Social Services Supervisor

Job Announcement

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

Plans, manages, and facilitates the work of a team of Social Services Specialists in the child protective services (CPS) hotline/intake unit in the Department of Family Services. CPS Hotline unit receives report of child abuse and neglect by ways of telephone, email, fax, and police report. The CPS Hotline unit conducts initial assessment of child abuse and neglect reports and determine the validity, response time, and track assignment for reports of child abuse and neglect. If the report is validated, the CPS Hotline unit assigns the referral to CPS field specialists to conduct family assessment and/or family investigation. The CPS Hotline Supervisor is responsible for primary decision making of child protection practices and will perform duties below to ensure child safety and well-being:

• Supervises hotline specialists to include conducting unit meetings, ensuring work is performed in a timely and accurate manner and assigning duties as appropriate. Conducts performance appraisals and motivates employees to achieve peak productivity and performance; participates in the hiring and disciplinary processes.
• Evaluates the effectiveness of policies and procedures and recommends changes; communicates the mission of the unit; establishes and monitors the workflow of the unit and assigns cases and assessments.
• Conducts and participates in staffings and consultations with specialists; meets with each specialist in the unit per supervision protocol to discuss cases, problems, issues and to address specialist performance.
• Leads weekly unit meetings to discuss information; participates in the Department of Family Services, Children, Youth and Families Division meetings involving planning, decision making and management. Coordinates and facilitates staff training as needed.
• Ensures compliance with Federal, State and Fairfax County laws, outcome measures, rules and regulations.
• Reviews, edits and/or approves unit correspondence and reports.
• Serves as a liaison to community professionals, clients, other agencies, the courts, and the public; responds to complaints and concerns.
• Collects, reports and monitors team statistics, data, outcomes, and performance. Provides oversight for required data systems and uses data systems for management of day-to-day work.
• Be part of an on-call rotation that includes evening, overnight, weekend, and holiday hours which may require immediate response into the field
• Performs other duties as required.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Working knowledge of human services programs and protocol.
• Working knowledge of CPS intake and ongoing processes, procedures, and protocol.
• Ability to provide guidance, supervise and train others; ability to objectively review and appraise the performance and work of others.
• Working knowledge of child protection laws, rules, and regulations.
• Ability to understand, interpret and communicate policies and procedures to staff.
• Ability to assess situations and make prudent and appropriate decisions; ability to apply conflict resolution and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to communicate and work effectively with co-workers, clients, other agencies, and the public.
• Ability to efficiently plan, schedule and organize.
• Ability to use standard office equipment to include computer, fax machine, copier, and telephone.
• Maintain regular and punctual attendance.

To learn more about the Department of Family Services' Child Protective Services, please click here.

Schedule: The hours are 8:30 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. The position will be required to work during two (2) County observed Holidays when Fairfax County Public Schools are operational. Some evening or weekend work may be required.

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;

Extensive knowledge of regulations and guidelines relating to the assigned area of social service specialization;

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 the position must satisfactorily complete a criminal background check, a driving record check, and a Child Protective Services check.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master's degree in social work (MSW) or a related human services degree.
• Five years of professional social or human services work which primarily involved conducting abuse and neglect investigations to identify and respond to cases of child abuse/neglect
• One (1) year supervisory or leadership experience preferred.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing. Ability to use automated technology. Ability to concentrate and multi-task in a fast pace environment. Mobility to attend meetings at various county locations. Ability to perform duties in a position that is sedentary in nature. All duties may be performed with or without reasonable accommodations.

SELECTION PROCEDURE:
Panel interview, may include 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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