Family Services Specialist II (Foster Care)

Hiring Range: $65,852.54 to $88,210.20

Full Time or Part Time: Full Time

Additional Detail

The City of Alexandria is bordered by Washington D.C. and the Potomac River, Arlington and Fairfax counties, and Maryland. Thesmall city has a cosmopolitan feel with 150,000 people living within its 15.75 square miles. At the Department of Community and Human Services, we provide essential safety net services to help city residents enjoy a sense of well-being, safety and self-sufficiency. Our behavioral health programs provide compassionate services that support self-determination and recovery. The beauty of our diverse and resilient people and our commitment to race and social equity, coupled with a historic district dating to 1749, charming waterfront, vibrant arts community and unique places for foodies and shopping, make the City of Alexandria a uniquely wonderful place to live, work and play. We invite all qualified candidates to learn more and apply for our Family Services Specialist IIposition.

A Family Services Specialist II provides intensive, specialized, culturally competent services to children and families, with complex psychosocial diagnoses and histories of abuse/neglect, to ensure the safety and well-being of children in foster care, while working toward permanency within State/Federal timelines. The work may involve providing independent living services to foster youth not living in a family-like setting, while maintaining family supports. The work may also include ongoing support services or prevention services; to support a relative or interested party, who may have stepped forward to raise the child/ren or services to prevent child abuse/neglect, if the child/ren are reunified with a prior custodian.

Examples of Duties:

• Provide case management services for children/youth in foster care
• Conduct monthly face to face visits with each child/youth in foster care
• Document monthly face to face worker visits, Structured Decision-Making tools, and mandated screens (court, and if applicable education and independent living, etc.) in OASIS.
• Secure funding for needed services through the Family Assessment and Planning Team process
• Meet with supervisor regularly to address the case direction, services, and needs
• Complete Medicaid and Title IV-E redeterminations
• Maintain and document regular contact with foster care children/youth, community partners, parents, relatives, and providers via face-to-face contact, e-mail, or phone
• Facilitate monthly treatment team meetings which focus on safety, well-being, and permanency on each assigned foster care case
• Develop, write, and submit Foster Care Service Plans and Reviews
• Represent the Department in court proceedings to include interpreting laws, filing petitions, compiling evidence, preparing court reports, and testifying
• Provide or arrange transportation on each foster care case for visitation, appointments, school, etc.
• Use creative strategies to intervene with varied client populations
• Coordinate with peers and community partners to develop plans of service to meet the social, health and emotional needs to resolve client challenges.
• Prepare social histories, psychosocial assessments and develops treatment plans
• Provide specialized casework to assist clients in confronting and resolving emotional and environmental problems.
• Collaborate with the Family Engagement Unit to locate relatives, refer for Family Partnership Meetings, and for Family Finding
• Collaborate with the Independent Living Coordinator to ensure foster care youth receive needed life skills training and assessments
• Collaborate with public school systems to meet the educational needs of foster children/youth
• Provide continuous 24-hour on-call service for foster care cases, and immediate response to child protective service complaints and/or cases crises during working hours and on a 24-hour on call rotating basis.
• Provide crisis intervention to foster children/youth or their families
• Guide case planning in accordance with local, state, and federal foster care policy. Reviews all policy changes when implemented.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Knowledge, skills, and abilities that promote antiracist practices, diversity, equity, and inclusion in service provision, including support of racial equity work within the Department.
• Knowledge of normal and abnormal human behavior as well as child development, and different psychotherapy modalities.
• Knowledge of social work principles,social work ethics, human behavior, and group behavior
• Knowledge of loss and grief, family dynamics and family systems
• Knowledge of mental illness and intellectual disabilities in adults and children
• Knowledge of family engagement tools and techniques
• Ability to collect and analyze data and work independently
• Ability to interpret laws, policies and regulations concerning child welfare
• Ability to develop appropriate permanency plans
• Ability to facilitate meetings and collaborate with community partners
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively both verbally and in writing, with other professionals and with the public.
• Ability to work in the field and in the office.

Minimum Qualifications:

Master'sdegree in a human services field and two (2) yearsofrelevant experience.Employees must possess a valid driver's license issued by the state of their residence if they are in a position with driving responsibilities.

Preferred Qualifications:

Master's degree in social work and one year of social work experience at the level of Family Services Specialist I; Licensed or license-eligible candidate in the field of social work; Fluent and bilingual in Spanish and English