Family Services Specialist III - Child Protective Services

HS-SS FAMILY SERVICES

The City of Chesapeake Department of Human Services is seeking experienced Child Protective Services (CPS) Family Services Specialists that under the supervision of a Family Services Supervisor will be responsible for case management duties associated with conducting CPS assessments and investigations.

The selected candidate will:
  • Investigate CPS referrals concerning allegations of child abuse/neglect, assess child safety and risk utilizing a variety of structured decision-making tools, interviews, and observations.
  • Prepare court documents related to child safety and appear in a variety of court hearings to testify in cases.
  • Make sound decisions pertaining to child safety to include removing children from their home and placing children with relatives or in foster care.
  • Collaborate with law enforcement, mental health professionals, and emergency medical services partners when conducting CPS investigations and assessments.
  • Support a demanding caseload to include investigations and family assessment referrals.
  • Model professional behavior and best practices from the Virginia Services Practice Model.
  • Complete tasks related to Child Protective Services Intake procedures.
  • Have strong attention to detail and be able to work in a fast paced environment.

Other duties include, but are not limited to:
  • Conducts interviews or investigations and makes client/family assessments; formulates and implements plan; screens interstate referrals; sends out and reviews home study information.
  • Provides individual and group counseling for client and family.
  • Prepares purchase orders for client services, and negotiates provider rates; confirms provider availability and service authorization; verifies client information; processes invoices for payment.
  • Interacts/coordinates with other agencies, organizations, or family/community members to provide services for client and family/prior custodians; makes referrals for other social services.
  • Conducts home visits to supervise, observe, and document family interactions, activities, and environment; establishes schedule with parents/prior custodians for child visitation.
  • Provides direct services to clients/families including teaching basic living, parenting, budgeting, or employment skills, providing mediation counseling, and accompanying clients to appointments.
  • Collects and compiles information/data, and prepares periodic and special reports; maintains files/records for area of responsibility; develops program forms.
  • Provides emergency services/crisis intervention for clients/families; protects clients through court involvement; testifies at local, state, and judicial appeals; provides client placement as needed.
  • Conducts pre-service foster parent orientations and classes to evaluate/screen applicants; recruits and conducts training classes and orientations for volunteers.
  • Provides information to public on eligibility requirements and available services for assigned area.
  • Performs routine office tasks such as dictating case notes, data entry, typing correspondence or forms, filing, faxing, telephoning, or photocopying.
  • Conducts training classes for service providers; certifies and recertifies approved providers; attends professional workshops and seminars to improve professional skills.
  • Rotates through various service provider roles in such areas as CPS, foster care, and adoption.

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