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 focus on connections and permanency for older youth in foster care? As a Social Services Specialist II, you will be a member of a team supporting youth in foster care and those transitioning out of foster care.

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 Permanency Support Specialist (Social Services Specialist II) to support the Foster Care and Adoption (FC&A) Resource and Support Program. This SSS II Specialist will work on 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 the direction of a Social Services Supervisor, the SSS II Specialist will performs tasks independently to protect children and build family resilience as articulated by local, state, and federal policies and laws. This position may require participation in an 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 position, 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:

• Participating collaboratively in the development and implementation of a permanency plan for each assigned youth. This may include family finding activities such as genograms, mobility mapping, and facilitation of family team meetings.
• Creating recruitment materials to assist in identifying permanency options and lifelong connections.
• Working collaboratively with youth, Social Services Specialists, and community partners to assess, develop and implement a plan to prepare older youth in foster care with life skills and work skills.
• Ensuring timely completion of Casey Life Skills Assessment, Transition Living Plans, and NYTD surveys;
• Supporting life skills training, attending Family Partnership Meetings and other youth driven meetings;
• Connecting youth to community resources, such as housing, educational, vocational and job readiness programs;
• Ensuring all financial requests meet the guidelines set forth by the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) for IL/Chaffee funds, ETV funds, and any other grant funding sources available;
• Processing all financial requests timely to ensure full reimbursement from state funds;
• Providing support to the Independent Living Coordinator in planning and facilitating workshops and programs to increase the life skills of youth in foster care; and
• Providing data to support the outcome measures of the team, including but not limited to assessments completed, attendance at workshops, and results-based accountability measures for the program.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Knowledge of child protection laws, rules, and regulations
• Knowledge of foster care and adoption laws, rules, and regulations
• Ability to interview, assess needs, counsel, and refer clients to other resource, as needed
• Ability to use creativity and innovation to serve a challenging population of clients in foster care
• Ability to use data to drive decision making
• A demonstrated passion for youth and young adults touched by the foster care system

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

(The illustrative duties listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list. A complete list of position duties and unique physical requirements can be found in the position job description.)
Conducts comprehensive clinical assessments and prepares and implements service plans;
Works with clients to develop a plan of service to meet social, health, emotional and economic needs. With the client, formulates objectives and identifies actions to resolve the clients' problems;
Advocates for and assists families and individuals in obtaining services (e.g., mental health, intellectual disability, alcohol and drug, housing referrals, financial assistance for basic needs, home based services, training and medical services);
Works with the community to identify families, children and individuals needing social services and coordinates these services using a wrap-around approach;
Represents the agency in court proceedings and prepares testimony and testifies in Juvenile, Circuit, Criminal, Civil and Federal Courts;
Interviews and counsels natural parents, adoptive parents, foster parents and children to be placed in foster homes or residential facilities and those involved in adoption placement;
Evaluates child's readiness for placement and recommends placement ensuring compliance with legal provisions;
Communicates and works with colleagues, clients and the community in a manner that supports the agency and program goals and objectives;
Participates as a contributing member on interagency, multi-disciplinary teams, community groups and professional organizations;
Conducts home visits to families for the purpose of monitoring, counseling and supervision;
Uses automated technology and hard copy files to maintain and update case data, notes,
documents, records, contacts and summaries of information. Maintains case notes, documents and records, enters and updates case load data, contacts and summaries of information;
Prepares and provides reports on casework;

Required Knowledge Skills and Abilities

(The knowledge, skills and abilities listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list.)
Knowledge of the principles and practices of social work;
Knowledge of current social service problems and methods/approaches to address issues;
Knowledge of regulations and guidelines relating to the assigned area of social service specialization;
Ability to analyze case information and to reach sound decisions on the basis of such information;
Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing;
Ability to use automated technology to establish and maintain case records;
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 schedule and manage workload sufficiently to meet deadlines.

Employment Standards

MINIMIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a bachelor's degree, plus two years of professional social work experience. A master's degree in a related field may be substituted for one year of the 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.

This position is considered essential personnel and will be required to report to work during times designated countywide as approved for unscheduled leave regardless of the emergency situation (i.e., weather, transportation, other disaster).

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master's degree in social work (MSW) or a related human services degree
• Individuals with lived experience in and with the child welfare system are encouraged to apply
• Experience in performing case management services in a child welfare setting (child protective services, foster care, adoption, family prevention, permanency planning, or domestic/sexual violence)

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 travel outside the office for client contact, court appearances, community events, and to conduct family assessments and investigations of allegations of child abuse and neglect. Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing. Ability to use automated technology. Must be able to operate a motor vehicle, and make use of personal vehicle. All duties performed with or without reasonable accommodations.

SELECTION PROCEDURE:
Panel interview, may include practical exercise.

BONUS ELIGIBILITY:
Positions within this classification that are general merit may be eligible for a one-time hiring incentive bonus for new county employees only. This bonus program requires a signed payback agreement between the department and employee.

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 encourage candidates bilingual in English and a foreign language to apply to this 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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