The Human Services Agency (HSA) of County of San Mateo is seeking qualified applicants for the position of Children's Services Social Worker III in the Children and Family Services (CFS) Branch.

Children's Services Social Workers work under general supervision and provide highly skilled, intensive casework services to children and their families. Provision of services to a difficult caseload requires exercising discretion and using judgment in assessing and working with the needs of children and families and providing casework consultation within CFS and to outside agencies. This classification series is distinguished from the Social Worker classification series for having responsibility for children and family welfare service cases. It is further distinguished from the Psychiatric Social Worker Series in that the latter provides clinical counseling/therapy and requires a clinical license. CFS is responsible for addressing child abuse and neglect on a 24/7 basis. As such, some assignments are required to work nights, weekends, and holidays. Additionally, this position is subject to on-call shifts. Some shifts may include a differential rate according to the AFSME MOU (link (Download PDF reader)).

As a field, child welfare work is challenging and stressful, but also extremely rewarding. Children’s Services Social Workers are exposed to children and families dealing with trauma from their experience with abuse and neglect, financial hardships, addiction to alcohol and other drugs, mental health issues, discrimination and racism. Working in child welfare requires culturally responsive engagement with families who may not trust our agency, due to previous interactions with government, institutional racism and oppression. Outstanding organizational, time management and writing skills are absolutely critical to your success as a child welfare worker as you support children and families while coordinating with the courts and service providers. While you will spend much of your time doing paperwork, it is your time with families that will have a lasting impact. Many children and families experience their social worker as the one person in their life who made a difference, sometimes altering or impacting the course of generational or historical trauma experienced. We are grateful to support the resiliency of children and partner with families and their relatives, communities, and Tribes who care greatly about them. If you are ready to commit to this great and challenging work we welcome your interest in this field.

New hires will be assigned to the New Worker Training Unit (NWTU) prior to any decisions being made regarding unit assignments. At that time, assignments will be made to any unit within CFS based on the agency’s needs. Traditionally, new workers are assigned to Emergency Response (ER), Court Investigations, or Family Maintenance & Reunification (FM/FR). New workers could also be placed in the Weekend and After Hours units.

The ideal candidate will possess:

• 
  Mastery of core Child Welfare Services competencies, including alignment with the national goals of promoting safety, permanency, and well-being when working with families.
• Master's degree from an accredited college or university in social work that includes an internship.
• Experience and/or knowledge of Integrated Core Practice Model (ICPM) behaviors (link (Download PDF reader)).
• Experience and/or knowledge of Safety Organized Practive (SOP) tools (link)
• Experience with various techniques in interviewing, family engagement, and problem solving with families of diverse backgrounds.
• Experience with trauma informed assessment and intervention.
• Value for addressing racial disparities and disproportionality within child welfare.
• The ability to successfully manage multiple competing priorities.
• The ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing.
• Preferably, the ability to speak Spanish; Spanish-speaking proficient candidates must pass the Spanish fluency examination.

Duties include, but are not limited to, the following:

• 
  Work with cases of child neglect and abuse, providing non-clinical counseling, support to children exhibiting emotional or behavioral problems.
• Investigate reports of abuse or neglect and provides protective services to children where their physical or emotional welfare is involved, including 24-hour emergency response on a scheduled, rotating, or emergency basis that may include nights, graveyard and weekends.
• Interview clients and evaluate problems presented.
• Interpret the rules, regulations and policies of the department to clients and applicants.
• Develop and implement social treatment plans for an assigned caseload; ensure all services are delivered in a respectful culturally sensitive and appropriate manner and in conformance with agency, state, and federal requirements; assist clients and family members to develop strategies to accomplish case plan goals.
• Provide intensive, highly skilled casework services with clients and their relatives.
• Utilize social work skills and techniques to attempt to motivate individuals and families toward self-support, self-care, and to improve social functioning.
• Carry a caseload of more difficult types of social services cases requiring a high degree of technical competence, and use of judgment and discretion, such as situations where environmental forces affect family life.
• Conduct home visits in connection with casework assignments.
• Assist in the development of community resources when necessary to carry out treatment plans.
• Interpret programs and consult with individuals and various community groups to provide a better understanding of social aspects of environmental, emotional and physical problems and appropriate methods of alleviating them.
• Consult and cooperate with other divisions of the department and with community agencies and groups in carrying out treatment plans.
• Prepare social histories with emphasis upon psycho-social factors affecting clients.
• Prepare and maintain case records, reports, relevant correspondence and databases, communicates decisions, timelines, recommendations and case plans to clients, families, and service providers.
• May be required to testify in court.
• Participate in in-service training and other staff development activities to increase knowledge of the social work processes and achieve technical competence.
• At the III level, may as act as lead.
• Assist in the development of training for other staff.
• Maintain client confidentiality and perform all duties in conformance with the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) code of ethics.
• Perform related duties as assigned.

