Social Worker (Child Protective Services & Permanency Planning)

By ongoing assessment and partnering with families to help strengthen them and work to maintain and/or reunite children with their families whenever possible by providing support and comprehensive family-centered, solution focused interventions that will support and build a parent's capacity to protect and nurture their children.

Doing it together:

Working cohesively with families, children, community and in-agency partners, and other child welfare entities to support and strengthen families.

Striving for excellence in meeting all mandated standards in a fast-paced but rewarding environment that ultimately seeks to assure child safety, permanence and develop and reinforce protective family units.

Duties in Child Protective Services (CPS) include receiving and screening reports from the public regarding suspected child abuse, neglect and dependency to see if they meet legal criteria for CPS assessments; providing direct services to children and their parents/caretakers through which a timely and comprehensive assessment is conducted to determine if abuse/neglect/dependency exists, and providing for ongoing intervention if warranted; providing protective services to help families keep children who have been maltreated safely at home whenever possible; applying crisis intervention techniques, assessing risk, and developing case plans to ensure children's safety; entering information into various software systems and ensuring all required documentation, forms and reports are completed and maintained in a timely and consistent manner in accordance with local, state and federal requirements.

Duties in Permanency Planning Services (PP) include determining the most appropriate plan of reunification, relative placement, or adoption; partnering with parents, relatives, kinship placements, foster parents to develop case plans ensuring all services are arranged and provided for children and families. This includes testifying in court hearings; documenting cases; preparing reports; entering information into various software systems; and working hard to develop a positive relationship with children and parents to help strengthen families and promote permanency for children in the custody of the Department.

***

90% of field work is done in homes, court, and the community. Must be able to lift and carry a child.

This position holds the opportunity for telework on a partial basis, where the selected candidate will occasionally start his/her workday from home and report directly to job sites throughout the day. Certain meetings or trainings will require the employee to come into the office. The ideal candidate for telework position is a self-starter with strong written and verbal skills and solid proficiency in using modern office technology to perform work duties.

New Hanover County is dedicated to the recruitment and recognition of a talented and diverse workforce that is committed to public service. Our shared values of professionalism, equity, innovation, integrity, stewardship, and accountability guide the way we conduct ourselves and deliver services to our customers. Supported by the work of our Office of Diversity and Equity, New Hanover County celebrates diversity in our employees' backgrounds, beliefs, identities, and abilities, and supports equitable and inclusive policies and growth opportunities. Our talented team has a passion for providing care and services that effect change in the everyday lives of the citizens they encounter. The differences that unite us are a reflection of the community we serve. If this sounds like an organization that models the values you uphold, we invite you to join our team at New Hanover County.

New Hanover County offers:

• Employer paid 401k contributions;
• Retirement plan through the NC Retirement system;
• Flex time and telework availability, depending on your position;
• Paid sick and personal leave + 13 paid holidays per year;
• Paid parental leave;
• Paid community services leave to give back to our community;
• Education leave to obtain a degree within your line of work;
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance + many other insurance options;
• Onsite, employer-paid health and wellness center;
• Professional development trainings & leadership initiatives;
• Opportunities to make a difference in your community;
• And so much more!

Minimum Qualifications:

• MSW from an accredited school;

• OR BSW from an accredited school of social work and 1 year of related social work experience;

• OR a four-year degree in a human services field with at least 15 semester hours in courses related to social work and 2 years of related social work experience;

• OR a four-year degree and 3 years of related social work experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Valid Driver's License and good driving record required at time of application.
• Valid North Carolina Driver's License required by first date of employment with good driving record.

Bilingual in English and Spanish preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

• Ability to prioritize workload and maintain administrative duties while balancing field work
• Identify and assess risk, address safety issues, & problem-solve with families to create solutions
• Ability to make connections with families and support family-centered principles
• Ability to make decisions without regard to that personal prejudices, biases, and experiences and respect the value of individual differences at all levels of the organization
• Ability to think critically during conflict and high-stress situations and exercise sound judgement
• Ability to build and maintain positive, productive relationships with peers, colleagues, managers, providers, the community and other professionals
• Thorough knowledge of agency procedures and resources, community systems and resources, manual material, state and federal regulations, permanency planning philosophy, and laws governing protective services for children.
• Knowledge of basic criminal justice procedures, elements of medical and mental disorders, personality theory, family systems dynamics, interpersonal relations, and cultural differences, values and lifestyles.
• Firmly adhere to codes of conduct and ethical principles
• Ability to navigate technology and quickly learn new and complex systems.