Senior Family Service Specialist/Master Family Service Specialist

About the role

The Family Service Specialist series consists of the Family Service Specialist, Senior Family Service Specialist, Master Family Service Specialist, and Family Crisis Therapist classifications. Incumbents in these roles directly provide and coordinate professional case management services to children, youth, adults, and families experiencing abuse, neglect, dependency, behavioral concerns, crisis situations, or family dysfunction. An incumbent in this class conducts assessments, and provides planning, facilitation, advocacy, monitoring, and evaluation which is achieved through collaboration with the client and other professionals. The incumbent is responsible for conducting child abuse investigations and/or providing ongoing case management services, which may include foster care and other permanency planning.

Responsibilities

• Provides services to advocate for health, safety and welfare or rights of clients and their families and assists them in obtaining needed services.
• Interviews clients and family members and/or professionals to gather personal, social and background information; works closely with the client and family to formulate a clear description of the client and family’s problems; identify the key forces which maintain the problems; discover resources and strengths available to the client and family to resolve the problems; and identify the blocks, if any, that prevent the client and family from resolving the problems without the intervention of the State agency.
• Determines eligibility for various social service programs offered by the agency or available in the community.
• In collaboration with the client and family, develops and implements service/treatment plans, outlining the goals and objectives to be accomplished, methods and techniques to be used, and anticipated results; assists the client and family in obtaining community, social and/or therapeutic services and resources needed to accomplish plans and objectives.
• Conducts individual and family counseling sessions with clients and members of the family to aid in achieving satisfactory social development and adjustment to specific problems and situations.
• Affirms progress toward goals and makes recommendations on plans such as reclassification, discharge, aftercare, emergency protective placement in emergency or crisis situations, guardianship, petitions or options counseling.
• Prepares social histories, client progress reports, evaluation and discharge summaries, court reports or petitions; prepares and maintains a variety of records and files pertaining to clients assigned to caseload.
• Enforces court orders and conditions of community supervision as required. Attends court hearings and other judicial proceedings to answer questions, make recommendations and present progress reports regarding clients.
• May be called upon to intervene in crisis situations such as potential suicides, assault and battery against clients, and sexual abuse cases. May coordinate with law enforcement and other emergency staff if needed. May be required to isolate and/or physically restrain clients who are acting out.
• May be required to perform emergency duty which requires being on call for an assigned time period.

Qualifications

• Education, training and/or experience demonstrating competence in each of the following areas:
• Two years' experience in professional health or human service work.
• Possession of an Associate's degree AND one year of experience in professional health or human service work.
• Possession of a Bachelor's degree or higher.
• Six months' experience in health or human services focusing on the safety and welfare of families such as identifying issues, barriers and goals; determining eligibility for and availability of community resources; assisting clients and their families in obtaining needed services; family conflict and crisis resolution and assessing progress towards goals.
• One year of experience in case management such as assessing, planning, developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating options and services to meet an individual's human service needs.

Benefits

• Various Shifts Listed below in Additional Posting Information Section.
• Actual Vacancies.
• Regular Employment Term.
• Statewide: (Multiple, Positions, Available Statewide).

Pay

• Yearly: SFF - $49,913.00/MSFF - $56,649.00
• Pay Grade: 11 13
• Shift Hours: Various Shifts Listed below in Additional Posting Information Section

Schedule

• Various Shifts Listed below in Additional Posting Information Section

Additional Posting Information

• New Castle County: DSCYF Churchman (92 Christiana Rd, New Castle, De, 19720)
• Barratt Building: 821 Silver Lake Boulevard, Dover, DE, 19901
• Robbins Building: 802 Silver Lake Boulevard, Dover, DE, 19904
• Adams State Service Ctr: 546 S Bedford St, Georgetown, DE 19947
• Pyle State Service Center: 34314 Pyle Center Rd, Frankford, DE 19945
• Shipley State Service Center: 350 Virginia Ave, Seaford, DE 19963
• Milford Riverwalk Center: 253 NE Front Street, Milford, DE 19963
• Kent/Sussex County: Barratt Building: 821 Silver Lake Boulevard, Dover, DE, 19901
• Robbins Building: 802 Silver Lake Boulevard, Dover, DE, 19904
• Adams State Service Ctr: 546 S Bedford St, Georgetown, DE 19947
• Pyle State Service Center: 34314 Pyle Center Rd, Frankford, DE 19945
• Shipley State Service Center: 350 Virginia Ave, Seaford, DE 19963
• Milford Riverwalk Center: 253 NE Front Street, Milford, DE 19963