77–$31.01 for Social Worker III Trainee.

Requirements

Meet one of the following education and experience combinations: a Master’s degree in Social Work; a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and one year of directly related experience; a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, Sociology, Psychology, or Human Services and two years of directly related experience; a Bachelor’s degree in another field and three years of directly related experience; or an equivalent combination of training and experience.
Hold a current, valid North Carolina driver’s license.
Ability to prioritize, identify, and assess risks, problems, and needs, including in stressful situations with hostile, emotionally confused, or resistant clients.
Ability to effectively de-escalate individuals.
Knowledge of medical, behavioral, and socioeconomic problems and their treatment.
Knowledge of funding sources and how to use them.
Knowledge of basic criminal justice procedures, medical and mental disorders, personality theory, family systems dynamics, interpersonal relations, and cultural differences, values, and lifestyles.
Skill in establishing constructive relationships with resistant clients and applying family-centered social work practice.
Counseling and interviewing skills; ability to express ideas clearly and concisely and plan and execute work effectively.
Ability to create resources when none are readily available.
Thorough knowledge of social work principles, techniques, and practices and their application to casework and community problems.
Thorough knowledge of agency procedures and resources, community systems and resources, manual material, state and federal regulations, permanency planning philosophy, and laws governing protective services for children.
Reside or relocate within a two-hour drive of 200 College Street, Asheville, NC 28801, within six months of hire.

Nice To Haves

Specialized training or experience working with families with young children affected by Substance Use Disorder.
Bachelor of Social Work students and Social Work Collaborative students are preferred.
English/Spanish bilingual ability.
Certificate of completion of the NCDHHS Pre-Service Training: Child Welfare in North Carolina.

Responsibilities

Provide mandated services to children and families affected by parental substance use, supporting children’s safety, permanency, and well-being.
Ensure children who cannot safely return to their birth families achieve a safe and legally secure placement through adoption or guardianship.
Evaluate, arrange, maintain, and supervise appropriate temporary substitute care in court-sanctioned placements or licensed facilities when a child’s family cannot adequately provide care because of safety or risk factors.
Provide direct services to children and their pre-adoptive caregivers to protect children and support safety and permanency.
Assess, prepare, place, and monitor children cleared for adoption.
Provide state-mandated case management services for children in DSS Legal Custody.
Develop and monitor service plans with families and provide or refer services as needed.
Make recommendations to the court regarding needed services, progress, and barriers to a permanent plan.
Build rapport with children, families, and community professionals and non-professionals, using a strengths-based, family-centered approach throughout child welfare involvement.
Co-work child welfare cases identified as needing mandated Child Protective Services with a START Family Mentor.
Perform other related duties as assigned.