Job Title:  Social Services Specialist I / Wellbeing/Permanency, Adoption, Licensure, Safety

40+ hours a week

These positions are advertised as Statewide with the different units, and the candidate will be housed in the county closest to their location.

Typically requires a Bachelor's Degree and 0-2 years of experience. Appointing authority may require social worker's license. Agency preferred qualifications: A Bachelor's Degree from an accredited four-year college or university in social work, social services, psychology, educational psychology, sociology, nursing, criminal justice, counseling, marriage and family therapy, family studies, or a related field. In this position, the salary maybe based on Education and Qualifications

What you will need to be successful:

Professional commitment to and caring about clients and the larger profession of child welfare. Personal resilience and strong self-efficacy beliefs about the ability to work with clients to produce positive client outcomes. Efficient organizational and time management skills. Good oral and written communication skills. Positive work morale. Ability to be flexible in thinking and problem solving. Realistic expectations about the difficulty and challenges of the work. Ability to handle an often-unpredictable work environment.

Job duties inlude...
Wellbeing/Permanency:
Create and maintain case files for children in care; document in MDCPS online database program;
Visit children in care in foster homes, facilities and hospitals;
Complete investigations of abuse, neglect for exploitation;
Complete ongoing safety and risk assessments;
Participate in scheduled county conferences/meetings for assigned children-in-care;
Make referrals for children-in-care to receive services including dental, vision and medical;
Transport children-in-care to appointments and destinations;
Arrange for visitation with siblings and parents;
Attend staff meetings with supervisor (normally) and all-staff meetings;
Assist with new hires by being "shadow buddies";
Make copies of documents for case files;
On-call for after-hours situation (rotating responsibility with other staff members);
Attend court for hearings;
Attend conferences and training to maintain continuing education hours;
Communicate with families, service providers, parents, foster parents and the public;
Schedule and attend Family Team Meetings.

The incumbents receive training related to job content, and MUST PASS a comprehensive test prior to continued employment and/or advancement.

Well-being/Permanency:
Receive investigation assignments and conduct historical checks of records to determine if individuals in the reports have had prior agency involvement,
Recognize signs and symptoms of child maltreatment (Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation),
Investigates reports of child maltreatment (Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation) of children that are reported through the Mississippi Centralized Intake and Assessment including human trafficking, maltreatment in care, and child fatalities through conducting home visits, visits to other settings where children/families live and other structured interviews,
Conducts safety and risk assessments to determine safety of children and make ethical and fact-based recommendations for continuation of services. This includes monitoring safety plans and making referrals for services as appropriate,
Prepare for, attend, and testifies in court hearings and administrative appeals on investigations,
Participate in collaborative internal team meetings,
Schedule and attend forensic interviews, autopsies, and other meetings regarding investigations,
Document initial and ongoing work in accordance with established protocols, practices, and policies. This includes finalizing completed investigations with all supportive documents uploaded to a shared drive and sending final notifications per policy,
Serve as mentor and peer support for new staff to the unit,
Participate in scheduled staffing and other meetings,
Build professional relationships and collaborate with law enforcement, legal and other stakeholders to support the agency's work in the investigation process,
Requires routine travel in personal vehicle (mileage reimbursed based on DFA guidelines).
May require work beyond assigned geographic area and/or special assignments,
Use data to manage and plan the workday for timely initiation and completion of work,
On-call after work hours and on weekends in designated coverage area,
Other duties as assigned

Adoption: Recruit adoptive families for special needs children in need of placements;
Assist children whose primary permanency goal has been changed to adoption and/or who are legally free for adoption;
Prepare the child and birth family (if known) for the adoption process;
Facilitate Adoption Status Meetings to review the progress toward achieving adoption;
Complete a Family Assessment and Preparation Process on the foster parents who have applied to adopt a particular child;
Assist the foster family in determining their readiness to adopt;
Present child at regional, multi-regional and statewide Placement Committee Meetings;
If child is in therapeutic or residential setting, assist with step-down placements into therapeutic foster/adoptive family;
Present information about the child to the potential adoptive family;
Coordinate and assess pre-placement visits between the child and the potential adoptive family;
Facilitate the placement of a child with the adoptive family and obtain required placement documents;
Provide supervision of adoptive placements and document each visit in MDCPS online database program;
Assist the adoptive parents in completing the appropriate Adoption Assistance forms;
Assist adoptive families in obtaining "The incumbents receive training related to job content, and must pass a comprehensive test prior to continued employment and/or advancement.

"post-adoption services (if needed):
Assist in finalization of ICPC adoptions and link families to post-adoptive services (if needed);
Create and maintain case files for adoptive families. The incumbents receive 8 weeks of training related to job content. This consist of 4 weeks (every other week) of on-site training and 4 weeks of On-The-Job Training, and must pass a comprehensive test prior to continued employment and/or advancement.

Safety Unit:
Receive investigation assignments and conduct historical checks of records to determine if individuals in the reports have had prior agency involvement,
Recognize signs and symptoms of child maltreatment (Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation),
Investigates reports of child maltreatment (Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation) of children that are reported through the Mississippi Centralized Intake and Assessment including human trafficking, maltreatment in care, and child fatalities through conducting home visits, visits to other settings where children/families live and other structured interviews,
Conducts safety and risk assessments to determine safety of children and make ethical and fact-based recommendations for continuation of services. This includes monitoring safety plans and making referrals for services as appropriate,
Prepare for, attend, and testifies in court hearings and administrative appeals on investigations,
Participate in collaborative internal team meetings,
Schedule and attend forensic interviews, autopsies, and other meetings regarding investigations,
Document initial and ongoing work in accordance with established protocols, practices, and policies. This includes finalizing completed investigations with all supportive documents uploaded to a shared drive and sending final notifications per policy,
Serve as mentor and peer support for new staff to the unit,
Participate in scheduled staffing and other meetings,
Build professional relationships and collaborate with law enforcement, legal and other stakeholders to support the agency's work in the investigation process,
Requires routine travel in personal vehicle (mileage reimbursed based on DFA guidelines).
May require work beyond assigned geographic area and/or special assignments,
Use data to manage and plan the workday for timely initiation and completion of work,
On-call after work hours and on weekends in designated coverage area,
Other duties as assigned

The incumbents receive 8 weeks of training related to job content. This consist of 4 weeks (every other week) of on-site training and 4 weeks of On-The-Job Training, and must pass a comprehensive test prior to continued employment and/or advancement.

Job #633909