Family Safety Practitioner II - Foster Care and Adoption

Fairfax County Government; Annandale (VA); On-site; USD 45,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

An established public service organization is seeking a compassionate Foster Care and Adoption Family Safety Practitioner II to join their dedicated team. This role focuses on providing essential clinical casework services to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children in foster care. The position offers a unique opportunity to make a significant impact in the community while working collaboratively with families and various stakeholders. Candidates will thrive in a supportive environment that emphasizes professional development and a commitment to social equity. If you are passionate about making a difference in the lives of vulnerable families, this is the perfect opportunity for you.

Qualifications

• Graduation from an accredited four-year college with a degree in social work, psychology, or sociology.
• Two years of experience in social work or related field.

Responsibilities

• Conducts assessments to ensure children's safety and wellbeing.
• Collaborates with families and service providers to develop care plans.
• Documents casework and participates in court-related services.

Skills

Knowledge of child protection laws

Crisis intervention skills

Ability to communicate effectively

Knowledge of childhood trauma

Social work principles

Education

Bachelor's degree in social work or related field

Master's degree in social work

Job description

Job Announcement

This position includes a signing bonus of $2,500 (full-time) for new county hires.

If your goal is to build a career that makes a difference, consider joining the dedicated practitioners in the Division of Children, Youth, and Families (CYF) of the Department of Family Services (DFS). We are seeking a dynamic Foster Care and Adoption (FC&A) Family Safety Practitioner II to join our dedicated, multi-disciplinary team. In this role, you would provide clinical casework services to support the permanency of children in foster care as well as their parents and caregivers. We hire only the most caring and motivated individuals to serve families and children in our community. Learn more about the culture of DFS, meet our director and some of our employees, watch videos about our programs, and check out the great health benefits offered by Fairfax County.

Grow your career with Fairfax County!
With more than 16,000 employees, Fairfax County is a diverse workforce offering employees stimulating and challenging opportunities across a broad scope of career opportunities. As a Fairfax County employee, you impact the well-being of our community every day.

This is an exciting time to join Fairfax County Government as we shape racial and social equity policies in the county through the One Fairfax Policy. Using this framework, we intentionally consider equity when making policies or delivering programs and services. To learn more, we highly encourage you to watch the Becoming One Fairfax-An Introduction to Key Concepts video by clicking here and visit the One Fairfax webpage here.

The Department of Family Services (DFS) is committed to strengthening the well-being of its diverse community by protecting and improving the lives of all children, adults, and families through assistance, partnership, advocacy, outreach, and quality services. To learn more about DFS and its Mission, Vision, and Values, please click here.

As an integral member of the FC&A Program, performs a vital role to achieve permanent living arrangements for children in foster care and adoption. Work hours are Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., however, evening and/or weekend work is required.

Duties and responsibilities include the following:

• Conducts face-to-face contacts and attends home visits to ensure children in foster care and adoption are safe and that their physical, emotional, and educational needs are being met
• Conducts comprehensive assessments to include but not limited to the following areas: safety, permanency, and wellbeing; educational, social, and independent living skills; substance abuse, and developmental concerns; family relationships such as parent-child conflict and domestic violence; assessing the family (i.e., parenting capacity, family relationships, social supports, physical health challenges and disabilities, and basic needs such as shelter, food, and clothing)
• Collaborates with the parents, prior custodians, foster parents, and children when appropriate, to develop a family-centered, solution focused service plan ensure safety, permanency, and wellbeing of the children in foster care
• Coordinates and collaborates with foster families and others to deliver services (i.e., home-based family and individual counseling, health insurance and medical care, parenting support, and domestic violence interventions) to children and parents/family members
• Responds and intervenes in emergency crisis around placement of children in foster home, congregate care facilities, and trial home placements with parent or relative caregivers
• Conducts court-related services to include writing and submitting service plans to court, consulting with county attorney, writing affidavits, filing petitions, and testifying in court
• Documents assessments, critical incident reports, detailed case contacts, progress notes, and service plans in a timely manner in accordance with local and state policy
• Participates in required trainings and meetings and serves as a representative on workgroups and contributes to development of written product
• Coordinates and attends intra-agency and inter-agency meetings
• May be required to be on-call rotation that includes evening, overnight, weekend, and holiday hours which may require immediate response into the field
• Performs other duties as assigned to ensure child safety and improve outcomes in families
  
  

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Knowledge of child protection laws, rules, and regulations
• Knowledge of foster care and adoption laws, rules, and regulations
• Ability to interview, assess needs, counsel, and refer clients to other resource as needed
• Knowledge of childhood trauma and attachment
• Knowledge of the principles and practices of social work
• Knowledge of current social service problems and methods/approaches to address issues
• Ability to analyze case information and to reach sound decisions on the basis of such information
• Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing
• Ability to use automated technology to establish and maintain case records
• Ability to maintain professional ethics and confidentiality of client information
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of individuals
• Ability to schedule and manage workload sufficiently to meet deadlines.

Note: All Fairfax County Government employees are expected to adhere to the Standards of Conduct. In maintaining a drug free workplace, employees are prohibited from manufacturing, distributing, possessing, using or being under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs while at work or on county premises.

Illustrative Duties

(The illustrative duties listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list. A complete list of position duties and unique physical requirements can be found in the position job description.)

