Social Service Aide-CYS

Job Description

Job Description

Summary: The Social Services Aide position for Children and Youth Services is a paraprofessional position designed to assist caseworkers in providing services to clients of the Agency.

The goals of this position are to provide clients with the skills and insight to improve and maintain the environment in which they live, to care for themselves and efficiently raise their children. To accomplish this, the Aide will provide a friendly non-threatening atmosphere to enhance a teaching/learning environment. The Aide develops and maintains a rapport with the clients through timely home visits, telephone calls, office visits and letters, in order to successfully train and educate families.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Provides clients with appropriate materials from various parenting programs specific to the needs of the family. Aide also teaches families alternative methods of physical discipline.

Life Skills: Provides families with information on nutrition, budgeting and health care. Aide explains to clients the importance of a good nutritious diet, meal planning, and priority spending and good personal hygiene for all family members.

Participates in formal and informal training programs, which provide basic knowledge relative to Agency purpose, services provided, client population characteristics, and applicable laws, methods, procedures, rules and regulations governing the operation of the Agency.

Learns about the network of available community resources by reviewing resource files, site visits, and working with and observing higher-level Caseworker staff.

Aide will assess client needs when cases are referred for services through the Intake Department. Following the assessment, the Aide will provide education and training to the family or will refer the family to alternative agencies as deemed appropriate. The assessment may consist of home visits and school visits, may be scheduled by letter or telephone. However, these contacts may be unannounced if concerns are of an emergency nature.

Aide assists caseworkers in other areas such as scheduling and transporting clients for various appropriate appointments.

Aide will collaborate closely with caseworkers regarding client contacts, progress, identified needs, and the specific service being provided to the client.

Aide attends hearings and provides testimony in Court when requested to do so.

Aide will make home visits to assess food supplies and household conditions to assess validity of requests for assistance with food.

Aide will provide support services to clients involved in the Healthy Beginnings Program. Support will include education and life skills training to enable clients to care for children following the birth of their children. The Aide will also monitor these cases to assess progress and will refer families for additional services when appropriate. These duties will be accomplished through home visits and office appointments.

When appropriate, Aide will assist in supervising visits between parents and children in the Agency offices.

Aide will conduct outreach classes as requested to various groups, socially and emotionally disturbed clients, troubled teens, and other intellectually limited individuals who may be at risk. This program is designed to enable clients to make responsible choices regarding pregnancy and parenting.

Aide will provide life skills to families referred by the Court. Cases may include clients who have been court ordered to undergo parenting education through civil or criminal court.

Aide will assist other departments in providing life skills to client families upon request.

Aide’s responsibilities are designed as a preventive measure and to assist in keeping families together, thus reducing out of home placements.

Aide will also be required to attend training seminars, conferences and in— service sessions.

Aide will also attend departmental and general Agency staffing.

The Social Service Aide may be assigned other duties as deemed appropriate by the Casework Supervisor.

To function as a “team player” and promote teamwork.

Performs related work as required.

Other Skills and Abilities:

Knowledge of community resources.

Knowledge of normal and dysfunctional behaviors.

Knowledge of federal, state and county rules, regulations, policy and procedures.

Ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships with clients, families, Agency staff and other community agencies.

Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; use hands to finger, handle or feel objects, tools or controls; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl; taste; smell. The employee must be able to operate a motor vehicle. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.

Work Environment: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Language Skills: Ability to read, analyze and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers and general public.

Mathematical Skills: Ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio and percent.

Reasoning Ability: Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.

Education and/or Experience – Minimum Experience and Training:

Graduation from high school, or its equivalency, and three years of experience in public contact work in a human services agency which included one year of experience in interviewing and obtaining information; or an associate's degree in sociology, social welfare, psychology, gerontology, criminal justice, or other related social sciences, and one year of experience in a human services agency; or any combination of equivalent experience and training.

Knowledge of the geography of the area served and of traffic laws for the state.

Ability to operate an automobile safely and skillfully.

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations: Valid driver’s license

The job description should not be construed to imply that these requirements are the exclusive standards of the position. Incumbents will follow other instructions, and perform any other related duties, as may be required by the Administrator.

We are county government. We have lots of job opportunities with opportunity to advance.

Company Description

We are county government. We have lots of job opportunities with opportunity to advance.