Child Welfare Caseworker

Job Description:

Child Welfare Caseworker

Description

Apply By:
09/30/24
Division:
Children Youth Family & Adult Protection Division
Management Level:
Individual Contributor
Scheduled Weekly Hours:
40
Benefit Eligibility:
This position is eligible for Standard Benefits which includes dental, medical, and vision insurance, paid time off and holidays, retirement matching, wellness programs, and tuition reimbursement.

Description:

The Caseworker performs journey level casework for a variety of identified areas; possibly to provide Child Welfare services using safety organized practice techniques to engage families. Conduct home and community visits, to assess allegations of child/adult abuse and neglect. Assess situations for safety and risk. Make referrals to community and system based services. Create treatment plans. Monitor progress of specific cases, documenting case information and collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams and other resources for services and supports. Depending on the assigned program: investigate allegations of child/adult abuse and neglect; determine child placement when necessary to ensure safety; work with extended family to create safety and support plans; attend court hearings, prepare court reports and testify when necessary.

Hiring salary starts at $64,052.56 - $68,338.80 USD Annually



Salary will be determined based on relatable education, relatable licensure, and relatable secondary language once confirmed by testing. Details will be discussed during the interview process.

Benefits includes dental, medical, and vision insurance, paid time off and holidays, retirement matching, wellness programs, tuition reimbursement, flexible schedules, remote work options and more. Click Here for our Total Rewards summary.

Personal Choice Work Model: After six months of employment, all employees can work with their supervisor to develop a work model that works best for them. This means an employee may choose to work from the office more or from home more, with some general expectations, which may include in -person tasks required by your role, ie in-person facilitated family meetings, if the family chooses, and in-person group supervision at least monthly, among others.

Jeffco Division of Children, Youth, Families, and Adult Protection includes exceptional individuals on the following teams:

• Intake - Day Shift and Swing Shift
  
• Permanency
  
• Chafee
  
• Collaborative Foster Care and Foster Care Placement
  
• Non-Court Involved Services Team
  
• FIT Court
  
• Kinship Navigation
  
• Permanency Round Table and Facilitated Family Meeting Facilitator
  
• Prevention
  
• Sex Abuse
  
• Please note: we may not currently have vacancies in each team listed above.
  

Are you interested in joining one of the teams above?

• Does a career focused on strengthening and preserving families excite you?
  
• Is self-care and support from all levels of the organization important to you?
  
• Do you thrive in an organization where your voice is valued and thinking outside of the box is encouraged?
  
• Are you searching for a position that uses your critical thinking , creative problem solving , and organizational skills to collaborate with families to achieve safety and permanency ?
  
• Are you passionate about making a difference in the lives of families in our community?
  

Join our team to celebrate families’ successes and help people build better, safer lives. Check out Mikayla’s story HERE and watch our job preview VIDEO . here.

RESPONSIBILITIES

All Child Welfare Caseworkers:

• Are responsible for extensive case documentation, which includes preparing court reports and social histories, and utilizing family engagement skills to mitigate risk and enhance safety that will be used in the office, client homes, and in the community.
  
• Assessing safety of a child/youth and making decisions based on information available, which could include removing a child from their home.
  
• Advocating for families and children, testifying in court, and de-escalating potentially volatile situations.
  
• Potential for late evening hours to address crisis situations and participation in the emergency coverage schedule. The hours of this position can be unpredictable.
  
• Daily travel around the Denver Metro area and periodic travel throughout Colorado. The Permanency Caseworker may travel occasionally outside of Colorado.
  
• Will discuss in detail and work with families who are dealing with substance abuse, mental health, domestic violence, multi-generational poverty, child abuse, child neglect and sexual abuse.
  

In addition to the above responsibilities a Caseworker will also be responsible for the following duties dependent upon which team a Caseworker is selected for.

The Intake Caseworker (Day shift or Swing shift) is also responsible for:

• Assessing allegations of abuse/neglect and referring clients to appropriate services.
  
• Collaborating with law enforcement, schools, medical personnel, mental health agencies, the courts and providers caring for children.
  
• Swing Shift Caseworker schedule: 12:00 to 10:30 pm either Monday through Thursday or Tuesday through Friday and will be eligible for a shift differential with a starting salary of $65,052.56.
  

The Permanency Caseworker is also responsible for:

• Coordinating resources for child protection, family and adolescent crisis response, delinquency and parent/child conflict, emancipation planning, and facilitating adoptions.
  
• Collaborating with service providers, courts, the community, schools, and assessment centers.
  

The Chafee Caseworker is also responsible for:

• Working with youth who are either in foster care or who have left foster care to ensure readiness for emancipation.
  
