Family Service Specialist

DE; United States; Remote; USD 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

Delaware DSCYF is seeking Family Service Specialists to provide and coordinate professional case management for children, youth, adults, and families. Responsibilities include assessments, planning, advocacy, and collaboration with clients and professionals to support safety and wellbeing.

The role involves in-office and home visits, statewide travel, and potential after-hours responses to urgent situations, with focus on child protection and permanency planning.

Qualifications

• One year of experience in professional health or human service work or two years paraprofessional health or human service work (Associates may substitute)
• Bachelor's degree or higher or anticipated graduation within 3 months with related coursework

Responsibilities

• Advocate for health, safety and welfare of clients and assist in obtaining needed services.
• Interview clients and families to gather information and develop service plans with goals and outcomes.
• Determine eligibility for Social Service programs offered by the agency or community.
• Collaborate with client/family to implement service/treatment plans and access community resources.
• Conduct individual and family counseling sessions to support social development.
• Assess progress toward goals and adjust plans as needed (reclassification, discharge, etc.).
• Prepare reports, court documents, and maintain client records.
• Enforce court orders and provide court appearance support as needed.
• Respond to crisis situations and coordinate with law enforcement as required.

Skills

Case management

Interviewing

Assessment

Crisis intervention

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher

Associates degree substitution for 1 year paraprofessional experience

Behavioral Science / Psychology / Sociology coursework

Job description

Summary Statement

The Family Service Specialist series consists of the Family Service Specialist, Senior Family Service Specialist, Master Family Service Specialist, and Family Crisis Therapist classifications. Incumbents in these roles directly provide and coordinate professional case management services to children, youth, adults, and families experiencing abuse, neglect, dependency, behavioral concerns, crisis situations, or family dysfunction. An incumbent in this class conducts assessments, and provides planning, facilitation, advocacy, monitoring, and evaluation which is achieved through collaboration with the client and other professionals. The incumbent is responsible for conducting child abuse investigations and/or providing ongoing case management services, which may include foster care and other permanency planning.

Positions require the ability to work independently in both the office and during home visits or in community settings, including independent statewide travel to conduct home visits, court appearances, community-based services and responses, and respond to urgent situations to assess/maintain child safety and wellbeing. Work may involve responding to time-sensitive situations in community and home settings, which may require working outside of the standard work hours based on meeting the needs of families and children as well as other operational needs.

Career Ladder

Upon satisfactory completion of Department promotional standards and job requirements, employees may be eligible to be promoted to the next level.

This position is part of the Family Services Specialist career ladder series, which includes the following levels: Family Services Specialist (entry level), Senior Family Services Specialist, and Master Family Services Specialist.

Applicants are encouraged to review all DSCYF job postings within this series and apply for any level for which they meet the minimum qualifications.

Selective Requirement

Selective Requirements must be met in addition to the job requirements. Applicants who do not possess the selective requirement will not be qualified.

As a condition of hire you must possess a valid driver's license (not suspended, revoked, or cancelled, or disqualified from driving). This position requires statewide travel which may include driving at night or through adverse weather conditions.

Essential Functions

• Provides services to advocate for health, safety and welfare or rights of clients and their families and assists them in obtaining needed services.
• Interviews clients and family members and/or professionals to gather personal, social and background information; works closely with the client and family to formulate a clear description of the client and family’s problems; identify the key forces which maintain the problems; discover resources and strengths available to the client and family to resolve the problems; and identify the blocks, if any, that prevent the client and family from resolving the problems without the intervention of the State agency.
• Determines eligibility for various social service programs offered by the agency or available in the community.
• In collaboration with the client and family, and with consultation from a technical superior, develops and implements service/treatment plans, outlining the goals and objectives to be accomplished, methods and techniques to be used, and anticipated results; helps the client and family to obtain community, social and/or therapeutic services and resources needed to accomplish plans and objectives.
• Conducts individual and family counseling sessions with clients and members of the family to aid in achieving satisfactory social development and adjustment to specific problems and situations.
• Assesses progress toward goals and makes recommendations on plans such as reclassification, discharge, aftercare, emergency protective placement in emergency or crisis situations, guardianship, petitions or options counseling.
• Prepares social histories, client progress reports, evaluation and discharge summaries, court reports or petitions; prepares and maintains a variety of records and files pertaining to clients assigned to caseload.
• Enforces court orders and conditions of community supervision as required. Attends court hearings and other judicial proceedings to answer questions; makes recommendations and prepares progress reports regarding clients.
• May be called upon to intervene in crisis situations such as potential suicides, assault and battery against clients, and sexual abuse cases.
• May coordinate with law enforcement and other emergency staff if needed. May be required to isolate and/or physically restrain clients who are acting out. May be required to perform emergency duty which requires being on call for an assigned time period.

