Definition
Performs intensive social work services or lead-work duties in a county, area, regional office, or institution; performs journey-level work in child protection services or adult protective services, including case planning, monitoring services, documentation, court document drafting, and assessment of child and dependent adult safety and well-being; performs related work as required.
Work Examples
Assists supervisor by performing such duties as instructing employees, answering questions, distributing and balancing the workload, and checking work; may make suggestions on selection, promotions, and reassignments.
Obtains and evaluates referral information from mandatory and permissive reporters to determine if a child protective assessment, dependent adult abuse assessment or Child in Need of Assistance assessment should be completed. This information may be gathered in person (face to face interview) or via the telephone utilizing active listening, probing questions to fill in gaps in information or to clarify inconsistencies. The information is the first step in the assessment process and will subsequently be provided to child/adult protective assessment workers so that safety and risk can be assessed and appropriate services to families, children and/or dependent adults can be provided.
Provides intensive casework services for clients with comprehensive/high-intensity case management, possibly requiring a reduced caseload on a full-time basis.
Provides support to individuals and groups having experienced significant behavioral challenges, including impaired impulse control, self-endangering behaviors, chronic mental health conditions, intellectual disabilities, or developmental disabilities.
Makes professional decisions and recommendations that can have a serious impact on the life of the person served.
Performs licensing and regulatory duties.
Provides or directs the preparation of necessary records and reports.
Gives advice and consultation when unusual, difficult, or complex cases are encountered.
Functions as a case management program specialist by reviewing case records of case managers and providing written and verbal feedback related to performance, compliance with applicable standards and policies.
Evaluates reports of child or dependent adult abuse; assesses strengths/needs of clients and recommends service interventions.
Serves as a member of an institutional interdisciplinary treatment team; provides casework and group work services.
Performs outreach activities gathering and evaluating information regarding clients or programs, developing an assistance or treatment program, and coordinating activities with relevant community agencies, as directed.
Completes or directs the preparation of necessary records and reports.
Competencies Required
Knowledge:
Customer and Personal Service – Principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Psychology – Human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Sociology and Anthropology – Group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Administrative – Administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Communications – The science and art of delivering information.
English Language – Structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Law and Government – Laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Therapy and Counseling – Principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Abilities:
Category Flexibility – Generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Deductive Reasoning – Apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Flexibility of Closure – Identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Fluency of Ideas – Come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Inductive Reasoning – Combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Information Ordering – Arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Oral Comprehension – Listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression – Communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Originality – Come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Peripheral Vision – See objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
Problem Sensitivity – Tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Speech Clarity – Speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition – Identify and understand the speech of another person.
Written Comprehension – Read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Written Expression – Communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Skills:
Active Learning – Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Active Listening – Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Judgment and Decision Making – Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Learning Strategies – Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Reading Comprehension – Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Service Orientation – Actively looking for ways to help people.
Social Perceptiveness – Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Speaking – Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Time Management – Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Writing – Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Minimum Qualification Requirements
Applicants must meet at least one of the following minimum requirements to qualify for positions in this job classification:
Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a degree in any field, and experience equal to three years of full-time work in a human services, social work, or criminal justice capacity in a public or private agency.
Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a degree in social work, and experience equal to two years of full-time work in a human services, social work, or criminal justice capacity in a public or private agency.
Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Master’s degree in human services, social work, criminal justice, or a related field.
All of the following (a and b):
A total of four years of education and/or full-time experience in a human services, social work or criminal justice capacity in a public or private agency, where thirty semester hours of accredited college or university coursework in human services, social work, criminal justice, or a related field equals one year of full-time experience; and
A total of two years of graduate-level education and/or full-time experience (as described in part a), where twenty-four semester hours of accredited graduate college or university coursework in human services, social work, criminal justice, or a related field equals one year of full-time experience.
Current, continuous experience in the state executive branch that includes one year of full-time work as a Social Worker.