CPS Conservatorship Worker

Department-of-Family-and-Protective-Services; Bastrop (TX); On-site; USD 43,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Retirement plans

Paid vacation/holidays/sick leave

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

Flexible spending accounts

Employee discounts

Job summary

The Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) in Texas seeks a CPS Conservatorship Worker to manage cases where children are removed from their homes. The role focuses on safeguarding the child's welfare, coordinating with families and legal parties, and ensuring timely permanency outcomes.

Master’s holders may qualify for higher entry points. Position is full-time in Bastrop, TX, with travel up to 85% and no telework.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher typically required for Conservatorship Worker levels.
• Structured progression from I to IV based on education/experience.
• Ability to pass background checks and FBI fingerprinting as required.

Responsibilities

• Receive cases after removal from homes and place in CPS conservatorship.
• Plan for child permanency with family and kinship resources.
• Visit children monthly to assess safety and progress.
• Prepare court reports and testify as needed.
• Collaborate with law enforcement, medical professionals, and social services.

Skills

Child development

Family dynamics

Verbal and written communication

Relationship building

Problem solving

Travel availability

On-call/irregular hours

Working in high-emotion environments

Education

Bachelor's degree

Associate's degree + 2 years experience

60 credit hours + 2 years experience

90 credit hours + 1 year experience

Tools

Driver's license

Job description

Posting ID21921-Posted09/30/2026-Dept of Family & Protectve Svc-Region 7 CPS Dir Del - CVS-Protective Services-Not Eligible for Telework-b. $3000 - $4999 per month

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) works to build on strengths of families and communities to keep children and vulnerable adults safe, so they thrive. We do this through investigations, services, and referrals.

What You Get Beyond Your Paycheck

When you join the State of Texas, your monthly paycheck is just one part of your real income. Our benefits provide extra value that many private employers simply don’t match—often adding hundreds of dollars each month to what you take home or save.

Here’s what you get as a full‑time employee:

• 100% paid health insurance for you, and 50% paid for eligible family members—saving you hundreds every month in out-of-pocket medical costs
• Retirement plans with lifetime monthly payments after five years of state service, plus options to save even more with 401(k) and 457 plans
• Paid vacation, holidays, and sick leave so you can recharge and take care of life outside work (that’s time off you’re actually paid for)
• Optional dental, vision, and life insurance —at rates much lower than most private plans
• Flexible spending accounts for added tax savings on health and dependent care
• Employee discounts on things like gym memberships, electronics, and entertainment

Functional Title: CPS Conservatorship Worker
Job Title: CPS CVS Spec I
Agency: Dept of Family & Protectve Svc
Department: Region 7 CPS Dir Del - CVS
Posting Number: 21921
Closing Date: 10/14/2026
Posting Audience: Internal and External
Occupational Category: Protective Services
Salary Range: $3,816.65-$5,372.41
Pay Frequency: Monthly
Salary Group: TEXAS-B-17
Shift: Day
Additional Shift: None
Telework: Not Eligible for Telework
Travel: Up to 85%
Regular/Temporary: Regular
Full Time/Part Time: Full time
FLSA Exempt/Non-Exempt: Nonexempt
Facility Location:
Job Location City: BASTROP
Job Location Address: 3809 E LOOP 150 STE 102
Other Locations: None
MOS Codes: 0149,5805,5821,5822,5832,14N,14NX,183X,1N0X1,230X,311A,31D,351L,351M,35L,35M,42SX,43HX,4C0X1,4E0X1,5IX,683X,68X,71SX,73A,783X,HM,INV,IS,ISS,IV,MST,NC,OAP12

Brief Job Description:

Whenever a child must be removed from their home, Texas courts appoint Child Protective Services (CPS) to serve as a "Conservator" of the child. Conservatorship Specialists are a specific type of caseworker legally responsible for a child's welfare whenever they are removed from their home and monitors children's care while in CPS conservatorship. They work closely with parents, extended family, and legal parties to help children find a permanent, safe place to live.

Newly hired employees holding a Master's Degree in Social Worker may qualify for an increase at the point of hire.

