Family Safety Practitioner II - Foster Care and Adoption

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

Job summary

Join a dedicated team making a difference in the lives of children and families in the community. As a Family Safety Practitioner II, you'll provide essential clinical casework services to support children in foster care and their families. This role involves conducting assessments, collaborating with families, and ensuring the safety and well-being of children. With a focus on equity and community well-being, you'll play a vital part in shaping policies and delivering impactful services. If you're passionate about social work and want to contribute to meaningful change, this is the perfect opportunity for you.

Benefits

Signing bonus of $2,500

Health insurance

Retirement plan

Professional development opportunities

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in social work or related field required.
• Two years of experience in social work or related field.

Responsibilities

• Conduct face-to-face contacts and home visits for child safety.
• Collaborate with families to develop service plans.
• Document assessments and case contacts in a timely manner.

Skills

Knowledge of child protection laws

Knowledge of foster care and adoption laws

Ability to interview and assess needs

Knowledge of childhood trauma and attachment

Knowledge of social work principles

Ability to analyze case information

Ability to communicate clearly

Ability to maintain professional ethics

Education

Bachelor's degree in social work

Master's degree in a related field

Tools

Automated technology for case records

Job description

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.

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.

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.

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:

• 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 to 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 the 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 resources 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.

Minimum Qualifications:

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 an eligible practicum in child welfare may be substituted for two years of the required experience.

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 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.