Child & Family Services Case Manager

Job Title

Child & Family Services Case Manager

Job Description

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Division of Family Well-Being and Protection, Bureau of Child Protective Services, is seeking a Child & Family Services Case Manager to join our team!

This position is located in Council Bluffs and will cover that and surrounding counties. This is a full-time opportunity, Monday – Friday with typical hours being from 8:00 AM- 4:30 PM with paid overtime as needed including after-hours and weekend on call rotation. All paid overtime must be pre-approved by leadership.

The primary purpose for this position is to work with families in which child abuse and/or neglect has occurred. The focus is to decrease the likelihood of continued abuse while preserving families. We do our best to keep families together, however, there are times in which this is not possible. In these circumstances, children may have to be removed from parental custody and placed in another home, preferably still with family. As a Social Work Case Manager, there will be times in which you will have to remove children. This can be a difficult and challenging process.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Assess the ongoing risk to children, develop safety plans, assess the strengths, and needs of the child and family, and make recommendations to various county attorneys and courts.
• Frequent interaction with law enforcement, medical/mental health community partners, schools, etc.
• Requires the ability to apply Iowa Code, agency policy, and sound professional judgment to highly complex situations involving crises and or chronic abuse or neglect
• All cases assigned to persons in this position require home visits, detailed interviews, and thorough narrative documentation
• Troubleshoots problematic situations to find innovative solutions to present to administration and the supervisor. Confronts crisis situations and high stress situations in a calm and orderly manner. Maintaining confidential information as required by the agency and assuring safety is a top priority for all in the office
• Obtain information from a wide variety of sources, including written materials, telephone conversations and through computer databases and to be able to read and interpret the data
• Identifies rules, principles, or relationships that explain reasonable facts, data, or other information that analyzes information and draws accurate conclusions
• Interacts in a team environment to manage group processes, facilitates, and encourages cooperation, pride, trust, and group identity, fosters commitment and team spirit
• Works with others to achieve goals
• Within an office environment, provides Division support to large segment of agency through managing internal and external requests for information and legislative reviews requiring comprehension of request, independent judgment and adherence to agency formatting of timely response or communication. Interact with employees and customers in a positive customer service manner to resolve problems and answer customer inquiries. Customer contacts may include correspondence, telephone, or walk-ins to the local office
• This position will be required to work or be on standby during nights and weekends on a rotational basis.

The ideal candidate will demonstrate:

• Successful management of a full case load
• Strong observational and analytical skills, as well the ability to respectfully engage families as partners in planning for safety and establish a working relationship with families
• Excellent judgment and communication skills and the ability to provide good written documentation in a timely manner
• The ability to develop case plans, use critical thinking skills, prioritize work and work under pressure
• The ability to use independent judgement to make sound decisions, demonstrate integrity and confidentiality and a strong work ethic.

To ensure the Service Area is providing the best service to the residents of Iowa, applicants should demonstrate exceptional customer service skills, integrity, and a strong work ethic.

Preference will be given for education or experience which correlates directly with the requirements and duties of the position.

Minimum Qualification Requirements

Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university; OR the equivalent of four years of full-time technical work experience involving direct contact with people in overcoming their social, economic, psychological, or health problems; OR an equivalent combination of education and experience substituting the equivalent of one year of full-time qualifying work experience for one year (thirty semester or equivalent hours) of the required education to a maximum substitution of four years.

Additional Qualification Requirements

Designated positions in this job class require applicants to obtain the required Chauffeurs License and endorsements within a period of time as determined by the appointing authority at the time of hire.