Job Description

SENIOR CHILD PROTECTIVE INVESTIGATOR

THIS INTERNAL REQUISITION WILL SERVE TO FILL SENIOR CHILD PROTECTIVE INVESTIGATOR POSITIONS IN BROWARD COUNTY

This is professional work protecting children, working with families and conducting investigations of alleged abused, abandoned, neglected or exploited children. This position will assume an individual contributor role and be a model of child protection practice to other Child Protective Investigators (CPIs).

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

Duties and Responsibilities

• Stands in as acting supervisor and completes all supervisory duties and activities when the unit supervisor is away from the office;
• Effectively conducts and completes case consultation with other investigators;
• Be an effective and active model and mentor for other the other investigators in the unit;
• Conducts investigations regarding allegations of abuse, neglect, abandonment and/or special conditions for children;
• Works closely with law enforcement;
• Collects information through observation and interviews with the children, parents, relatives, neighbors, and other parties associated with the case, as well as analysis of criminal, past service history and other records;
• Engages families to understand the family’s perspectives about family dynamics, challenges and solutions, identifies needs and determines the level of intervention needed to include voluntary services or court ordered dependency services;
• Assesses danger threats, child vulnerabilities and caregiver protective capacities in order to determine whether a child is safe or not safe;
• Develops with family and other persons as necessary any required present and/or impending danger plans based on analysis of danger threats in operation;
• Manages and modifies safety plans as necessary during the course of the investigation;
• Arranges emergency placement for any child that cannot safely remain in the home;
• Notifies state attorney, law enforcement, child protection team and other required individuals as appropriate;
• Provides written present and impending danger assessments;
• Completes Risk Assessment on families investigated and explains risk score to family;
• Conducts staffings required for families with risk scores that are High and Very High Risk;
• Presents safety plan and impending danger assessment at case management case transfer staffing and participates in discussion as to recommended follow-up actions;
• Provides families with services linkages to agency and community resources based on needs assessment and provides recommendations for development of case plan to Case Manager;
• Conducts initial/ongoing child present and impending danger assessments;
• Develops with the family a signed Present Danger Plan and a signed safety plan for any identified threats and interventions;
• Notifies state attorney, law enforcement, child protection team and other required individuals as appropriate;
• Schedules and gathers information for and participates in case staffing;
• Prepares appropriate reports/documentation in coordination with Children’s Legal Services and provides testimony in court;
• Maintains thorough documentation in the client records/appropriate information system(s) and maintains organized client files;
• Reports indication of abuse, neglect and/or abandonment to the Florida Abuse Hotline;
• Establishes and maintains cooperative and professional 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;
• Ensures effective communication with deaf or hard-of hearing customers or companions in accordance with the ADA and/or Section 504 and shall manage service records and report this data and any resources and/or training needs to their designated program point of contact.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Must possess current valid State of Florida driver's license
• A bachelor’s degree – (bachelor’s or master’s degree in social work from a college or university social work program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education is preferred)
• Minimum of 1 year of child protective investigative experience
• Current/Active Florida Child Protective Investigator Certification

EXAMPLES OF KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Ability to conduct fact finding interviews and take statements to secure accurate information.

• Ability to conduct field investigations to gather evidence.

• Ability to interact with individuals appropriately.

• Ability to analyze problems and to affect an appropriate course of action.

• 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.

• 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.

• Making judgments about or assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.

• Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

• Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in either written form or by electronic/magnetic recording.