Essential Job Functions (EJFs):

• Receives cases from investigators after children are removed from their homes, placed in CPS conservatorship, and placed in care outside their homes.
• Determines each child’s needs and ensuring that appropriate referrals for testing, evaluations, records, or further assessments are made. Ensures all services are focused on achieving positive permanency.
• Working with children, families, and communities to plan for a child's permanency.
• Identifying potential permanency resources for the child through ongoing contact with parents, family members, and other individuals the child and family identify as important to them.
• Searching for potential kinship providers throughout the case. Completing home studies of a child's family members or family friends (kinship providers) who might care for the child.
• Meets with the parents to assess risk and safety issues, identify behavior changes necessary to achieve child safety, referring parents to appropriate services to address the identified needs to move towards positive permanency. Discusses with parents their progress towards making changes to behaviors that pose dangers to their child(ren).
• Meets with children, parents, family friends, or foster homes in public as well as in their own homes.
• Collaborates with a Placement Team, including Kinship staff, for placements, as needed.
• Participates in meetings and conferences at times and places convenient for the family members as well as everyone involved in the case.
• Visits children monthly to assess the child’s feeling of safety in their current home, to plan for permanency, and to discuss their needs, wishes, and progress while in care
• Attends and participates in court hearings about the child and family. This includes contacting the parties in the case before hearings, preparing court reports, and testifying in court on the child’s needs, the family’s progress, and the department’s efforts to achieve permanency for the child.
• Keeps the child’s, parents, caregivers, court-appointed attorney and guardian ad litem(s) informed about the child’s circumstances and significant events.
• Works with the department's attorney to prepare for contested-court hearings and trials.
• Works with kinship caregivers and foster parents to ensure that they have what they need to care for the child or youth placed with them i.e., keeping them informed about developments in the case, returning phone calls, and in some areas of the state being available 24 hours a day / 7 days a week at certain times.
• Transitions children home during reunification services and provides support to the family until the legal case is closed.
• Supervises adoptive placements until the adoption is final or until the case is transferred to an adoption caseworker.
• Using effective time-management skills to make sure all key tasks are done.
• Documents case records by completing forms, narratives, and reports to form a written record for each client.
• Develops and maintains effective working relationships between Child Protective Services staff and law enforcement officials, judicial officials, legal resources, medical professionals, and other community resources.
• Performs other duties as assigned and required to maintain unit operations.
• Promotes and demonstrates appropriate respect for cultural diversity among coworkers, clients, and all work-related contacts.
• Attends work regularly in accordance with agency leave policy.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs):

• Knowledge of child development
• Knowledge of family dynamics
• Skill in effective verbal and written communication.
• Skill in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships.
• Skill in problem solving techniques
• Ability to operate a personal computer.
• Ability to travel and attend child and family visits as well as other work related appointments and meetings after 5pm.
• Ability to be on call on a rotating basis and work irregular hours.
• Ability to work in an emotion-filled environment and which may require conducting home visits in isolated or high crime areas and may involve exposure to substandard and unsanitary living conditions.

Registrations, Licensure Requirements or Certifications:

This position requires use of the applicant's personal motor vehicle to complete job functions.

Applicants for positions must have a reliable motor vehicle, and acceptable driving record for the past five years, and a current, valid Texas driver's license appropriate for the vehicle and passenger or cargo load. Applicants must provide proof of driving record, insurance, and license.

Initial Screening Criteria:

Child Protective Services Conservatorship Worker I: An accredited B achelor's degreeORaccredited Associate's degree plus two (2) years of relevant work experienceOR60 accredited college credit hours plus two (2) years relevant work experienceOR90 accredited college credit hours plus one (1) year of relevant work experience. Examples of relevant work experience in social, human, or protective services include paid or volunteer work within social service agencies or communities providing services to families or other at-risk populations.