Performs individual and family safety and risk assessment and casework duties pursuant to applicable state and federal policies/ law, to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people facing vulnerabilities;
Determines whether people at risk of harm should be separated from their current living situation including, emergency separations of children or vulnerable adults from their homes when required;
Engages county residents in services that are often non-voluntary and/or protective in nature. County residents engaging in these services are often experiencing difficulties that may be stressful and upsetting and threaten their immediate physical or psychological safety;
Advocates for and assists families and individuals in obtaining services (e.g., mental health, intellectual disability, alcohol and drug, housing referrals, financial assistance for basic needs, home based services, training, and medical services) to ameliorate the circumstances that brought them to the attention of the department;
Provides family, individual, and group counseling and conducts mediation services to families in conflict;
Investigates and/or evaluates complaints of alleged abuse or neglect, and in consultation with supervisor, makes assessment of risks posed to clients in accordance with state and local policies, and works to ensure risks are eliminated or minimized;
Prepares written reports and required documentation supporting decisions related to immediate and ongoing safety needs;
Provides crisis intervention on a timely basis to clients or families whose wellbeing are seriously and imminently threatened;
Collects, documents, and makes appropriate case decisions related to information from clients, their family members and community support systems regarding their social, financial, physical health, emotional well-being, and problems affecting the completion of safety or services plans;
Documentation is detailed and becomes part of the case file which is a legal record;
Participates in the development of court related documents and may testify or attend court to provide support to the clients and/or their caregivers;
Provides training, outreach and education for allied resources including (but not limited to) foster and adoptive parents, volunteers, families, and other county residents regarding supportive services, agency programs, and other specialized topics related to the wellbeing of county residents at risk of harm;
Works with and monitors individual service providers such as contract service providers and volunteers who work with clients to adhere to or complete safety or service plans;
Uses case management, documentation management technology, and hard copy files to maintain and update case data, notes, documents, records, contacts, and summaries of information in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws and policies.

Required Knowledge Skills and Abilities

(The knowledge, skills and abilities listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list.)

Knowledge of the principles and practices of social work and case management;
Knowledge of current social service problems and methods/approaches to address issues;
Knowledge or skill with crisis intervention or conflict resolution techniques;
Knowledge of regulations and guidelines relating to the assigned area of social service specialization;
Ability to analyze case information to reach sound decisions based on such information;
Ability to demonstrate advanced critical thinking and judgment by understanding and applying governing policy and statutes alongside best practices and unique case factors;
Ability to engage with persons effectively and empathically from different cultures who may be experiencing stressful family situations;
Ability to maintain a high level of sensitivity and confidentiality while performing client related tasks;
Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing;
Ability to use case management and documentation technology to establish and maintain case records;
Ability to maintain professional ethics and confidentiality of client information;
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of individuals;
Ability to schedule and manage workload sufficiently to meet deadlines;
Skill in defining and explaining complex rules and guidelines in a variety of settings;
Skill in writing reports that are behaviorally specific, factually correct, include conclusions and recommended action;
Ability to engage children, adults, and/or families under safety-sensitive, time-limited, and difficult circumstances, to gather information and make informed decisions that are inclusive of their language, race, and culture;
Ability to engage and work with community partners and organizations;
Ability to collaboration as a team member to create and support safety planning and monitoring;
Ability to engage with juridical systems and processes to support the safety needs of clients as needed or when required by statute;
Demonstrated ability to set boundaries and participate in self-reflective practice and working knowledge of the National Association of Social Workers'' Code of Professional Ethical Standards.

Employment Standards

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Any combination of education, experience, and training equivalent to the following:
(Click on the aforementioned link to learn how Fairfax County interprets equivalencies for "Any combination, experience, and training equivalent to")

Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a bachelor's degree in social work, psychology, sociology, or a related field*; plus, two years of experience in social work, psychology, sociology, or a *related experience. A master's degree in a related field may be substituted for one year of the required experience. *For Virginia Child Welfare Stipend Program Graduates: A master's degree in social work, plus and eligible practicum in child welfare may be substituted for two years of the required experience.

*A related field/experience is based solely on the position description.

CERTIFICATES AND LICENSES REQUIRED:
Valid driver's license.
Positions within this class are required to complete the state mandated training in the functional area within a specified time period.

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
The appointee to the position must satisfactorily complete a criminal background check, driving record check, and a Child Protective Services check.

This position is considered essential personnel and will be required to report to work during times designated countywide as approved for unscheduled leave regardless of the emergency situation (i.e., weather, transportation, other disaster).

Requires being part of an on-call rotation that includes evening, overnight, weekend, and holiday hours which may require immediate response into the field.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master's in social work (MSW) degree or a related human services degree
• Experience in performing case management services in a child welfare setting (child protective services, foster care, adoption, family prevention, permanency planning, or domestic/sexual violence)
• Experience in child welfare and/or mental health
• Experience working with the court system, testifying and filing affidavits
• Experience working with a diverse multicultural population
  
  

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
Work requires performing tasks with risks of secondary traumatic stress (STS).
Ability to navigate through and make decisions in stressful and crisis situations
Sufficiently mobile to make home visits, attend meetings, court appearances and community events outside the office.
Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing.
Ability to use automated technology.
Ability to lift, carry, and diaper infants.
All duties may be performed with or without reasonable accommodations.

SELECTION PROCEDURE:
Panel interview; may include practical exercise.

This job announcement is listed with a closing date of 5/23/25 and interested applicants are advised to submit their applications as soon as possible. Interviews will be conducted on a regular basis throughout the recruitment with candidates whose qualifications best fit our needs. If your application is received later in the recruitment process, it may not be reviewed or considered. The application process may close prior to the currently advertised closing date when the position has been filled.

The population of Fairfax County is very diverse where 38.7% of residents speak a language other than English at home (Spanish, Asian/Pacific Islander, Indo-European, and others) and we encourage candidates bilingual in English and a foreign language to apply to this opportunity.

Fairfax County Government prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetics, political affiliation, or military status in the recruitment, selection, and hiring of its workforce.

Reasonable accommodations are available to persons with disabilities during application and/or interview processes per the Americans with Disabilities Act. TTY 703-222-7314. [e-mail] EEO/AA/TTY.

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