Job Description

Requisition No: 881384

Agency: Children and Families

Working Title: CHILD PROTECTIVE FIELD SUPPORT CONSULTAN - 60074168

Pay Plan: Career Service

Position Number: 60074168

Salary: AGENCY TO UPDATE

Posting Closing Date: 08/14/2026

Total Compensation Estimator Tool

Department of Children and Families

Central Region Programs Office

Field Support Consultant

CAREER SERVICE

Current employees will be compensated in accordance with the DCF salary policy.

How you will make an impact

Children in crisis need quick action from strong, compassionate individuals dedicated to ensuring their safety. We are seeking a highly motivated and energetic certified child protection specialist to work with the Child Protective Investigations/Family Safety program, Department of Children and Families.

If the typical 9-to-5 job is not for you, and you have a desire to help children and work with families in crisis, then consider a career with the Florida Department of Children and Families. We are looking for people who are detail oriented, possess good decision-making skills, and can thrive in a high-pressure, fast-paced environment. When all seconds count, your career decision may be the critical difference in the life of a child.

This is advanced professional work assessing and developing Child Protective Investigators (CPIs) to ensure possession of the appropriate level of professional competencies. This position will work in cooperation with CPI Supervisors, Program Administrators, and management in promoting the development of knowledge, skills, and their application for CPIs. Responsible mentoring and deeming staff proficient in Child Protective Investigations which includes extensive travel and work in the field. This position is also responsible for being a direct support to frontline staff of various levels to include assistance in pre-service and in-service trainings.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university
• 3-5 years relevant child welfare experience
• Valid Driver’s License
• Must possess operational private vehicle for use in the performance of daily work activities - Selected incumbent is required to provide proof of vehicle registration and documentation of the appropriate insurance coverage. The Department provides a Vehicle Insurance Allowance to assist with the cost of insurance coverage due to the use of private vehicle for work purposes.
• Current/active Child Welfare Certification
• 50% -75% Travel

EXAMPLES OF WORK

• Observe and document investigator casework activities in providing protective investigations, assessment of service needs, and referrals to service providers.
• Reviews casework, assessments, and safety plans with investigators, and provides consultation and direction to ensure appropriateness, clarity, quality, thoroughness, and proper documentation.
• Provides real-time support/guidance by scheduling field assessments (random and scheduled) during investigative activities conducted by CPIs to provide on-the-job training.
• Assist in providing guidance to investigators by coaching, motivating, modeling, and providing other mentoring initiatives.
• Coach and assist CPIs with documenting aspects of investigations (i.e., chronological entry of case summaries), in which support was provided to investigators, by updating the appropriate information systems.
• Observe, analyze, and evaluate individual CPI performance to determine their effectiveness and level of competency and provide recommendations to regional management regarding actions to improve performance.
• Serves as member of leadership team responsible for developing system-based solutions to CPI training and development issues or concerns.
• Based on field experience and observations provide recommendations to the Department’s Program Office on enhancements to both CPI pre-service and in-service training to ensure the development and maintenance of a comprehensive and relevant training curriculum.
• Serves as a subject matter expert in child protective investigations.
• Establishes and maintains cooperative working relationships with organizations and other agencies involved with child protective investigations such as community-based providers, Children’s Legal Services, law enforcement, medical personnel, schools, and other community/agency resources.

EXAMPLES OF JOB CHARACTERISTICS

Provide Consultation and Advice to Others: Providing consultation and expert advice to management or other groups on technical, systems-related, or process related topics.

Making Decisions and Solving Problems: Combining, evaluating, and reasoning with information and data to make decisions and solve problems. These processes involve making decisions about the relative importance of information and choosing the best solution.

Assisting and Caring for Others: Providing assistance or personal care to others.

Establishing and Maintaining Relationships: Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others.

Judging Qualities of Things, Services, And/or People: Making judgments about or assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.

Communicating With Persons Outside Organization: Communicating with persons outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged face-to-face, in writing, or via telephone/electronic transfer.

Getting Information Needed to Do the Job: Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

Documenting/Recording Information: Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in either written form or by electronic/magnetic recording.

Analyzing Data or Information: Identifying underlying principles, reasons, or facts by breaking down information or data into separate parts.

Monitor Processes, Material, Surroundings: Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, often to detect problems or to find out when things are finished.

Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events: Identifying information received by making estimates or categorizations, recognizing differences or similarities, or sensing changes in circumstances or events.

EXAMPLES OF KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react the way they do

Judgment and Decision Making: Weighing the relative costs and benefits of a potential action

Speaking: Talking to others to effectively convey information

Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people

Active Learning: Working with new material or information to grasp its implications

Problem Identification: Identifying the nature of problems

Identification of Key Causes: Identifying the things that must be changed to achieve a goal

Solution Appraisal: Observing and evaluating the outcomes of a problem solution to identify lessons learned or redirect efforts

Active Listening: Listening to what other people are saying and asking questions as appropriate

Learning Strategies: Using multiple approaches when learning or teaching new things

Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions

Management of Personnel Resources: Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job

Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions

Management of Personnel Resources: Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job

Therapy and Counseling: Knowledge of information and techniques needed to rehabilitate physical and mental ailments and to provide career guidance including alternative treatments, rehabilitation equipment and its proper use, and methods to evaluate treatment effects

Data Analysis: Knowledge of methods of compiling, organizing and analyzing data for the purpose of monitoring and evaluating

Psychology: Knowledge of human behavior and performance, mental processes, psychological research methods, and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders

Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services including needs assessment techniques, quality service standards, alternative delivery systems, and customer satisfaction evaluation techniques

Education and Training: Knowledge of instructional methods and training techniques including curriculum design principles, learning theory, group and individual teaching techniques, design of individual development plans, and test design principles

English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.
• 3-5 years of experience or familiarity with Child Protective investigations concepts, practices, and procedures
• Experience working with MS Excel, MS Word and MS PowerPoint at an advanced level.
• Strong analytical skills - ability to collect research and evaluate data to reach logical conclusions.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills, follow-through and demonstrated ability to multitask and meet deadlines.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in Coaching and Mentoring Child Protective Investigators

Candidate Profile (application) must be completed in its entirety.

