Social Worker I/A/T - Assessments

Job Title: Social Worker Investigations/Assessments

Department: Health and Human Services
Pay Grade: 71
FLSA Status: Non-Exempt

AGENCY MISSION, YOUR MISSION
Haywood County Health and Human Services’ mission is to enhance the health, safety, and full potential of our community. In the Social Services Division, you would serve the most vulnerable in the community, assisting families and individuals. All members of our team must uphold the confidentiality of Haywood County's citizens, safeguarding their privacy and dignity at all times.

HOW WILL WE KNOW YOU’RE “THE ONE”?
Maintain social, ethical, and organizational norms.
Firmly adhere to codes of conduct and ethical principles
Build and maintain positive, productive relationships with peers, colleagues, managers, providers, the community and other professionals.
Deal with others in difficult and complex situations to achieve resolution or adherence to laws and/or regulations.
Use appropriate interpersonal skills and methods to reduce tension and resolve conflict.
Make decisions without regard to personal prejudices, biases, and experiences.
Stay with a job or plan until the desired objective is achieved or is no longer reasonably attainable.
Recognize and respect the value of individual differences at all levels of the organization.

JOB SUMMARY
The purpose of the class is to provide intensive social work services in serious and complicated cases which require the flexible use of a wide range of social work skills and intervention techniques. Work will involve investigation of alleged neglect or abuse; determining an in-depth and global assessment of family dynamics and needs, assessing safety and risk, as well as providing routine announced and unannounced home visits to monitor the safety of children. The position determines if the family needs further on-going services in order to ensure a child’s safety.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Provide social work services in the areas of child protective services and custody work which involve the assessment of individual and family dynamics and needs.
• Serving as a witness at court hearings, as well as preparing court reports for some hearings.
• Crisis intervention
• Assessing the on-going safety and risk of children.
• Use considerable judgement in conducting individual assessments, dealing with psychosocial aspects.
• Globally assesses the family that the social worker is working with to help link them to community services.
• Provide in-depth assessment of family dynamics, determine the extent of neglect or abuse, and make referrals for clients with complex needs.
• Work requires a thorough understanding of social work assessment techniques primarily of a crisis, supportive, and behavioral nature.
• Considerable knowledge of legal and administrative aspects of programs.
• Completion of risk assessments and other state tools that are mandated to be completed at certain intervals of the case.
• Work involves comprehensive child services that are jointly planned with other members of a multi-disciplinary team or protective services committee and supervisors.
• Assessment and intervention are performed with considerable independence. Work is reviewed by unit supervisor, program manager, or higher-level Director.
• Submits all day sheets accurately in a timely manner.
• Will serve as “back up” intake approximately one time monthly.
• Rotates as “back up” on-call (if the regular on-call worker is out sick or on vacation) 2-3 days per month.
• Attends annually, a minimum of 24 training hours provided by Regional, State, or County staff.
• Employees are required to maintain compliance with all State and Federal laws and program requirements including but not limited to confidentiality laws (HIPAA, Juvenile Code, PII, etc.).
• Employees are required to maintain compliance with all State and Federal laws and program requirements including but not limited to confidentiality laws (HIPAA, Juvenile Code, PII, etc.). Employees are expected to adhere to Agency, Countywide and Departmental policies and procedures regarding information security and confidentiality, and to report any suspected unauthorized disclosure or loss of information immediately. Employees must ensure security of all County data, equipment, and information in both electronic and paper form that is accessed as part of job duties to minimize risk of improper disclosure or data breach.
• Emergency Response, including but not limited to support of the Federally mandated and State statutory responsibilities including, but not limited to Public Health and Mass Care duties.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS TO PERFORM WORK:

• Master’s degree from an accredited school of social work and one (1) year of social work or counseling experience;
• Or Bachelor’s degree in social work and two (2) years of job-related experience;
• OR Bachelor’s degree in any Human Services degree and three (3) years of job-related experience;
• OR Bachelor’s degree and four (4) years of job-related experience.
• Completion of the NC Child Welfare Education Collaborative (CWEC) traineeship can be substituted for 1 year of experience.
• Applicants who meet the required minimum education; however, lack the required social work experience may be considered, and if hired, will be paid at least the trainee rate. The worker will then gain experience annually, until fully qualified.
• Must be at least twenty-one years of age to drive a County vehicle.
• Valid state driver’s license. Must have no more than three (3) points showing on current DMV records in order to operate County vehicles.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Thorough knowledge of social work principles, techniques, and practices, and their application to complex casework, groupwork, and community problems.
• Considerable knowledge of a wide range of medical, behavioral, and/or psychological problems and their treatment theory.
• Considerable knowledge of family and group dynamics and a range of intervention techniques, governmental and private organizations, and resources in the community, laws, regulations, and policies which govern the program.
• General knowledge of the methods and principles of casework supervision and training.
• In certain settings, considerable knowledge of medical terminology, disease processes and their treatment as they relate to decision regarding clinical interventions and appropriate therapies based on medical or psychological diagnosis.
• Skill in establishing rapport with a client and in applying techniques or assessing psychosocial, behavioral, and psychological aspects of client’s problems.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with members of case load and their families, as well as civic, legal, medical, social, and religious organizations.
• Ability to express ideas clearly and concisely and to plan and execute work effectively.
• Ability to establish relationships and communicate effectively with other employees and the general public.
• Knowledge of state and county ordinances, policies, and procedures.
• Skill in the use of computers and applicable software programs.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
Requires sedentary work that involves sitting or standing virtually all the time and may involve exerting up to ten (10) pounds of force occasionally to move objects, or considerable skill, adeptness, and speed in the use of fingers, hands or limbs in tasks involving repetitive motions and the use of standard office equipment.

The job requires normal visual acuity and field of vision, hearing and speaking abilities, depth and texture perception, and color perception.

Work Schedule:
Typical work hours are Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m., however an alternate work schedule (40 hours per week) may be considered upon request. The supervisor must pre-approve any overtime. Additionally, the worker is assigned to cover any emergency arising during this time. This worker may be asked to provide back up for On-Call and does require an immediate response to emergencies received by law enforcement departments in the county. In cases of a community emergency or disaster, the worker will be required to be available to work in an emergency response, and the hours worked in emergency response could vary from hours worked in the office.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:
- Employees work in settings which range from human services agencies, clinics, hospitals, or offices, but often involve visits to a client’s home or contacts in institutions or prisons.

- Includes contacts with clients and/or family members who may be hostile, resistant, and violent.

EMPLOYER BENEFITS PACKAGE:

• Employer paid Health & Dental Coverage
• Participation in the NC Retirement System
• 401(k) and 457(b) plans available
• Employer paid Life Insurance
• Competitive Vision Insurance
• Annual Performance Pay Increases
• Vacation, Personal, and Sick Leave
• Free Employee Assistance Network
• Free Employee Wellness Clinic
• Discounted Gym Membership
• Paid Holidays
• Longevity Pay

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the essential job functions satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the primary job functions herein described. Since every duty associated with this position may not be described herein, employees may be required to perform duties not specifically spelled out in the job description, but which may be reasonably considered to be incidental in the performing of their duties just as though they were actually written out in this job description.

Haywood County has the right to revise this position description at any time and does not represent in any way a contract of employment.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $54,419.85 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Employee discount
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• Retirement plan
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person