Knowledge of:

• Theories of human behavior and their practical applications.
• Psycho-social, medical, and economic interrelationships that result in individual and social abnormalities.
• Philosophy and function of social work systems.
• Appropriate utilization of a variety of social resources.
• Laws, rules and regulations governing the operation of social work agencies, specifically those relating to children and family services.
• Principles and practices or organization, workload management, and time management.
• Phone etiquette and interview techniques.
• Socio-economic conditions and trends.
• Basic principles of individual and group behavior.
• Current issues in the field of social welfare.
• Principles and techniques of interviewing and recording of social casework.
• Laws, rules, and regulations governing the operation of the public welfare agency and the role and responsibilities of a social worker.
• Signs, stages, and dynamics of abuse, and the effects of abuse on child/adult development and behavior.
• Signs and symptoms of alcohol and drug use/abuse in adults and children and the effects on families.
• Standards for maintaining clients safely in home; options for placement; effects of removing clients from unsafe conditions.

• Formulate, develop and implement treatment plans.
• Work effectively with persons differing in value systems, ethnicity, cultural backgrounds and psychopathologies.
• Work with a variety of social resources to plan and coordinate services to individual clients.
• Act as a consultant and trainer to other social service staff.
• Prepare clear and concise reports.
• Communicate effectively with others in writing, in person, and over the telephone.
• Analyze data, interpret directions, procedures and regulations, and develop appropriate responses.
• Prepare complex case records, detailed and legally sound court reports and related Agency and program reports within designated time frames.
• Perform job duties under stressful conditions.
• Respond appropriately to situations.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with agency staff, clients, and outside organizations.
• Apply the principles of psychology and family relationships to engage individuals and families in social services.
• Recognize the signs of abuse for children and non-minor dependent adults; assess risk factors and potential danger to clients.
• Interpret and explain to applicants, recipients, or others public social services programs, policies, rules and regulations.
• Demonstrate skills in interviewing, case recording, and interpretation.
• Work within a community setting and effectively use appropriate resources and services.
• Maintain confidentiality in accordance with legal standards and/or county regulations.
• Operate a personal computer and other office equipment and enter data accurately and timely on-line into one or more computer systems; utilize and understand various computer software programs.
• Interact professionally and respectfully with clients including difficult, hostile, or distressed clients.
• Analyze data from multiple sources, interpret and apply complex directions, rules, policies, procedures, and regulations, and develop appropriate responses.
• Utilize social work methods and evaluation; crisis intervention and social work skills; communicate with, and relate to a varied client group; work constructively within an agency and community setting; effectively use consultative supervision resources and services; control personal bias and apply social work ethics, keep records and prepare records.
• Comply with and implement specific court orders related to the presentation and disposition of cases, which may include detailed research, notification of missing parents and transporting minors out of state.
• Exercise discretion and judgment in the performance of duties.
• Attend regularly scheduled meetings and as directed.
• Follow a regular and agreed-to work schedule and limit work schedule modifications to a minimum and for emergency cases only.
• Work over 40 hours per week, if needed.
• Work on-call, and regularly scheduled shifts, when assigned. This may include nights, weekends, and graveyards.
• Work under pressure, exercise good judgment and common sense while making sound decisions in emergency situations.
• Function under stress.

