Family Services Specialist III

Family Services Specialist III

The City of Alexandria is bordered by Washington D.C. and the Potomac River, Arlington and Fairfax counties, and Maryland. The small city has a cosmopolitan feel with 150,000 people living within its 15.75 square miles. At the Department of Community and Human Services, we provide essential safety net services to help city residents enjoy a sense of well-being, safety and self-sufficiency. Our behavioral health programs provide compassionate services that support self-determination and recovery. The beauty of our diverse and resilient people and our commitment to race and social equity, coupled with a historic district dating to 1749, charming waterfront, vibrant arts community and unique places for foodies and shopping, make the City of Alexandria a uniquely wonderful place to live, work and play. We invite all qualified candidates to learn more and apply for our

Family Services Specialist III

This is the beginning leadership level in the occupational group for Family Services. Employees function as a lead worker for subordinate family services specialists and/or acts as an expert resource specialist. Employees serve as support for the supervisor by performing tasks such as ensuring staff coverage, workload balance, training staff, reviewing case files, and providing back-up supervision of staff. Employees may provide consultation on complex cases and may also work on complex case assignments such as individual and group therapy, crisis intervention, case management, client advocacy, prevention, and education. Employees work within established policies, procedures and guidelines with a high degree of independence, seeking supervisory assistance only in unusually complicated and difficult cases/situations. The Family Services Specialists IV class is distinguished from the Family Services Supervisor class by the latter's spending a majority of time in supervisory activities such as handling personnel issues, problems, and evaluating the work of others. The Family Services Specialist III (Crossover Youth Coordinator / Senior Child Protective Services (CPS) Worker) is responsible for managing a specialized caseload of families and youth involved with another child-serving system (e.g. Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Services Unit, Community Services Board) with risk of abuse, neglect, or out-of-home placement, but may not meet the criteria for CPS involvement. Cases assigned to this position will require both short-term involvement through assessment and service coordination; and long-term involvement through ongoing case management and service planning. This Family Services Specialist III represents Child Welfare Services (CWS) on multi-disciplinary teams that coordinate services for youth that are cross-system involved while seeking to improve both individual and system outcomes. This Family Services Specialist III provides case consultation and training regarding work with multi-system involved youth and their families. This Family Services Specialist III also provides training to new CPS workers; and occasional supervision to workers and teams in the absence of their regular supervisor. Work is performed under the general supervision of a CPS Family Services Specialist Supervisor.

Examples of Duties:

• Assess for safety and well-being while coordinating services for multi-system involved youth, and their families, at risk for out-of-home due to behavioral health challenges and/or involvement with the juvenile justice system.
• Provide intensive case management, including serving as Children's Services Act (CSA) case manager, for families requiring longer-term services to meet therapeutic goals and for youth to remain with their families.
• Provide above-mentioned services in response to Relief of Custody petitions filed by legal custodians and other court notices.
• Conduct Human Trafficking Assessments with families of youth suspected to be victims of trafficking and coordinates treatment services.
• Refer families to the Family Engagement Unit and participate in Family Partnership Meetings to expand family and fictive kin supports and seek kinship placements.
• Document case actions timely in the automated data system.
• Serve as a liaison between the Alexandria Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court and its judges, the Court Services Unit, City Attorneys, and the Child Welfare Services Division.
• Research and respond to requests for child welfare information from the J&DR Court Services Unit and City Attorneys on past agency involvement when youth are before the Court.
• Provide oral testimony and written reports to the J&DR Court as necessary.
• Represent Child Welfare Services on multi-disciplinary teams to provide both case-specific consult and referral; and to improve systemic coordination and outcomes through evaluation and policy/procedure development.
• Provide case consultation and training regarding challenges and best practices when working with multi-system involved youth and their families.
• Collect, maintain, and interpret data and statistics regarding families served by this FSS III position. Identify trends and needs to assist in further program planning and budgeting.
• Assist in the training and development of CPS and CWS staff.
• Provide occasional supervision to the CPS Hotline and Intake/In-Home teams and workers in the absence of their regular supervisor.
• Participate in after-hours CPS coverage on a rotation basis.

Minimum Qualifications:

Minimum of a Bachelor's degree in a Human Services field or minimum of a Bachelor's degree in any field with a minimum of two years of appropriate and related experience in a Human Services area (Section 22VAC40-670-20 of the Administrative Code of Virginia). Considerable experience in assigned program area/human services programs and completion of required training programs. Equivalent combination of training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities. Comprehensive knowledge of laws, policies, and regulations relating to human services program areas. Skill in operating a personal computer and the associated software. Demonstrated ability to make clinical judgments, assess clients' needs, and formulate plan of action; Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

Preferred Qualifications:

Master's degree in a human services field. Considerable relevant experience. Some work experience in a leadership role. Possession of a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) OR Master of Social Work (MSW). Possession of an active Commonwealth of Virginia Social Worker license. Spanish-speaking.