• Administering and interpreting standard assessments and treatment planning to remediate identified deficiencies.
  
• Managing program expenditures to ensure that spending is within the annually approved budget.
  
• Collaborating with the fostering youth to independence (FYI) voucher program and managing FYI program expenditures.
  
• Maximizing the impact of the Chafee Program through consultation with caseworkers and community partners.
  
• This job requires weekend and evening work and may include multi-day trips to accompany youth to activities outside of the metro area several times annually
  

The Foster Care Placement Coordinator is also responsible for:

• Collaborating with the assigned caseworker of the child(ren) to effectively identify and secure foster care homes for children needing temporary care.
  
• Efficiently managing emergency and planned Placement Desk Referrals through the use of the Integrated Case Management System (ICM)
  
• Generating the initial contracts of foster and group home placements for Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson Counties.
  
• Organizing and facilitating Pending Placement Review Meetings (PPR) and Semi-annual Child Placement Agency Meetings.
  
• On a quarterly basis, conducting face to face meetings with CPAs to enhance partnerships, discuss children/youth currently in placement, and addressing issues including but not limited to quality of care, placement openings, better understand the services they are providing, and intentionally match children to their homes.
  
• Quality assurance of CFCP foster homes and providers certified through CPA's.
  

The Non-Court Involved Services Team is responsible for :

• Providing and an alternative to court intervention for families motivated to collaborate in mitigating child protection risks.
  
• Coordinating community-based support and kin connections to build lasting supports for families.
  
• Focuses on frequent client contacts to expedite progress .
  

The FIT Court Caseworker is also responsible for:

• Discussing in detail and work with families who are dealing with drug treatment, substance abuse, mental health, domestic violence, multi-generational poverty, child abuse, child neglect and sexual abuse.
  
• Coordinating resources for child protection, family and adolescent crisis response, delinquency and parent/child conflict, emancipation planning, and facilitating adoptions.
  
• Collaborating with service providers, courts, the community, schools, and assessment centers.
  
• Frequent late evening hours to address crisis situations and participation in the emergency coverage schedule. The hours of this position can be unpredictable.
  

The Kinship Navigation Caseworker is also responsible for:

• Completing Kinship Home Assessments that assess for safety, strengths, needs, and the caregiver’s ability to meet the needs of the child
  
• Providing hands on coaching and guidance to kinship caregivers utilizing methods from the Trust Based Relational Intervention model
  
• Monthly contact with families, including home visits, to continually assess for safety and provide ongoing support
  
• Partnering with caseworkers and conducting joint home visits to ensure case plan objectives are met
  
• Identifying back-up placement options and developing extensive support networks for kinship families
  
• Working with the Family Search and Engagement team to identify additional family support options when necessary
  
• Attending facilitated family meetings, group supervision, and other professional meetings as required
  
• Collaborating with the Community Assistance Division and other community partners to ensure families are receiving the benefits, services, and support they need
  

The Permanency Round Table (PRT)/ Facilitated Family Meeting Facilitator (FFM) Caseworker is also responsible for:

• Facilitating and coordinating PRTs and/or FFMs using a structured framework with children/youth, internal and external consultants, supervisors, caseworkers, support persons, and administration.
  
• Demonstrating a thorough knowledge and understanding of social casework principles, concepts and ethics by using a strength-based and solution focused practice.
  
• Independently analyzing complex situations and barriers, help teams formulate plans and make decisions regarding the urgency of permanency.
  
• Practicing strategies that result in effective engagement of children, youth and families during the course of the case until legal and relational permanency is achieved.
  
• Mediating difficult interactions between parties of the case.
  
• Using diligent search techniques throughout the life of the case to locate family and kin of children.
  

The Prevention Caseworker is also responsible for:

• Coordinating and connecting families to appropriate resources and services to prevent future referrals and extensive case documentation.
  
• Collaborating with service providers, courts, the community, schools, law enforcement, medical personnel, mental health agencies and assessment centers.
  
• Utilizing family engagement skills to mitigate risk and enhance safety that will be used in the office, client homes, and in the community.
  
• Advocating for families and children, testifying in court, and de-escalating potentially volatile situations.
  
• Discussing in detail and work with families who are dealing with substance abuse, mental health, domestic violence, multi-generational poverty, child abuse, child neglect and sexual abuse
  

The Sex Abuse Caseworker is also responsible for:

• Discussing, n detail and work, with families who are dealing with substance abuse, mental health, domestic violence, multi-generational poverty, child abuse, child neglect and sexual abuse.
  
• Assessing allegations of abuse/neglect and referring clients to appropriate services.
  
• Collaborating with law enforcement, schools, medical personnel, mental health agencies, the courts and providers caring for children.
  
