Human Services Assistant III

Virginia Department of Social Services; Bristol (VA); On-site; USD 40,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

The Virginia Department of Social Services is seeking a Human Services Assistant III to support Family Services with a focus on Foster Care. You will engage with clients, gather information, and coordinate resources to assist families and children.

Responsibilities include maintaining foster care records, assisting with court documents and subsidy billings, and supporting supervised visits and program events in line with policy requirements.

Qualifications

• High school diploma with post-secondary coursework in social work, human services, or related field, and relevant administrative experience.
• Ability to communicate effectively with clients and professionals; organize and prioritize work; follow established procedures.

Responsibilities

• Contacts clients for requested information and answers routine questions in person, email, or by phone.
• Analyzes needs and coordinates resources to support families and clients.
• Assists with foster care records, subsidy billings, and preparing case documents and reports.
• Supports supervised visits, court reports, and coordination of program events.

Skills

Communication

Time management

Interpersonal skills

Interviewing

Documentation

Data interpretation

Education

High school diploma with post-secondary coursework

Tools

Calculator

Fax machine

Word processing

Spreadsheets

Job description

Title Description-

Human Services Assistant III represents the specialist level in the occupational group for Human Services Assistants. Human Services Assistant III will work primarily in Family Services, specifically Foster Care.

General Work Tasks (Illustrative Only)

• Contacts clients for requested/needed information and responds to routine questions in person, e-mail or by telephone; and
• Analyzes needs and coordinates resources that will support families/clients

• Foster Care:
• Assists with maintaining foster care records
• Conducts adoption searches via court records, library, agency files, Internet, City directory, and makes initial contact if a match is found;
• Assists with subsidy billings and payments;
• Prepares a variety of financial, statistical forms and reports, case documentation and court reports;
• Assists in conducting supervised visitation or worker visits; and
• Coordinates special event programs such as Toys for Tots, Annual Art Sale, Bags & Bears and unit events.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Knowledge-

Considerable knowledge of: principles and processes for providing customer and personal services (including customer needs assessment, meeting of quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction); structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar; and administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, spreadsheets, managing files and records, and other office procedures and terminology. Working knowledge of: human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; mathematics and research methods; and eligibility requirements for the programs assigned; and available community resources. Some knowledge of laws, regulations, requirements and policies of Local, State, and Federal social, assistance and housing programs.

Skills-

Skill in: operating a variety of automated office equipment to include calculator, fax/copier; and the use of computer-driven word processing, spreadsheet, graphics and file maintenance programs.

Abilities-

Demonstrated ability to: communicate effectively with program participants; plan, organize, and prioritize own work schedule; establish and maintain working relationships with clients, professionals, co-workers, and the public sufficient to exchange ideas and coordinate activities; accept direction and follow established procedures; counsel others; organize, and post date, from records, reports and other sources using the appropriate format; exhibit solid interpersonal skills, including conflict resolution in working with clients, professionals and employees; create forms, charts, and graphs; add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals; compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs; make screening decisions based upon specific criteria’s; read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, manuals; and conduct effective interviews both face-to-face and by telephone.

Education and Experience-

High school diploma supplemented with post-secondary coursework in subjects such as social work, human services, gerontology, or one of the social or behavioral sciences, business or related field, and relevant work experience in public administrative support work OR any equivalent combination of training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities.