Local Permanency Specialist I-IV

Department-of-Family-and-Protective-Services; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 48,000 - 76,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% paid health insurance

Retirement plans

Paid vacation, holidays, and sickLeave

Optional dental, vision, and life

Flexible spending accounts

Employee discounts

Job summary

Department of Family and Protective Services in Houston, TX seeks a Local Permanency Specialist I-IV to manage permanency activities for placed children. You will work with CPS teams to ensure timelines, complete documentation, and participate in court and planning meetings.

Eligible candidates must meet CPS certification criteria, have a relevant degree or experience, and be prepared for field assignments within the region.

Qualifications

• Current CPS knowledge and agency policies are required.
• Strong communication and organizational skills are essential.
• Flexibility to travel and coordinate with multiple stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Visit child and caregiver within 15 days of assignment.
• Document face-to-face contacts in IMPACT within prescribed timelines.
• Participate in court hearings, plan reviews, and related meetings.
• Notify primary caseworker of changes affecting the child.
• Coordinate with kinship/placement and service providers.

Skills

Agency policies

Verbal and written communication

Relationship building

Organization and time management

Impact system familiarity

Travel requirements

Education

Bachelor's degree in social work or related field

Associate's degree + 2 years relevant experience

60 college credit hours + 2 years relevant experience

90 college credit hours + 1 year relevant experience

Tools

IMPACT

Job description

Career Opportunities: Local Permanency Specialist I-IV (22457)

Posting ID22457-Posted10/16/2026-Dept of Family & Protectve Svc-Region 6B CPS Dir Del - LPS-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: Local Permanency Specialist I-IV
Job Title: CPS Local Perm Spec IV
Agency: Dept of Family & Protectve Svc
Department: Region 6B CPS Dir Del - LPS
Posting Number: 22457
Closing Date: 10/30/2026
Posting Audience: Internal and External
Occupational Category: Protective Services
Salary Range: $4,263.16-$6,779.25
Pay Frequency: Monthly
Salary Group: TEXAS-B-20
Shift: Day
Additional Shift: None
Telework: Not Eligible for Telework
Travel: Up to 80%
Regular/Temporary: Regular
Full Time/Part Time: Full time
FLSA Exempt/Non-Exempt: Nonexempt
Facility Location:
Job Location City: HOUSTON
Job Location Address: 3 NORTHPOINT DR
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

Children placed outside of their home regions are assigned a courtesy supervision caseworker located in the region in which they are placed. The Local Permanency Specialist will be responsible for:

• Visit/make contact with the child and caregiver at the placement within 15 days of assignment.
• Enter a face-to-face contact in child’s IMPACT SUB stage within 24 hours or within seven days of contact, no later than the last day of the month or in some situations before the 5 day of the new month to ensure state office counts the monthly face to face contact
• Participate in and document Treatment Plan Reviews, Transition Plans, ARD meetings, Circle of Support, Permanency Roundtables, medical appointments, and any other child meetings whenever possible.
• Notify the primary caseworker of any changes affecting the child or the child’s placement.
• Attend court hearings to include regional court hearings, juvenile detention hearings, child support cases, citizenship hearings.
• Act as the designated medical consenter as needed for medical or other surgical procedures.
• Participate in psychiatric medication reviews when children & youth are placed in Residential Treatment & GRO facilities, document in Impact as well as send related documentation to the primary worker.
• Assist with coordination of parent child or sibling visitation.
• Assist with child placement transitions/placements.
• Assist with the referral process for Child Safe requests.
• Assist with the referral process for Developmental Intellectual Disability assessments.
• Complete abuse hotline referrals when a child makes an outcry regarding treatment or care in their placements.
• Collect and prepare children’s belongings for return to the child or their caseworker.
• Assist other regions with last minute emergency needs.
• Assist State Office with Child Safety Checks and other related tasks as requested.
• Ensure that Kinship families have been referred to the Kinship program for support services when they have not been referred by the region of placement.
• Referring and transporting, aging out youth to the local PAL youth center for intake services
• Assist with temporary supervision of children medically hospitalized until hospital sitting services are coordinated.
• Transport youth on outings such as shopping or lunch for birthdays and goal achievements.
• Attend child and youth school or extra-curricular activities to support child’s interests.
• Assist with child without placement supervision and tasks as needed.

Essential Job Functions:

• Attends work on a regular and predictable schedule in accordance with agency leave policy and performs other duties as assigned.
• Provide direct support services to meet the specific needs of the child; monthly contact with child, attend case staffing, educational meetings, medical appointments, therapeutic appointments 35%
• Assess placement to ensure for appropriateness regarding to the child's health and well-being 25%
• Documents monthly narratives, communicates with primary worker to assist in the completion of child's plan of service, common application, and court report. 20%
• Develops and maintains effective working relationships between CPS staff, community providers, kinship/relative caregivers, law enforcement officials, judicial officials 10%
• Perform other duties as assigned and required to maintain unit operations 10%

Registrations, Licensure Requirements, or Certifications:

• Staff must maintain CPS Certification status required by agency.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

• Knowledge of agency policies and procedures
• Skills in effective verbal and written communication
• Skills in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships
• Good organizational skills/time management
• Ability to operate a personal computer and use of IMPACT
• Ability to travel as well travel long distances by vehicle & airplane as needed
• Flexibility in schedule to accommodate for late evening contacts
• Appreciates team efforts and support to complete tasks as a group when necessary
• Working toward maintaining and adjusting to embody values of agency: Commitment, Compassion, Inclusiveness, Integrity and Respect.
• Conservatorship experience preferred.
• CPS Worker I-IV status

Initial Screening Criteria:

Current or former DFPS employees with at least two years of full-time experience in Child Protective Services* or child placement services** in a public social services agency.

Child Protective Services Specialist I: An accredited Bachelor's degree OR accredited Associate's degree plus two (2) years of relevant work experience OR 60 accredited college credit hours plus two (2) years relevant work experience OR 90 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 Specialist II: 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 in Texas Department of Family and Protective Services OR previously employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist II in Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Child Protective Services Specialist III: 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 in Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Child Protective Services Specialist IV: 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 in Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

*Child Protective Services is professional social work where primary duties are providing social casework services to abused, neglected, or exploited children and their families; or in recruiting, studying, and certifying foster and adoptive homes.

**A Child placement service is the decision-making process around placing and monitoring children in licensed 24-hour childcare facilities and in adoptive placement in compliance with state and federal regulations.

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 before 2029. To learn more about CBC, please visit here.
• This position may be filled at any level from a CPS Specialist I to CPS Specialist IV. Factors such as education and experience may be considered when establishing the starting salary.
• In compliance with the American with Disability Act (ADA), HHS agencies will provide reasonable accommodation during the hiring and selection process for qualified individuals with a disability. If you need assistance completing the on-line application, contact the HHS EMPLOYEE SERVICE CENTER at 1-888-894-4747. If you are contacted for an interview and need accommodation to participate in the interview process, please notify the person scheduling the interview. Cannot currently be under any disciplinary action/level placement or been involved in action in the last 6 months.
• I-9 Form - Click here to download the I-9 form.

Military occupation(s) that relate to the initial selection criteria and registration or licensure requirements for this position may include, but not limited tothose listed in this posting. All active-duty military, reservists, guardsmen, and veterans are encouraged to apply if qualified to fill this position. For more information please see the Texas State Auditor’s Job Descriptions, Military Crosswalk and Military Crosswalk Guide at Texas State Auditor's Office - Job Descriptions . You may also contact the DFPS Military Liaison at [e-mail] with additional questions.

Applicants selected for hire must pass a background check and if applicable a driver’s record check.

State of Texas employees are required to maintain the security and integrity of critical infrastructure as defined in Section 117.001(2), State of Texas Business and Commerce Code. Applicants selected for hire comply with this code by completing related training and abiding by agency cybersecurity and communications system usage policies.

As a state agency, DFPS is required by Texas Administrative Code (TAC 206 and 213) to ensure all Electronic Information Resources (EIR) follow accessibility standards. The staff must be familiar with the WCAG 2.1 AA and Section 508 to create accessible content including but not limited to; Microsoft Office documents, Adobe PDFs, webpages, software, training guides, video, and audio files.

DFPS uses E-Verify. You must bring your I-9 documentation with you on your first day of work. Employees must provide documentation to DFPS to show their identity and authorization to work in the US. Please review the following link for authorized documents: https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents .

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), HHS/DFPS agencies will provide reasonable accommodation during the hiring and selection process for qualified individuals with a disability. If you need assistance completing the on-line application, contact the HHS/DFPS Employee Service Center at 1-888-894-4747. If you are contacted for an interview and need accommodation to participate in the interview process, please notify the person scheduling the interview.