Social Worker II
Work Type
Family and Children’s Services
Position Number
10464
Salary
$49,478
Closing Date
November 8, 2022
Posted October 28, 2022
Agency Name
Craven County Department of Social Services
Work County
Craven
Job Contact
Craven County Department of Social Services
252-636-4900
Job Location
2818 Neuse Blvd
New Bern
North Carolina
28562
Job Description
- Primary Purpose
- The primary purpose of this position is to provide direct social work services to children, adolescents, and families. The services provided are both mandated and essential services as stated by federal, state, and county policy. Home study services (including Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, Inter-county home studies, and agency home studies) and Agency, Independent, and Relative/Step-parent Adoption Services (including Pre-Placement Assessments) are provided when necessary to provide and maintain permanent placements for children. Using interviewing and assessment skills, the social worker must gather pertinent information to determine if a home would be an appropriate placement for a child, and provide on-going monitoring of the children for other social service agencies once placement is made. This employee will determine an adoptive child’s special needs eligibility for Adoption Assistance, a critical duty as it impacts an adoptive family’s ability to receive monthly adoption assistance payments and on-going vendor payments. This employee is also responsible for providing Foster Care Intake services including: determining eligibility for federal or state funds and collecting required social, educational, medical and psychological information from families in which the agency has received custody through a judicial determination or voluntary placement agreement. Child Protective Services Intake includes receiving and documenting information of suspected child abuse. This is the first opportunity to gather critical information needed to complete a strength-based and structured intake regarding possible child abuse, neglect, and dependency. This position also provides education on child abuse, neglect, dependency and reporting, as well as referral services of families to community agencies. LINKS services assist teenagers in foster care, as well as young adults who were in foster care as teenagers, with obtaining independent living skills and making connections with birth family, friends, and community members in order to make a successful transition to adulthood.
- Essential Functions
- The Child and Family Intake Social Worker is responsible for completing thorough assessments of children, youth and families, related to placement of children in a home, a family’s suitability for adoption (agency, independent, relative, and step-parent), and independent living skills for teenagers and young adults. This includes identifying and assessing family and youth needs, developing service plans and carrying out said plans within the context of the services provided, and conducting monitoring visits of placements of children through ICPC and for other counties in North Carolina. Continuous reevaluation of plans is essential toward monitoring the success of the plans. In the role of LINKS Coordinator, the worker and youth together to develop a Transitional Living Plan to assist the youth in development of needed skills, and to determine a youth’s eligibility for CARS (Contractual Agreement for continuing Residential Support) for former foster care youth age 18-21 in need of placement to allow them to complete their educational goals. This worker provides back-up Child Protective Services Intake duties to the Social Worker III who provides the primary delivery of CPS intake duties. This includes documenting and prioritizing referrals that are received from the general public and professionals who suspect that a child is being mistreated; receiving, prioritizing and assisting in screening reports of abuse, neglect or dependency reported to the agency; receiving and typing information from other county and state departments of social services regarding courtesy requests for investigations, in-home and foster care cases; and typing and faxing of DA and LEA reports to initiate collaboration of abuse cases. This worker determines the foster child’s eligibility as pertains to IV-E status; adoptive families' eligibility to receive special adoption assistance monthly payments; adoptive families reimbursement for vendor payments for medical and therapeutic needs; and adoptive families eligibility for reimbursement of non-recurring legal fees related to adoptions. If necessary, this worker will provide back-up assistance for other Services Divisions. In addition, this position also assists in disaster relief efforts that includes but is not limited to shelter duty. Assignment to emergency shelter duty during times of potentially dangerous or manmade disasters is an essential function of this position and you shall be required to fulfill these duties when instructed. Position may perform other duties as assigned by the Social Work Supervisor II, Social Worker Program Administrator I, Social Work Program Manager, Director, and Deputy Director. Responsibilities of Job Functions (by Percentage): 30% Assessment and Evaluation: In the assessment and evaluation of LINKS youth needs, the worker facilitates the completion of the Casey Life Skills Inventory, and interprets the results to determine the youth’s strengths and needs. The worker collaborates with the youth to identify specific problem areas as well as resources available to meet the youth’s needs towards transitioning to adulthood. As the Foster Care Intake Worker the social worker will be responsible for completing the 5120 Foster Care Eligibility Form to determine foster care children’s eligibility for IV-E status. In the assessment and evaluation of adoptive and relative placement homes, the worker interviews the family members, gathers needed and pertinent information, completes collateral contacts with references, and writes a comprehensive assessment addressing the family’s background, strengths, and needs, and makes a recommendation as to their ability to provide an interim or permanent home for the child. 20% Service Planning and Coordination: Once plans for meeting the client’s needs are developed, they are implemented by the worker. Interstate, Inter-county and adoption assistance cases remain within this unit and are managed by this worker. These cases can be long-term. The worker will also assist the family in identifying people they would like to attend their Child and Family Team Meeting. As the LINKS Coordinator, this worker will provide instruction in the development of identified goals through individual and group settings with youth, and will coordinate CARS as appropriate for youth transitioning from the foster care system at age 18. 20% Counseling: The worker conducts face-to-face interviews in both the office and in family and youth’s home setting. The worker helps the client identify the problems and clarify the issues at hand by listening to the client. The worker strives to build a close rapport with the client. This enables the client to feel as comfortable as possible about discussing intimate details of their current and past life experiences. The worker responds to the client’s feelings about the situation and then introduces information about alternative courses of action available to the client. The worker then introduces decision-making strategies to help the client make the best possible decision. Together the worker and the client set goals for services and time limits for implementing services to address the goals. The techniques used include listening empathetically, communicating effectively with the client, and familiarity with a broad range of programs and services offered by various agencies. 15% Training: This worker may provide in-home parenting education to those individuals who require such training as part of their service plan, court order, or contract with agency social workers. The worker may assist current and former foster care youth with developing independent living skills on topics such as budgeting, job skills, education and career planning, safe and stable housing, positive interpersonal relationships, cooking, life skills, healthy living, personal protection, and other topics as identified and needed by youth. This training may occur in a one-on-one setting with the youth, or in a Peer Group setting of multiple youth. 10% Monitoring/Maintenance: The worker is responsible for monitoring cases of children when placed with relatives through Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, or through another North Carolina Department of Social Services agency. The worker is responsible for completing quarterly reviews of these cases. The worker is responsible for all record maintenance of cases. The worker is responsible for determining eligibility for Adoption Assistance vendor payments, completing supportive documentation, and renewing eligibility yearly. 5% Consultation: The worker frequently provides consultation to staff members of this and other agencies, concerning programs and services available. This consultation is to determine the appropriateness of a particular referral being considered by the outside agency or provide information on the availability of a certain service program in the county. The worker consults with others in the DSS office to determine if others units or individuals may be of service to particular clients.
- Minimum Education and Experience
- Bachelor's degree in social work from an appropriately accredited institution; bachelor's degree in a human services field from an appropriately accredited institution and one year of directly related experience; bachelor's degree from an appropriately accredited institution and two years directly related experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
