Intake Caseworker

Duties

• Provides services to families by maintaining a caseload of abuse, neglect, and dependency cases.
• Works to assess the validity of complaints accepted according to the Department of Children and Youth (DCY) rules and agency policy of abuse, neglect, and dependency by conducting interviews of adults and children at various locations, completing assessments in the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS), gathering evidence, and working with community partners and/or collateral sources.
• Provides interventions to alleviate crises and reduce risks to children by engaging the family, community partners and referring for service linkage.
• Identifies family strengths and needs for decision making and family case plan development; determines alternative treatment plans as necessary; provides crisis intervention case management as established by DCY Rule and Agency Policy, for all out-of-home caregivers.
• Attends/testifies at court hearings; attends and actively participates in administrative case reviews; performs planned and unplanned emergency removals and emergency placements; supervises visits with parents and transports children/adults.
• Is responsible for handling difficult and emergency cases and/or situations, during and after work hours, and makes referrals within Protective Services or to community partners for additional services to support the family.

Qualifications

• Minimum Qualifications: Per Section 5153.112 of the Ohio Revised Code, applicants of a Public Children Services unit must have one of the Following:
  • A bachelor’s degree in human services-related studies, or
  • A bachelor’s degree in any field and have been employed for at least two years in a human services occupation.
• Per Section 5153.122 of the Ohio Revised Code, each caseworker shall complete at least ninety hours of in-service training during the first year of the caseworker’s continuous employment, consisting of courses in recognizing and preventing child abuse and neglect, assessing risks, interviewing persons, investigating cases, intervening, providing services to children and their families, and other topics relevant to child abuse and neglect.
• After the first year of continuous employment, each caseworker annually shall complete thirty-six hours of training in areas relevant to the caseworker’s assigned duties.
• In addition, applicant must have valid driver’s license.