Child Protective Services Conservatorship Worker II: An accredited B achelor's degreeORaccredited Associate's degree plus two (2) years of relevant work experienceOR60 accredited college credit hours plus two (2) years relevant work experienceOR90 accredited college credit hours plus one (1) year of relevant work experience. Examples of relevant work experience in social, human, or protective services include paid or volunteer work within social service agencies or communities providing services to families or other at-risk populations. Employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist I for 9 months AND have received Child Protective Services Specialist Certification OR currently employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist II or Child Protective Investigations Specialist II in Texas Department of Family and Protective Services OR previously employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist II or Child Protective Investigations Specialist II in Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Child Protective Services Conservatorship Worker III: An accredited B achelor's degreeORaccredited Associate's degree plus two (2) years of relevant work experienceOR60 accredited college credit hours plus two (2) years relevant work experienceOR90 accredited college credit hours plus one (1) year of relevant work experience. Examples of relevant work experience in social, human, or protective services include paid or volunteer work within social service agencies or communities providing services to families or other at-risk populations. Employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist II for 9 months AND have received Advanced Child Protective Services Specialist Certification OR currently employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist III or Child Protective Investigations Specialist III in Texas Department of Family and Protective Services OR previously employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist III or Child Protective Investigations Specialist III in Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Child Protective Services Conservatorship Worker IV: An accredited B achelor's degreeORaccredited Associate's degree plus two (2) years of relevant work experienceOR60 accredited college credit hours plus two (2) years relevant work experienceOR90 accredited college credit hours plus one (1) year of relevant work experience. Examples of relevant work experience in social, human, or protective services include paid or volunteer work within social service agencies or communities providing services to families or other at-risk populations. Employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist III for 24 months AND have received Senior Advanced Child Protective Services Specialist Certification OR currently employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist IV or Child Protective Investigations Specialist IV in Texas Department of Family and Protective Services OR previously employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist IV or Child Protective Investigations Specialist IV in Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Preferred Criteria

• Degree in Social Work, Criminal Justice, Psychology, Human Development and Family Studies, Education, or Public Health.
• Previous professional or volunteer experience in a government agency, nonprofit, child protection, foster care, juvenile justice, mental health, or substance abuse services.
• Familiarity with trauma-informed care or experience conducting interviews or assessments with children and families.

Additional Information:

Community-Based Care (CBC) is a new way to provide services than traditional foster care because it gives local communities the flexibility to draw on local strengths and resources and find innovative ways to meet the unique and individual needs of children and their families. CBC includes many of the services that Child Protective Services (CPS) normally provides. This includes foster care, case management, kinship, and reunification services. A single contractor in each designated community area creates a network of services, foster homes, and other living arrangements and, when ready, provides case management for each child and their family as well. CPS works with each contractor (Single Source Continuum Contractor or SSCC) to carefully manage the transition from traditional foster care to community-driven care. Full implementation of CBC is projected for the year 2029 across the state of Texas. With open proposal options, any given community or regional area may be selected for CBC transition. This position along with your job duties and function will shift form a state position with Texas Department of Family Protective Services to the SSCC, which is a private and non-profit agency serving the same foster care population. After the transition, your office location is subject to change within your same county, which is expected to occur DATE, based on readiness. To learn more about CBC, please visit Community-Based Care

This position may be filled at any level from a Child Protective Services Conservatorship Worker I to a Child Protective Services Conservatorship Worker IV. Factors such as education and experience may be considered when establishing the starting salary.

Applicants considered for placement in this position will be required to pass a drug screening. At the point of offer, candidates will be referred to a testing site. Note that it is important to maintain current contact information in the event you are referred for testing. A final offer of employment will not be extended until the agency receives confirmation of successful test results.

During the 83rd Legislature (2013), the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 427 which requires prospective and current child placing agency (CPA) employees to complete a Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) fingerprint check. Child Protective Services functions as a CPA therefore a fingerprint check will be required for each Conservatorship (CVS) and Foster/Adoption home (FAD) direct delivery staff or applicant being considered for employment.

This position will be in a mobile unit which means the majority of the work will be conducted using mobile technology, such as a tablet, while away from the office. Being mobile requires working independently yet still being responsive to supervision and your assigned unit.

Newly hired DFPS employees in eligible positions will be assigned a DFPS cellular phone.

These requirements are not exhaustive, and additional job related physical requirements may be added to these by individual agencies on an as needed basis.Corrective devices may be used to meet physical requirements. These are typical requirements; however, reasonable accommodations are possible.

Physical Activities: He/she is frequently asked to stand, hear and talk; he/she is occasionally asked to climb.

Physical Demands: The incumbent typically performs work that requires him/her to exert up to 20 pounds occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects.

Visual Requirements: The incumbent must be able to see objects clearly at 20 inches or less, and at 20 or more feet. In addition, he/she must be able to adjust his/her eyes to bring objects into focus, distinguish colors, see objects in his/her peripheral vision, and see objects in three dimensions.

Working Conditions: He/she typically works in a mobile environment (the majority of work is performed outside of the office environment) and is exposed occasionally to adverse environmental conditions including, but not necessarily limited to, extreme heat, wetness and humidity, chemicals, close quarters, gases and heights.

This role requires frequent travel to homes and offices both within and outside your assigned region. Reliable transportation and a strong willingness to