DCS CASE MANAGER 3

Location Chattanooga, Cookeville, Jasper, Tennessee. Job Type Full‑time. Qualifications Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor's degree and two years of full‑time professional work providing child welfare services, including social, psychological, or correctional counseling, case management, volunteer services coordination, or juvenile classification coordination. Special qualifications: at least 21 years of age, U.S. citizen, valid driver’s license, good moral character, no felony convictions, release of criminal history records, fingerprint sample, and successful drug screening test. Criminal background check required. Responsibilities Serves as a mentor for less‑experienced case‑management staff by providing guidance and suggestions for difficult/multi‑faceted cases. Participates in multidisciplinary teams, including Child Protective Services Investigative Team, Foster Care Review Board, and Community Advisory Board, to gain a global perspective about case planning decisions. Determines if abuse or neglect has occurred, identifies the abuser, assesses risk or harm to the child, determines the need for a safety plan, makes recommendations regarding permanency and/or termination of parental rights, monitors adoptive and foster families, recruits foster parents, conducts home visits, and coordinates or observes visitation. Maintains documentation for case files and other required paperwork. Prepares for, participates in, and testifies at court proceedings. Conducts interviews with alleged child victims and reporters of alleged abuse or neglect, with the family and collateral contacts; gathers required information such as school records, demographic data, and medical or psychological information; identifies supports for children and families; administers client drug screens; and conducts required assessments of the home. Conducts face‑to‑face visits with children, resource families, providers, kinship homes, and other relevant entities. Works flexible hours including weekends, holidays, and after hours. Schedules appointments, meetings, and visitation with children on the caseload. Transports children to appointments safely, assists children in preparing for placement, and sits with children awaiting placement. Communicates effectively and timely with others, engages with children and families to build trustful relationships, encourages clients to overcome barriers and achieve permanency, explains parental rights and other relevant documents to families, and responds timely to families, providers, co‑workers, and supervision. Convenes and identifies members for Child and Family Team Meetings to work collaboratively with all participants. Develops action steps and goals to be accomplished by the team. Works within communities by making referrals to service providers on behalf of clients; collaborates with law enforcement officials and multidisciplinary teams; trains foster parents, adoptive parents, and community members. Competencies (KSA's) Decision Quality Action Oriented Customer Focus Manages Conflict Communicates Effectively Knowledge Clerical Customer and Personal Service Skills Time Management Active Learning and Listening Complex Problem Solving Abilities Written Comprehension Deductive Reasoning Inductive Reasoning Tools & Equipment Electronic Devices Computers Motor Vehicles TN Driver Standards A valid driver's license. For the past five years, the candidate's driver record must not have a record of the following violations: driving under the influence (DUI), reckless driving, license suspension for moving violations, or more than four moving violations. #J-18808-Ljbffr