Social Worker III - Foster Care

Job Title: Social Worker III – Foster Care

Department: Health and Human Services
Pay Grade: 70
FLSA Status: 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, always safeguarding their privacy and dignity.

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.
• Dealing 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
This position is responsible for provisions of services to children in foster care and their families. Services are provided because the child/children cannot remain in the home. The social worker provides services to a caseload of foster children who are in the custody of Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency ranging in age from infancy through twenty years old with a wide range of intelligence levels and emotional issues. Services are provided to the birth parents and/or caregivers of these children, as well as the children and others involved in the situation. Various plans are developed for each individual child, not only meeting with children and families but also with other community agencies, health providers, school systems and institutions. Plans are formulated with the family and others involved eliminating the issues that made foster care necessary for the safety of the child. Visitation plans are also made to allow the child/children ongoing ability to stay connected with the family. Family Services Agreements are time limited and reviewed regularly. Social workers review cases based on time frames found in the legal statutes of North Carolina. All children in foster care must have their cases reviewed before a District Court Judge and the social worker must be able to testify to the work that the Agency has done to reunify the child/children with family or to ensure permanency for the child. The social worker provides case management including record keeping, dictation, providing placements, visits, and counseling.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Provide services to a caseload of foster children in the custody of Haywood County HHSA. The social worker will provide services to children, caregivers, birth parents, and others involved in the case.
• Create family service agreements and visitation agreements and review those agreements on a regular basis.
• Timely record documentation of case record activity completely and accurately, presenting valid, objective and behaviorally defined descriptions of family dynamics.
• Compose thorough court reports and be prepared to testify in court hearings for each case on a regular basis.
• Participate in Permanency Planning Action Team meetings, as well as Child and Family Team meetings.
• Participate in Treatment Team Meeting to discuss a child’s mental health needs.
• Participate and present children and families to the agency’s Adoption Committee.
• Help facilitate and locate family and therapeutic placements for foster children.
• Complete monthly contact forms, as well as other state required forms, on a regular basis.
• Managing funds in children’s trust accounts, as applicable.
• Maintain organized case files for each case.
• Perform home visits to biological parents’ home to assess safety.
• Submits all day sheets accurately in a timely manner.
• Will serve as “back up” intake approximately one time monthly.
• Travel across North Carolina, and possibly out of state, to make monthly contact with foster children.
• Research extended family members for placement options and complete home studies on the homes, if appropriate.
• Attends annually, a minimum of 24 training hours provided by Regional, State, or County staff.
• Complete day sheets in a timely and accurate manner.
• 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 college or university of social work;
• Or Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university of social work and one (1) year of job-related experience;
• Or Bachelor’s degree in any Human Services degree from an accredited college or university and two (2) years of job-related experience;
• Or Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and three 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 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 assist with their cases after hours if an emergency arises. 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.

Haywood County is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $52,074.33 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