Other Requirements
Reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate individuals that qualify under the Americans with Disabilities Act or the California Fair Employment and Housing Act in meeting the below requirements.

• Climb stairs, stand, walk, run, bend, twist and/or kneel in the course of making visits to client homes, lifting and transporting children and their possessions.
• Sit, drive, and travel for long periods of time to transport children to placement location and to maintain required visits.
• Drive safely and/or travel by other means such as by bus, train and airplane in order to perform job duties such as conducting home visits and transporting children, sometimes in remote locations and over long distances.
• Hear and smell sufficiently to detect sounds and odors within a home.
• Read lengthy documents, identify and distinguish between colors of a bruise or wound and visually appraise living conditions of a home.
• Speak and hear well enough to communicate clearly in person or on the telephone.
• Sufficiently operate office equipment such as a computer keyboard or to take field notes.
• Make home visits to clients' residences which may be unsanitary or unsafe, risking exposure to sick, disabled, hostile, uncooperative, or mentally unstable clients/relatives.
• Ability to lift up to 50 lbs. when transporting and securing children to car seats.

Licensure/Certification:

California class C driver license or equivalent.

Education:

Completion of a Master's degree in Social Work from an accredited college or university that includes an internship.

Substitution: A Master's degree from an accredited college or university in a Counseling program emphasizing Marriage, Family and Child Counseling or Marriage and Family Therapy that included an internship or supervised field work, AND completion of one (1) year of qualifying case management/work experience that included responsibility for a long term caseload, development of service/treatment plans; monitoring compliance through home calls, field calls and other personal contact; modification of treatment plans as needed/required; and authority to impose/recommend sanctions for non-compliance, impacting benefits or services (i.e. case closures, terminate benefits and or program participation).

Experience:

III Level: Two years of experience performing duties comparable to those of a II Level Children's Services Social Worker

Open and Promotional. Anyone may apply. Current County of San Mateo and County of San Mateo Superior Court of California employees with at least six months (1040 hours) of continuous service in a classified regular, probationary, Confidential and Management extra-help/limited term, and SEIU or AFSCME represented extra help/limited term positions prior to the final filing date will receive five points added to their final passing score on this examination.

A supplemental application form must be submitted in addition to our regular employment application form. Based solely on the information provided in the application materials, an application screening committee will select those applicants whose education, training and experience most closely matches the needs of the department. Those selected will be invited to a panel interview (weight: 100%) which may include the evaluation of a written or performance exercise given immediately preceding the interview. Selected applicants will be notified of the date, time and place of the tests.

IMPORTANT: Applications for this position will only be accepted online. If you are currently on the County's website, you may click on the "Apply" button. If you are not on the County's website, please go to https://jobs.smcgov.org/ to apply. Online applications must be received by the Human Resources Department before midnight on the final filing date.

TENTATIVE RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE
Final Filing Date: Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. PST
Screening: Monday, April 17, 2023
Combined Panel Interviews: Wednesday, May 3, 2023

The County of San Mateo may require that all employees provide proof of COVID-19 vaccine. Employees hired into specified health care facilities and other high-risk settings where there is potential for frequent COVID-19 exposure to staff and highly vulnerable patients are required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination. For more specific information, please refer to the County's COVID-19 Vaccine and Testing Policy.

San Mateo County is centrally located between San Francisco, San Jose, and the East Bay. With over 750,000 residents, San Mateo is one of the largest and most diverse counties in California and serves a multitude of culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse communities. The County of San Mateo is committed to advancing equity in order to ensure that all employees are welcomed in a safe and inclusive environment. The County seeks to hire, support, and retain employees who reflect our diverse community. We encourage applicants with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply. Eighty percent of employees surveyed stated that they would recommend the County as a great place to work. The County of San Mateo is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion at all levels.

Analyst: Arlene Cahill (03232023) (Children's Services Social Worker III-G092)