Location: Janesville,WI, USA
This is a professional level Social Worker/Case Manager position with Rock County. The work involves acting as a member of a multi-disciplinary team in serving the clients and families of Rock County Human Services' CYF, CPS Ongoing Division, in order to assure that children are safe, protected and receive permanence. This position will cross-train in other units throughout the CPS department.
This position supports and promotes the Mission, Vision and Guiding Principles of the Human Services Department and performs in a manner consistent with the Professional Standards, Commitment to Co-Workers and the Family First Prevention Services Act.
75%- Engage families in a positive, working relationship to support them in achieving a safe home and permanence for their children. Services are based on a well-reasoned assessment and planning process with the family that establishes a set of goal-directed, time-limited and measurable activities.
* Prepare permanency and case plans.
* Evaluate the existing safety plan developed during the initial assessment phase.
* Manage and assure child safety through continuous assessment, oversight and adjustment of safety plans that are effective in assuring child safety and are the least intrusive to the family.
* Engage families in a case planning process that will identify services to address threats to child safety by enhancing parent protective capacities.
* Measure progress related to enhancing parent protective capacities and eliminating safety related issues.
* Access and monitor needed safety services including placements.
* Update family interaction plans and safety plans throughout the life of the case opening.
* Provide ongoing case management by coordinating, monitoring and adjusting services.
* Collaborate with service providers to effectively work as a team.
15%- Participation in the court process to assure safety and achieve permanence.
* Provide court testimony for judicial reviews, contested placement hearings, extension hearings and termination of parental rights trials.
* Write clear and concise professional court reports.
5%- Perform CPS Access function which includes receiving, analyzing, and documenting reports of alleged child maltreatment. (The agency is required to accept reports from the community 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Rock County has an After-hours program that meets this requirement for reports received during non-regular business hours. This position does require working a minimum of two After-hours shifts a quarter.)
* Gather information, interview reporters and determine what information is significant to the CPS Access purpose.
* Sufficient information should be gathered specific to Wisconsin Child Protective Services Access Standards to support the screening decision and urgency of response of each report. This includes identifying present danger and/or impending danger threats to child safety based on the analysis of information gathered.
4%- Miscellaneous duties:
* Attend supervisory conferences, staff, team and department meetings.
* Attend in-services, mandatory trainings, staffings, and other meetings with supervisor's approval.
* May be assigned to participate in committees within the department, county or community to represent CPS.
1%- Other duties as assigned.
* Support new and existing staff by assisting by mentoring and teaching, as needed.
* Assist and/or provide coverage for other areas/units within CPS, as needed.
* Ability to understand and carry out verbal and written instructions.
* Ability to plan and organize work effectively.
* Maintain prompt and regular attendance.
* Knowledge of the principles and practices of social work and its application.
* Knowledge of federal and state laws, policies and practice standards pertaining to Child Protective Services, especially Wisconsin Chapter 48 statues and Wisconsin CPS Access and Initial Assessment Standards as well as CPS Ongoing Standards and Integrated Case Plan.
* Knowledge of current social and economic problems and ways in which these problems affect individual families.
* Knowledge of human service/community resource types and how to effectively utilize them.
* Ability to maintain accurate, current case records in computerized data information system and prepare clear and concise reports from them.
* Ability to read and analyze detailed prior case records, organize thoughts, and write comprehensive case documentation.
* Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships within the agency and community.
Bachelors Degree in Social Work or related field from accredited four-year college or university.
Experience working with adults and children with disabilities preferred.
Bilingual skills preferred.
Must possess and maintain a current unrestricted (not due to corrective lenses) driver's license and auto insurance pursuant to the Rock County Administrative Policy and Procedure 5.02 and 5.27.Physical elements:
* General mobility, including occasional use of stairs.
* Occasional bending, kneeling and reaching.
* Lifting and carrying approximately 50 pounds, which may included young children and/or infant/child car seat.
* Sitting, driving or standing for long periods of time.
Equipment use:
* Telephone--frequently
* Computer--PC and keyboard at desk or portable laptop in the field for case documentation entry.
Working conditions:
* Indoor--often
* Outdoor--rarely; primarily as a result of travel requirements to and from the office, client homes, schools, and other meeting sites in the community
* Cold temperatures--rarely; see above reference to travel
* Extreme heat--rarely; see above reference to travel
* Potential for contact with unpredictable and/or violent clients