SOCIAL WORKER 3

The Aging and Disability Services Division (ADSD) is seeking to fill multiple vacancies for a Social Worker 3 in Carson City. This recruitment may be used to fill current and future vacancies as they occur in the following program: Adult Protective Services (APS). Social workers with APS investigate reports of abuse, neglect, exploitation, isolation and abandonment involving vulnerable adults ages 18 and older and adults 60 and older, ensuring timely case initiation, home visits, and assessments. APS uses a person-centered approach to evaluate risk, review records, identify service needs, and make referrals; and determine case outcomes based on regulations and close cases following thorough investigation and intervention to ensure client safety. ADSD fosters a positive, inclusive, and diverse work environment that values innovation, teamwork, and collaboration. The mission of ADSD is to empower individuals and their support systems by providing resources for disabilities and aging - connecting Nevadans to services and improving their quality of life.

Social Workers are licensed professionals who provide case management services to children, families, vulnerable adults with intellectual, developmental, physical disabilities, serious mental illness, and older adults (collectively referred to as “vulnerable adults”) and other individuals within local communities and institutions. Case management is defined as the process by which an individual's needs are identified and the social, habilitative, and medical services designed to meet those needs are located, coordinated, and monitored. Positions in this series may specialize in one service area, or may work in several areas as a generalist, depending upon the needs of the community and the mission of the agency to which it is assigned. Licensure or provisional licensure as a Social Worker, Clinical Social Worker, Independent Social Worker or Associate in Social Work and one year of professional experience providing case management in child protective services, foster care services and/or adoption services in a social work setting equivalent to a Social Worker I in Nevada State service.

• Assess and reassess client levels of functioning by interviewing clients, family members and other community contacts; utilize tests, inventories, and other assessment tools; review medical, legal and law enforcement reports; and evaluate client resources for the purpose of identifying the level of assistance needed and services appropriate to meet client emotional, social, financial and health needs.
• Develop and implement a case plan that presents intervention strategies to meet client needs including alternative placement, job training, socialization, nursing services, legal and medical intervention, and financial assistance according to federal and State regulatory guidelines and budget limitations.
• Locate and coordinate a network of services and resources provided by other State agencies, community organizations and private service providers in areas such as mental health, substance abuse, rehabilitation, developmental, homemaking, financial assistance, and employment programs pertinent to assessing client needs and case plan goals.
• Provide ongoing case management services by conducting home visits, monitoring delivery of services and quality of care, and reassessing client needs; track client progress and well-being, evaluate case plan effectiveness, and effectively manage resources; assist clients in identifying strengths and barriers and developing problem- solving and coping abilities; collaborate and coordinate case reviews with families, friends, attorneys and multiple agencies including social and community services and law enforcement to ensure case continuity and prevent conflicting case plans and duplication of services.
• May organize multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings to assist in strategic assessment and planning of protective services, issues regarding the delivery of service, programs, or individual plans for preventing, identifying, remedying, or treating abuse, neglect, exploitation, isolation, or abandonment of children or vulnerable adults; MDT teams may include representatives of other organizations concerned with education, law enforcement, or physical and/or mental health.
• Document case activities; maintain written case histories to include client status, progress and assessment results; complete necessary forms and prepare relevant correspondence and case reports according to applicable policies, procedures, laws and regulations.
• Provide crisis intervention in the office or community setting to include responding to emergency calls; report instances of neglect or abuse to the appropriate authorities; utilize appropriate controls for individuals who may be aggressive, combative, or hostile by following established protocols and policies.
• May provide technical assistance, training, guidance and/or serve as lead workers to other new or experienced Social Workers; may train, supervise, and evaluate the performance of non-professional staff such as Family Support Workers and Administrative Assistants.
• Perform related duties as assigned.
• Under limited supervision, Social Worker III’s perform advanced journey level case management services in child protective services, foster care, adoptions, adult protective services, and/or guardianships. This work requires the application of advanced principles of the social work profession, and case planning directives affecting critically and chronically dysfunctional families, children, and/or vulnerable adults whose welfare is at high risk. Actions and decisions directly affect the safety and welfare of children and/or vulnerable adults at risk and extend to families, substitute caregivers, guardians, and other resources within the community. Crisis intervention and objective evaluation may require incumbents to encounter potentially hostile and combative individuals. Social Worker III’s are distinguished from the journey level by the nature and high proportion of complex and sensitive case work needs of children, vulnerable adults, and families, and a more critical level of decision making and authority to take action to include removal of children from their home environment or emergency relocation of vulnerable adults to an alternate safe location.

