Family Safety Practitioner II

*This position includes a signing bonus for fully qualified new county employees in the amount of $2,500 (full-time).

If your goal is to build a career that makes a difference, consider joining the dedicated practitioners in the Division of Children, Youth, and Families (CYF) of the Department of Family Services (DFS). We are seeking a dynamic Foster Care and Adoption (FC&A) Family Safety Practitioner II to join our dedicated, multi-disciplinary team. This role will provide clinical casework services to support the permanency of children in foster care as well as their parents and caregivers. We hire only the most caring and motivated individuals to serve families and children in our community. Learn more about the culture of DFS, meet our director and some of our employees, watch videos about our programs, and check out the great health benefits offered by Fairfax County.

Grow your career with Fairfax County! With more than 16,000 employees, Fairfax County is a diverse workforce offering employees stimulating and challenging opportunities across a broad scope of career opportunities. As a Fairfax County employee, you impact the well-being of our community every day.

This is an exciting time to join Fairfax County Government as we shape racial and social equity policies in the county through the One Fairfax Policy. Using this framework, we intentionally consider equity when making policies or delivering programs and services. To learn more, we highly encourage you to watch the Becoming One Fairfax-An Introduction to Key Concepts video by clicking here and visit the One Fairfax webpage here.

The Department of Family Services (DFS) is committed to strengthening the well-being of its diverse community by protecting and improving the lives of all children, adults, and families through assistance, partnership, advocacy, outreach, and quality services. To learn more about DFS and its Mission, Vision, and Values, please click here.

As an integral member of the FC&A Program, performs a vital role to achieve permanent living arrangements for children in foster care and adoption. Duties and responsibilities include the following:

• Conducts face-to-face contacts and attends home visits to ensure children in foster care and adoption are safe and that their physical, emotional, and educational needs are being met.
• Conducts comprehensive assessments to include but not limited to the following areas: safety, permanency, and wellbeing; educational, social, and independent living skills; substance abuse, and developmental concerns; family relationships such as parent-child conflict and domestic violence; assessing the family (i.e., parenting capacity, family relationships, social supports, physical health challenges and disabilities, and basic needs such as shelter, food, and clothing).
• Collaborates with the parents, prior custodians, foster parents, and children when appropriate, to develop a family-centered, solution focused service plan ensure safety, permanency, and wellbeing of the children in foster care.
• Coordinates and collaborates with foster families and others to deliver services (i.e., home-based family and individual counseling, health insurance and medical care, parenting support, and domestic violence interventions) to children and parents/family members.
• Responds and intervenes in emergency crisis around placement of children in foster home, congregate care facilities, and trial home placements with parent or relative caregivers.
• Conducts court-related services to include writing and submitting service plans to court, consulting with county attorney, writing affidavits, filing petitions, and testifying in court.
• Documents assessments, critical incident reports, detailed case contacts, progress notes, and service plans in a timely manner in accordance with local and state policy.
• Participates in required trainings and meetings and serves as a representative on workgroups and contributes to development of written product.
• Coordinates and attends intra-agency and inter-agency meetings.
• Performs other duties as assigned to ensure child safety and improve outcomes in families

(The illustrative duties listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list. A complete list of position duties and unique physical requirements can be found in the position job description.)