• Include supervisor names and phone numbers for all periods of employment.
• Account for and explain any gaps in employment so that the hiring process is not delayed.
• Experience, education, training, knowledge, skills and/or abilities as well as responses to pre-qualifying questions must be verifiable to meet the minimum qualifications.
• It is unacceptable to use the statement “See Resume” in place of entering work history.
• If you experience problems applying online, please call the People First Service Center at (877) 562-7287.

Benefits of Working for the State of Florida:

Working for the State of Florida is more than a paycheck. The State’s total compensation package for employees features a highly competitive set of employee benefits.

For a more complete list of benefits, visit www.mybenefits.myflorida.com

Growth Opportunities:

With 12,000 employees across the state DCF promotes opportunities and training for all. Our jobs are among the most challenging, complex, and difficult in State government. They are also among the most rewarding. All employees are encouraged to take advantage of available Department opportunities for advancement and professional development.

Where you will work:

Florida is the only state that borders both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. In other words, no matter where you land in Florida, you’re never more than 60 miles from a body of saltwater. And if the beach isn’t your scene, there are 175 state parks to explore! Meanwhile, Floridians hail from a wide range of backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities, and walks of life, making it an incredibly diverse melting pot that many residents and visitors to Florida love. The Sunshine State is a great place to live and work – Come join our team!

About Department of Children and Families:

Mission: The mission of the Department of Children and Families is to work in partnership with local communities to protect the vulnerable, promote strong and economically self-sufficient families, and advance personal and family recovery and resiliency.

Vision: We are a highly skilled workforce committed to empowering people with complex and varied needs to achieve the best outcomes for themselves and their families. In collaboration with community stakeholders, we will deliver world class and continuously improving service focused on providing the people we serve with the level and quality that we would demand and expect for our own families.

Values: A workforce that operates with integrity maintains loyalty to a code of ethics that requires the courage to take responsibility for providing the highest quality of service to the vulnerable. We are a solutions-focused learning organization built on a foundation of transparency in action and accountability of results. Both within the organization and among our stakeholders, we thrive in a culture of respect for diversity of opinion that is nurtured through open communication. High performing and committed, we are unified in our goal of excellence in achieving quality outcomes for those we serve.

To learn more please visit https://www.myflfamilies.com/

• If you are a retiree of the Florida Retirement System (FRS), please check with the FRS on how your current benefits will be affected if you are re-employed with the State of Florida. Your current retirement benefits may be suspended or voided, and you will be required to repay all benefits received depending upon the date of your retirement.
• The position will perform all job tasks in accordance with laws, rules, regulations, policies, and requirements applicable to state and federal laws or procedures.

We hire only U.S. citizens and lawfully authorized alien workers.

Participation in the State of Florida Direct Deposit Program is required as a condition of employment per F.S. 110.113, and enrollment must be completed within the first 30 calendar days of your appointment.

SELECTIVE SERVICE: Male candidates born on or after October 1, 1962, will not be eligible for hire or promotion into an authorized position unless they are registered with the Selective Service System (SSS) before their 26th birthday or have a Letter of Registration Exemption from the SSS. Verification of Selective Service registration will be conducted prior to hire. For more information, please visit the SSS website: http://www.sss.gov

BACKGROUND SCREENING REQUIREMENT: It is the policy of the Florida Department of Children and Families that any applicant being considered for employment must successfully complete a State and National criminal history check as a condition of employment before beginning employment, and also be screened in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 435, F.S., and, if applicable, Chapter 408, F.S. No applicant may begin employment until the background screening results are received, reviewed for any disqualifying offenses, and approved by the Agency. Background screening shall include, but not be limited to, fingerprinting for State and Federal criminal records checks through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and may include local criminal history checks through local law enforcement agencies.

Candidates requiring a reasonable accommodation, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, must notify the agency hiring authority and/or People First Service Center (1-866-663-4735). Notification to the hiring authority must be made in advance to allow sufficient time to provide the accommodation.

The State of Florida supports a Drug-Free workplace. All employees are subject to reasonable suspicion drug testing in accordance with Section 112.0455, F.S., Drug-Free Workplace Act.

VETERANS’ PREFERENCE. Pursuant to Chapter 295, Florida Statutes, candidates eligible for Veterans’ Preference will receive preference in employment for Career Service vacancies and are encouraged to apply. Certain service members may be eligible to receive waivers for postsecondary educational requirements. Candidates claiming Veterans’ Preference must attach supporting documentation with each submission that includes character of service (for example, DD Form 214 Member Copy #4) along with any other documentation as required by Rule 55A-7, Florida Administrative Code. Veterans’ Preference documentation requirements are available by clicking here All documentation is due by the close of the vacancy announcement.