Job Requirements

Applicants must have education, training and/or experience demonstrating competence in each of the following areas:

1. Applicants must possess at least one of the following:
   • One year of experience in professional health or human service work.
   • Two years’ experience in paraprofessional health or human service work. An Associates degree may substitute for one year of paraprofessional experience.
   • Possession of a Bachelor's degree or higher or have an anticipated graduation date within 3 months, with coursework in Behavioral Science, Psychology, Sociology, Human Services or related field.

Additional Posting Information

Potential Vacancies may be at any of the following locations:

New Castle County:

DSCYF Churchman: (92 Christiana Rd, New Castle, DE, 19720)

These shifts are available in NCC:

1st shift is 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Monday-Friday

2nd shift is 3:30 pm to 12 am Monday-Friday

3rd shift is 11:30 pm to 8 am Monday-Friday

2nd and 3rd shifts include a 12% shift differential.

Weekend Shift: Hours of coverage are 11:15 pm Friday through Sunday 11:45 pm including holidays. Workers will be assigned to two 13.5-hour non-consecutive shifts.

Weekend/holiday is a 30 hour per week position that also requires 5 hours to be worked on a day during the week that is designated by the administration. It includes a 30% shift differential and requires working on all State holidays and unplanned office closures.

Kent/Sussex County:

Barratt Building: (821 Silver Lake Boulevard, Dover, DE, 19901)

1st shift is 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Monday-Friday

Robbins Building: (802 Silver Lake Boulevard, Dover, DE, 19904)

1st shift is 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Monday-Friday

Adams State Service Ctr: (546 S Bedford St, Georgetown, DE 19947)

1st shift is 8:000 am to 4:30 pm Monday-Friday

Pyle State Service Center: (34314 Pyle Center Rd, Frankford, DE 19945)

1st shift is 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Monday-Friday

Shipley State Service Center (350 Virginia Ave, Seaford, DE 19973)

1st shift is 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Monday-Friday

Milford Riverwalk Center: (253 NE Front Street, Milford, DE 19963)

1st shift is 8:00am to 4:30 pm Monday-Friday

Mid shift is 12:00pm to 8:00pm Monday-Friday

2nd shift is 3:30 pm to 12:00 am Monday-Friday

3rd shift is 11:30 pm to 8 am Monday-Friday

2nd and 3rd shifts include a 12% shift differential.

Weekend Shift: Hours of coverage are 11:15 pm Friday through Sunday 11:45 pm including holidays. Workers will be assigned to two 13.5-hour non-consecutive shifts.

Weekend/holiday is a 30 hour per week position that also requires 5 hours to be worked on a day during the week that is designated by the administration. It includes a 30% shift differential and requires working on all State holidays and unplanned office closures.

Conditions of Hire

All new hires are required to report to the Statewide New Employee Orientation (SNEO) on their first day of employment. Sessions are held at designated locations in Kent or New Castle County.

This position is a classification organized under an exclusive bargaining representative (labor organization) that has been elected by employees as their representative for collective bargaining and other applicable terms and conditions of employment, in accordance with Title 29, Chapter 59 and Title 19, Chapter 13 and 16. This position is covered by a collective bargaining agreement based on its individual terms.

Pre-employment Drug Testing: Upon a conditional offer, you must undergo pre-employment drug testing as part of the hiring process.

Criminal background check: A satisfactory criminal background check is required as a condition of hire. The recruiting agency may require the applicant to pay for the criminal background check as part of the conditional offer of hire.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. The State of Delaware Executive Branch participates in the Federal E-Verify system where the State will provide the federal government with each new hires Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. For more information refer to our job seeker resources.

Benefits

To learn more about the comprehensive benefit package please visit our website at https://dhr.delaware.gov/benefits/

Selection Process

The application and supplemental questionnaire are evaluated based upon a rating of your education, training and experience as they relate to the job requirements of the position.

It is essential that you provide complete and accurate information on your application and the supplemental questionnaire to include dates of employment, job title and job duties. For education and training, list name of educational provider, training course titles and summary of course content. Narrative information supplied in response to the questions must be supported by the information supplied on the application including your employment, education and training history as it relates to the job requirements.

Once you have submitted your application on-line, all future correspondence related to your application will be sent via email. Please keep your contact information current. You may also view all correspondence sent to you by the State of Delaware in the “My Applications” tab at StateJobs.Delaware.gov.

Accommodations

Accommodations are available for applicants with disabilities in all phases of the application and employment process.

Individuals who use TDD may request auxiliary aid or service by calling [phone] or by visiting delawarerelay.com.

If you need assistance with an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or general applicant support, you may call [phone] or email [e-mail].

The State of Delaware is an Equal Opportunity employer and values a diverse workforce. We strongly encourage and seek out a workforce representative of Delaware including race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.