CHILD WELFARE SOCIAL CASE WORKER

_____________________________________________________________

• Provide case management services in accordance with agency, state, and federal guidelines and laws. The caseload size will be no more than 10 cases.
• Conduct various family, safety, and risk assessments. 
• Work collaboratively to establish and monitor treatment plans with families and service providers.
• Utilize solution focused practice to mitigate risk, enhance safety, and expedite case resolution.
• Complete comprehensive reports and extensive case documentation.
• Conduct home visits, attend community meetings, and participate in court hearings.
• Provide court testimony, as needed.
• Authorize and coordinate supportive services.
• Provide referrals to services within the community and collaborate with partner agencies.
• Work with, and advocate for, families in crisis situations and/or those impacted by trauma, substance abuse, mental health, domestic violence, multi-generational poverty, child abuse, child neglect, sexual abuse, etc.
• Demonstrate proficient writing skills
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

• Answer the Child Protection Hotline and take thorough and complete referrals through enhanced screening techniques.
• Complete fatality, near fatality, egregious and institutional abuse assessments.
• Provide training to various audiences on how to identify and report child abuse and neglect.
• Act as a representative of Child Welfare at community interdisciplinary meetings. 

• Conduct initial assessments regarding assigned abuse and neglect referrals
• Engage with families to maintain children safely in the home.
• Facilitate removing children from the home when safety cannot be maintained.

• Collaborate with families, service providers, community, and courts to establish permanency for children through reunification, allocation, guardianship, or adoption.
• Monitor progress of treatment plans and identify barriers.

• Collaborate with families, service providers, and the community in non-court involved cases to mitigate risks, maintain safety of children and youth with their family and support well-being.
• Identify and address barriers to progress through intensive in-home engagement.

• Manage cases primarily overseen by the juvenile delinquency (JD) court system.
• Oversee youth placed in Residential Treatment facilities.

• Complete the training "engaging youth in a coach-like way" and implement these skills in all cases.
• Support youth with voluntary cases to locate housing.
• Assist youth in developing independent living skills.   

• Assist youth in developing independent living skills. 
• Promote youth and agency participation in the Chafee program. 

• Develop and present group coaching sessions and trainings.
• Conduct individual coaching sessions utilizing the co-active coaching model.
• Oversee and enhance the mentorship program.
• Support staff professional development through creating and monitoring structured learning plans. 

• Collaborate with permanency case managers to provide concurrent case planning prior to termination of parental rights (TPR).
• Manage cases after TPR has been court ordered. 
• Prepare legal and other required documents for adoption.
• Establish a child's eligibility for adoption assistance and complete assistance requirements.
• Recruit adoptive families for children.

• Evaluate prospective foster, kinship, and adoptive families using standardized home studies, background investigations, home inspections, and interviews.
• Certify and recertify foster, kinship, and adoptive families based on state requirements.
• Provide initial and ongoing training to placement resource families. 
• Ensure ongoing compliance of both certified and non-certified placement providers.  
• Participate in ongoing recruitment and retention events.

• A bachelor’s degree from a higher education institution with coursework related to the job responsibilities of child welfare social caseworker.  Course work examples can include and are not limited to, the development of human behavior, child development, family intervention techniques, diagnostic measures, or therapeutic techniques; and
• Professional, internship, or volunteer work experience in a human services related agency.
• For Professional Development Coach, Facilitator/Diligent Search, and Family Empowerment Social Caseworker Positions: Prior Child Welfare Case Management experience preferred.
• For Adoption Social Caseworker Position: Prior Child Welfare Permanency Case Manager Experience preferred.

• This position requires standing, stooping, sitting, bending, twisting, and lifting up to 50 pounds.
• Work is generally confined to a standard office environment.
• May be exposed to communicable diseases, infections, blood and bodily fluids.
• Occasional exposure of work time to hazardous situations which involve physically violent  persons, interviewing mentally or emotionally disturbed persons or bodily injury from biohazards, infections, or blood-borne pathogens.
• Includes some evening and weekend hours.
• Daily travel and periodic travel throughout and outside Colorado.

Additional Information:

Offer of employment contingent on criminal history, MVR check and education verification. Must have valid driver's license, if you are from out of state, you must obtain a valid Colorado driver's license within 30 days of hire date, and you must not have any major violations, including DUI, DWI, and/or DWAI conviction(s) in the past three years.

Bilingual (English/Spanish) (desired)

• SCW I- Exempt/Salary
  • 1 yr of hire date and/or proficient to carry full workload
• SCW II- Exempt/Salary
  • 2 yrs from hire date and in good standing
• SCW III- Exempt/Salary
  • 4 years from hire date and in good standing

A seniority system that rewards employees based on length of employment.

A merit system that rewards employees for exceptional job performance.

Education, training, or experience to the extent that they are reasonably related to the work in question.

Another factor related to job performance or business operations, such as paying a shift differential to workers on less popular shifts

Travel, if the travel is a regular and necessary condition of the work performed

Mesa County

544 Rood Ave

Grand Junction, CO 81501

970- 244 - 1856

http://www.mesacounty.us