Social Service Supervisor

Job Announcement

This position includes a signing bonus of $2,500 (full-time) for new county hires.

Do you want to be a part of a team that makes a difference in the lives of children and youth in foster care? Do you want to lead a team focusing on connections and permanency for older youth in foster care? As a Social Services Supervisor, you will lead a team of Social Services Specialists to support youth in foster care and those transitioning out of foster care. You will serve an instrumental role in program development and best practices within the Foster Care & Adoption, Resource & Support program.

We are looking for people who are committed to children’s permanency, safety, and well-being; possess good critical thinking and decision-making skills; thrive in a fast-paced environment; and demonstrate good leadership skills. While this job is challenging, this is more than a job—it is an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children and families.

The Division of Children, Youth and Families (CYF) of the Department of Family Services (DFS) is seeking a Social Services Supervisor to support the Foster Care and Adoption (FC&A) Resource and Support Program. This Social Services Supervisor will lead our Fostering Futures Team to support older youth in foster care and those transitioning out of foster care. As an agency, DFS is committed to strengthening the well-being of its diverse community by protecting and improving the lives of all children, adults, and families through assistance, partnership, advocacy, outreach, and quality services. To learn more about DFS and its Mission, Vision, and Values, please click here.

Under general direction of the FC&A Resource and Support Program Manager, performs tasks independently to protect children and build family resilience as articulated by local, state, and federal policies and laws. This position may be required to be on-call rotation that includes evening, overnight, weekend, and holiday hours which may require immediate response into the field. Must be able to travel out of the area by car or plane as needed.

In this job, you will be supported by a leadership team of caring people working together to keep children safe, build permanent connections, and foster resiliency. You will make an impact by:

• Providing direct clinical and administrative supervision to a team of social service specialists.
• Advising team members on policies, laws, and best practices related to child welfare practices, permanency planning, and life skills for older youth.
• Promoting strength-based, youth driven, family-friendly delivery of services to youth and families
• Supporting the identification of permanent, life-long connections for older youth, including recruitment of adoptive families and relative engagement
• Ensuring Casey Life Skills Assessments and Transition Living Plans are completed for youth in foster care
• Assisting specialists in assessing children and families and occasionally being called upon to testify in court
• Managing the unit resources, activity, and workload assignments for best results
• Ensuring administrative accountability and compliance of state and federal grants, such as Chafee/IL funds and Education and Training Vouchers
• Overseeing training and events for independent living, employment, and education
• Ensuring the completion of the NYTD surveys (National Youth in Transition Database)
• Ensuring the completion of credit checks and freezes for children and youth in foster care, per VDSS policy
• Ensuring deadlines for paperwork, payments, and court processes are met on a consistent basis
• Monitoring unit work activity and compliance with legal and contractual requirements using software applications and case records reviews
• Working with peer supervisors and program manager in defining programmatic goals, priorities, and objectives
• Establishing and maintaining working relationships with public and private providers of service in the community
• Serving as an expert related to permanency planning and life skills for older youth
• Performing other duties as assigned to ensure child safety and improve outcomes in families, including Child Protective Services

Grow your career with Fairfax County!
With more than 16,000 employees, Fairfax County is a diverse workforce offering employees stimulating and challenging opportunities across a broad scope of career opportunities. As a Fairfax County employee, you impact the well-being of our community every day.

This is an exciting time to join Fairfax County Government as we shape racial and social equity policies in the county through the One Fairfax Policy. Using this framework, we intentionally consider equity when making policies or delivering programs and services. To learn more, we highly encourage you to watch the Becoming One Fairfax—An Introduction to Key Concepts video and visit the One Fairfax webpage here.

Finally, click here to learn more about learn more about our Department of Family Services, meet our director and some of our practitioners, watch a short video to learn more about this position, read the top 5 reasons to come work with us, and check out the great benefits, including excellent paid leave, health plans, and retirement plans. In addition to the many County benefits, working with us gives you access to supervision towards becoming a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, our Child Welfare Institute onboarding academy, and practice guidance grounded in the Safe & Connected™ practice model.

All Fairfax County Government employees are expected to adhere to the Standards of Conduct. In maintaining a drug free workplace, employees are prohibited from manufacturing, distributing, possessing, using or being under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs while at work or on county premises.

Illustrative Duties

• Provides day-to-day guidance and direction to a group of social services specialists on case related issues, policies and procedures, and agency initiatives;
• Ensures acceptable levels of quality and quantity in the delivery of services;
• Plans caseloads, assigns cases and reviews case records and reviews and signs off on service plans, case assessments, and other reports which require supervisory review;
• Identifies crisis situations and provides intervention as needed to address difficult or dangerous client situations;
• Interviews job applicants and makes recommendations for hiring, prepares and conducts formal and informal performance evaluations, and handles performance and discipline issues in a timely manner and in accordance with County personnel policy;
• Reviews the work of individual social services specialist and provides feedback and instruction;
• Communicates performance expectations; monitors performance and outcomes of staff against the goals and objectives of the program;
• Approves and monitors expenditures for client services consistent with the program budget and client outcomes;
• Solicits concerns, issues and recommendations from staff regarding programmatic needs and systemic is sues;
• Evaluates the effectiveness of policies and procedures and recommends changes;
• Holds group and individual conferences with staff to discuss general policies and to interpret related rules, regulations or laws and to assess cases objectively based upon the significant risk factors and to monitor casework progress;
• Facilitates open communication between staff and senior management to achieve agency and unit goals;
• Plans for and facilitates social services specialists' professional growth and development. Provides staff development including training, mentoring, and encouragement for staff to improve professional skills in order to support access to human services;
• Develops and implements ongoing team training plan;
• Works with the community to identify families and children needing services and to coordinate these services;
• Communicates effectively with social services specialists and senior management regarding the needs of the agency, social services specialist, and clients;
• Participates in intra and interagency work groups, supervisors' meetings and special projects;
• Provides oversight for required data systems and uses data systems for management of day-to-day work;
• Prepares or oversees and presents narrative and statistical reports documenting the work of the unit and/or in relation to case activity;
• Promotes the attainment of agency and individual staff goals related to service access components (Automatic Call Distribution service levels, case objective outcomes, time studies, silent monitoring, and customer service surveys) through the ongoing monitoring of service requests and subsequent service delivery;
• Establishes and maintains ongoing collaborative relationships with public and private providers, community-based groups, and residents to coordinate and integrate services, improve access, and identify community needs and barriers to service delivery;
• Participates as a team member in the continuous improvement of the human services access process.

Required Knowledge Skills and Abilities

• Extensive knowledge of the principles, methods and problems of organization and management;
• Thorough knowledge of the principles and practices of social work and casework supervision;
• Thorough knowledge of current social service problems and methods/approaches to address them;
• Ability to accurately apply, interpret and administer regulations and guidelines relating to the assigned area of social service specialization;
• Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing;
• Ability to use automated technology;
• Ability to maintain professional ethics and confidentiality of client information;
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of individuals;
• Ability to plan and direct the activities of a group of social service professionals.

Employment Standards

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a bachelor’s degree; plus four years of increasingly responsible, directly-related professional experience in the social services or human services field. A master’s degree in a related field may be substituted for one year of required experience.

CERTIFICATES AND LICENSES REQUIRED:
Valid driver's license.

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
The appointee to this position will be required to complete a criminal background, a driving record check, a Child Protective Services check, and a credit check to the satisfaction of the employer.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master's degree in social work (MSW) or related field
• Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
• At least three (3) years of experience in foster care and adoption
• At least two (2) years of supervisory or team-lead experience

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
Work requires performing tasks with risks of secondary traumatic stress (STS). Ability to navigate through and make decisions in stressful and crisis situations. Sufficiently mobile to attend meetings and community events outside the office. Ability to travel out of the area by plane or car. Ability to lift and carry small children. Ability to lift up to 30 lbs. All duties performed with or without reasonable accommodations.

SELECTION PROCEDURE:
Panel interview and may include a practical exercise.

The population of Fairfax County is very diverse where 39.8% of residents speak a language other than English at home (Spanish, Asian/Pacific Islander, Indo-European, and others) and we are committed to providing county services to individuals regardless of English proficiency. Qualified candidates who are bilingual in English and another language are encouraged to apply for this job opportunity.

Fairfax County Government prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetics, political affiliation, or military status in the recruitment, selection, and hiring of its workforce.

Reasonable accommodations are available to persons with disabilities during application and/or interview processes per the Americans with Disabilities Act. Contact 703-324-4900 for assistance. TTY 703-222-7314. DHREmployment@fairfaxcounty.gov EEO/AA/TTY.

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