• Coordinating resources for child protection, family and adolescent crisis response, delinquency and parent/child conflict, emancipation planning, and facilitating adoptions.
  
• Collaborating with service providers, courts, the community, schools, and assessment centers.
  

As an employer of choice, we hope you will feel welcome here. The inclusive environment and culture of dignity and respect are what makes this organization so unique. We appreciate that staff uphold our mission and help provide opportunities for our customers to succeed.

Jefferson County Human Services upholds a unique set of core competencies and guiding principles.

• Equitable Access to Community Influences of Health
  
• Inclusive Voice
  
• Trauma-Informed Customer Service
  
• Employer of Choice
  
• Resiliency
  
• Two-Generation Model
  
• Value Curve
  

As an employer of choice, we hope you will feel welcome here. The inclusive environment and culture of dignity and respect are what makes this organization so unique. Research shows that women and other underrepresented and historically marginalized groups tend to apply only when they check every box in the posting. If you are reading this and hesitating to click “apply” for that reason, we encourage you to go for it! A true passion and excitement for making an impact is just as important as work experience

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

To qualify, a candidate must meet the bullets listed below:

• A bachelor’s degree from a higher education institution with course work 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. Some examples of appropriate experience could include: clinical experience, residential child care experience, milieu experience, domestic violence case manager, paid victim's advocate, paralegal or legal clerk, probation officer, law enforcement, corrections work, shelter experience, arbitration, forensic interviewing, para-professional work, educational work, and/or other case management experience
  

Offer of employment contingent on criminal history, state automated case management system check, MVR check, and education verification.

• Must not have one of the following convictions: Child abuse, crime of violence, unlawful sexual behavior, or felony for domestic violence.
  
• Must not have a felony involving physical assault, battery, or drug-related offense within the past five years.
  
• Must not have a pattern of misdemeanor convictions within the past 10 years.
  
• 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.
  

Please note that supplemental questions requiring a written response will serve as a writing sample. We will be reviewing the experience and education fields on your application and a resume is not required . During this process you will be asked to provide a copy of your college transcripts.

If you have any questions about this position, please reach out to the hiring managers:

Eric Wysocki - ewysocki@co.jefferson.co.us; (303) 271-4069

Liz Huffman - ehuffman@co.jefferson.co.us; (303) 271-4674

Bryan Moats - bmoats@co.jefferson.co.us; (303) 271-4033

Recruitment Process: You are able to see your status and any communication when you log into your candidate portal . Listed below are the steps in our recruiting process:

• Once the job bulletin has closed, the Talent Acquisition Team evaluates all applications based on the minimum requirements listed in the qualifications section of the job bulletin.
  
• Next, the Talent Acquisition Team reviews applications for the preferred skills. While these skills are not a requirement for the position, they will contribute to the success of the new hire in this role. These skills are scored and the highest scoring applicants will be forwarded to the next step.
  
• The next step includes the hiring team reviewing applications and deciding who to contact for a phone screen/interview. The number of applications forwarded for Manager Review depends on the hiring teams request and can range from 10 applications to everyone who meets minimum requirements; not everyone who makes it to Manager Review is guaranteed an interview.
  
• If the hiring team wishes to speak with you further, they will reach out to you via phone call or email using the contact information listed on your application. You may receive emails asking you to complete a task within your candidate portal and it is important that you are receiving our emails as we do not want you to miss out on an opportunity.
  

The time frame for contacting applicants depends on the hiring team's schedule/workload and how many applications were referred for manager review. Please note that Jefferson County receives on average over 100 applications per job bulletin.

Thank you for your patience and for your interest in Jefferson County Government! We wish you success through this process. Do not forget to sign up for Job Interest Alerts through your candidate portal to receive email alerts for future positions you are interested in.

How to Apply:



Applications will be accepted electronically at Jefferson County Colorado Career Opportunities .



Applicants complete an online form and have the option to provide a resume and detailed cover letter that describes why you are the best candidate for the position. Applications are reviewed for minimum qualifications listed in the qualifications section of the job bulletin, and applicants are contacted directly by the hiring team regarding next steps. To view the status of your application or direct communication from the hiring team, please log into your candidate portal .



For more details on the recruitment process, please visit https://www.jeffco.us/1860/FAQs



Questions:

• County Recruitment Team: 303-271-8400 or CareerTalent@Jeffco.us
  
• Library Recruitment Team: 303.275.6168 or talent@jeffcolibrary.org
  
• Sheriff Recruitment Team: 303.271.5332 or sheriff.recruiting@co.jefferson.co.us
  

Education:
Bachelor's Degree
Experience:
:

Certifications:

Languages:

Category:
Health & Human Services