Social Worker II (Foster Care)

Social Worker

Work in this class involves providing professional social work services to clients in a variety of settings including local human service agencies, correctional facilities, teaching hospitals, medical schools, psychiatric hospitals and mental retardation centers. Work involves evaluating the client's situation and his/her ability to deal with it, developing a social history, psychosocial assessment, service plan and/or treatment plan and follow-up. Services may include placement in a residential facility; basic counseling, support, and reinforcement in areas such as death and dying, employment, vocational, medical, health, or behavioral issues. Employees address such problems as adjustment to illness or disability, placement into an institution, rest home or nursing facility; financial concerns; socialization issues of the socially handicapped or those debilitated by age or illness. They may provide information to and confer with schools, natural parents and foster parents on habilitation plans, behavior management, and other problem areas or needs. Employees may be involved in recruitment, evaluation, and training of foster parents and other care providers. Employees may develop community or service resources and/or develop volunteer programs. In certain treatment settings workers participate on habilitation/treatment teams and provide the social work perspective. Positions at this level combine difficult services performed under supervisory guidance with relatively conventional services performed under more relaxed supervision. Work is differentiated from Social Worker I by the range of cases, the difficulty of personal contacts, and the theoretical knowledge required to perform the work. Employees report to a higher level professional or program manager.

III. Interpersonal Communications: Scope of Contacts - Contacts vary depending upon the agency and/or service area and usually include the client, service providers, community agencies and groups. Contacts may also include volunteers, foster/natural parents, court officials, schools, nursing homes interns and residents. Nature and Purpose - Employees work with clients, families, habilitation/treatment teams in the development and implementation of treatment plans. Contact with other professionals are required in the coordination of services, provision of program orientation and consultation to community.

IV. Other Work Demands: Work Conditions - Employees work in a variety of service settings which range from modern public service buildings to correctional facilities, community residential facilities, home environments, or institutions where odors and noise may be present. Hazards - Employees may experience emotional stress due to the nature of interactions with clients or service providers. Behavioral problems such as aggression of clients could cause bodily injury for employees in some settings.

V. Recruitment Standards: Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities - Considerable knowledge of social work principles, techniques, and practices and their application to individual casework group work and community problems. Knowledge of the psychosocial, socioeconomic and behavioral problems and their treatment. Knowledge of governmental and private organizations and community resources. Knowledge of laws, regulations and policies which govern the program. General knowledge of medical terminology, disease processes and their treatment is required in certain programs or settings. Skill in establishing rapport with a client and applying techniques of assessing psychosocial, behavioral, and psychological aspects of client's problem. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with administrative superiors members of case load and their families, and with civics medical, social and religious organizations. Ability to train or instruct lower-level social workers, students, or interns. Ability to express ideas clearly and concisely and to plan and execute work. Minimum Training and Experience Requirements: Bachelor's degree in social work from an appropriately accredited institution; bachelor's degree in a human services field from an appropriately accredited institution and one year of directly related experience; bachelor's degree from an appropriately accredited institution and two years directly related experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.