This job specification lists the major knowledge, skills and abilities of the job and is not all inclusive. Incumbent(s) will be expected to have knowledge, skills and abilities from a previous level.

Working knowledge of:

federal regulations and State laws applicable to child or vulnerable adult welfare; dynamics of families, caregivers, and/or guardians who deprive, abuse, neglect, and/or exploit their children or vulnerable adults; indicators of physical, sexual and emotional abuse in children or vulnerable adults; family centered or person centered assessment process, principles and practices; human characteristics which indicate dysfunction, characteristics of family marital problems and their solutions; effects of cognitive impairment such as dementia, serious mental illness, or traumatic brain injury on vulnerable adults and their spouses, family members, caregivers, or guardians and/or the effects of foster care on the child or guardianship on the vulnerable adult, caregiver, biological family, adoptive family, and the community; indicators and effects of abuse, neglect, and/or exploitation on the child or vulnerable adult; court procedures related to child or vulnerable adult abuse and neglect, removal of parental rights, removal of guardianship, and adoption; law enforcement, mental capacity evaluations, civil rights, guardianship referrals, and procedures related to the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of vulnerable adults; federal regulations, State laws, and policies and procedures related to assigned program areas; services, roles and responsibilities of other related social services providers; crisis intervention techniques; theories and practices of substance abuse addiction and recovery; HIV, fetal alcohol syndrome, common communicable diseases, intellectual, developmental, physical disabilities, cognitive impairments, and/or serious mental illness.

General knowledge of:

collaborative and concurrent case planning; medical and pharmaceutical terminology sufficient to complete health surveys, evaluate medical reports and assess client health status; physical, psychological, and social characteristics associated with the aging process; characteristics of intellectual, developmental, and/or physical disabilities and mental illness; court processes and protocol related to program assignment.

Ability to:

respond to emergency calls after normal working hours to investigate reports of abuse and neglect; complete safety and risk assessments and determine appropriate action; exercise authority to remove children from the home and/or take decisive action for emergency relocation of vulnerable adults when they are at risk of serious harm or injury; screen for severely emotionally disturbed children or cognitively impaired vulnerable adults and coordinate appropriate placement; take decisive action to protect children or vulnerable adults at risk in accordance with legal requirements; prepare periodic and permanency reports and comprehensive recommendations to the court system; provide timely response to subpoenas including preparation of case documents for litigation; investigate complaints of abuse, neglect, and/or exploitation and prepare law enforcement reports for further criminal investigation and/or prosecution; take decisive action to complete mental capacity evaluations and guardianship referrals; prepare petitions and court orders and testify in court; supervise child/parent visits; present cases to advisory boards; community councils, review teams, and/or multidisciplinary teams; investigate and make State and interstate placement decisions; investigation and/or monitor compliance with court orders and recommend enforcement action when necessary; prepare referrals regarding abuse, neglect, and/or exploitation to regulatory agencies and professional boards; promptly coordinate and implement case plans by determining the time, place and sequence of actions to be taken based on the analysis of data; modify and/or adapt case plans, procedures and methods to maximize services and affect change in clients; negotiate, persuade, counsel and exchange ideas with others to arrive at joint decisions, conclusions or solutions; analyze crises and intervene appropriately; compute costs and hours of service; develop and present training programs designed to educate and motivate clients; organize and facilitate meetings; navigate, locate and enter data into the agency’s computer system; oversee the work of private and public providers of social services.