• Performs individual and family safety and risk assessment and casework duties pursuant to applicable state and federal policies/ law, to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people facing vulnerabilities;
• Determines whether people at risk of harm should be separated from their current living situation including, emergency separations of children or vulnerable adults from their homes when required;
• Engages county residents in services that are often non-voluntary and/or protective in nature. County residents engaging in these services are often experiencing difficulties that may be stressful and upsetting and threaten their immediate physical or psychological safety;
• Advocates for and assists families and individuals in obtaining services (e.g., mental health, intellectual disability, alcohol and drug, housing referrals, financial assistance for basic needs, home based services, training, and medical services) to ameliorate the circumstances that brought them to the attention of the department;
• Provides family, individual, and group counseling and conducts mediation services to families in conflict;
• Investigates and/or evaluates complaints of alleged abuse or neglect, and in consultation with supervisor, makes assessment of risks posed to clients in accordance with state and local policies, and works to ensure risks are eliminated or minimized;
• Prepares written reports and required documentation supporting decisions related to immediate and ongoing safety needs;
• Provides crisis intervention on a timely basis to clients or families whose wellbeing are seriously and imminently threatened;
• Collects, documents, and makes appropriate case decisions related to information from clients, their family members and community support systems regarding their social, financial, physical health, emotional well-being, and problems affecting the completion of safety or services plans;
• Documentation is detailed and becomes part of the case file which is a legal record;
• Participates in the development of court related documents and may testify or attend court to provide support to the clients and/or their caregivers;
• Provides training, outreach and education for allied resources including (but not limited to) foster and adoptive parents, volunteers, families, and other county residents regarding supportive services, agency programs, and other specialized topics related to the wellbeing of county residents at risk of harm;
• Works with and monitors individual service providers such as contract service providers and volunteers who work with clients to adhere to or complete safety or service plans;
• Uses case management, documentation management technology, and hard copy files to maintain and update case data, notes, documents, records, contacts, and summaries of information in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws and policies.

(The knowledge, skills and abilities listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list.)

• Knowledge of the principles and practices of social work and case management;
• Knowledge of current social service problems and methods/approaches to address issues;
• Knowledge or skill with crisis intervention or conflict resolution techniques;
• Knowledge of regulations and guidelines relating to the assigned area of social service specialization;
• Ability to analyze case information to reach sound decisions based on such information;
• Ability to demonstrate advanced critical thinking and judgment by understanding and applying governing policy and statutes alongside best practices and unique case factors;
• Ability to engage with persons effectively and empathically from different cultures who may be experiencing stressful family situations;
• Ability to maintain a high level of sensitivity and confidentiality while performing client related tasks;
• Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing;
• Ability to use case management and documentation technology to establish and maintain case records;
• Ability to maintain professional ethics and confidentiality of client information;
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of individuals;
• Ability to schedule and manage workload sufficiently to meet deadlines;
• Skill in defining and explaining complex rules and guidelines in a variety of settings;
• Skill in writing reports that are behaviorally specific, factually correct, include conclusions and recommended action;
• Ability to engage children, adults, and/or families under safety-sensitive, time-limited, and difficult circumstances, to gather information and make informed decisions that are inclusive of their language, race, and culture;
• Ability to engage and work with community partners and organizations;
• Ability to collaboration as a team member to create and support safety planning and monitoring;
• Ability to engage with juridical systems and processes to support the safety needs of clients as needed or when required by statute;
• Demonstrated ability to set boundaries and participate in self-reflective practice and working knowledge of the National Association of Social Workers'' Code of Professional Ethical Standards.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Minimum of a bachelor's degree in a human services field OR minimum of a bachelor's degree in any field with a minimum of two years of appropriate and related experience in a Human Services area (Section 22VAC40-670-20 of the Administrative Code of Virginia).

CERTIFICATES AND LICENSES REQUIRED:

• Valid driver's license.
• Positions within this class are required to complete the state mandated training in the functional area within a specified time period.

• Master's degree in social work (MSW) or a related human services field.
• Three years of experience in social work, psychology, sociology, counseling, or related experience.
• Experience in performing case management services in a child welfare setting (child protective services, foster care, adoption, family prevention, permanency planning, or domestic/sexual violence).
• Experience in child welfare and/or mental health.
• Experience working with the court system, testifying, and filing affidavits.
• Experience working with a diverse multicultural population.

Fairfax County is home to a highly diverse population, with a significant number of residents speaking languages other than English at home including Spanish, Asian/Pacific Islander, Indo-European, and many others. We encourage candidates who are bilingual in English and another language to apply for this opportunity.

Fairfax County Government prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetics, political affiliation, or military status in the recruitment, selection, and hiring of its workforce.

Reasonable accommodations are available to persons with disabilities during application and/or interview processes per the Americans with Disabilities Act. TTY 703-222-7314. DHREmployment@fairfaxcounty.gov EEO/AA/TTY.

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