Job Description

Posting number: 24-00018

Department: Health & Human Services

Division: Social Services

Job classification: Social Worker I

Posting type: Open

Categories: Social Services, Human Services

Summary

Level I: $2,045.07 - $2,254.69 Biweekly

Level II: $2,148.61 - $2,368.84 Biweekly

This is a Merit System Services position. To apply for this opportunity, refer to the MSS section under the MENU in the upper left corner and select Merit System Services or visit the website directly at https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/mss

Performs basic social services casework; identifies client needs for more intensive casework services and provides referrals; carries a caseload of moderately difficult cases; manages a caseload of increasingly difficult cases; and performs other related work as assigned.

Incumbents in the Social Worker I/II classification receive direct supervision from a Social Worker Supervisor, or other higher-level supervisor or manager.

Examples of duties

Essential job duties may include any of the following tasks, knowledge, skills and other characteristics. The list that follows is not intended as a comprehensive list; it is intended to provide a representative summary of the major duties and responsibilities. Incumbent(s) may not be required to perform all duties listed and may be required to perform additional, position-specific tasks. (Note: For Social Worker I, duties are performed at the entry/trainee level.)

• Conducts interviews with clients, family members, and others in their home, in the office, or via telephone to assess the basic social, physical, and mental needs of clients and obtain health information in order to identify and provide social services.
• Performs case studies and evaluates individual and family case information to assess the safety of children and adults; determines appropriate types and methods of treatment.
• Assesses reports of suspected abuse; may be required to work on-call; may provide information to law enforcement or district attorneys.
• Develops and carries out culturally sensitive non-complex to moderate treatment plans for an assigned caseload in conformance with agency, state and federal requirements; assists clients and family members to develop strategies to accomplish case plan goals.
• Refers clients to other staff members, or to community resources for direct and intensive services and specialized counseling as necessary; advocates on the clients' behalf for most appropriate services including enabling services.
• Assists applicants and recipients in utilizing available resources.
• Interprets policies, rules, and regulations of the agency to applicants, clients and others within the scope of their responsibility.
• Makes home visits in connection with casework assignments.
• Prepares and maintains case records and databases; communicates decisions, timelines, recommendations and case plans to clients, families and service providers.
• May testify in court.
• May be assigned to specialized functions.
• Participates in in-service training and other staff development activities to increase knowledge of the social work processes and achieve technical competence.
• Receives casework consultation from professionally trained staff members.
• Provides community outreach for various agency programs.
• Maintains client confidentiality; performs all duties in conformance with the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics.
• Performs related duties as assigned

Qualifications

This is a Merit System Services position. To view current qualifications, visit the MSS website directly at https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/mss

Social Worker I:

Pattern 1: Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university;

OR

Pattern 2: Successful completion of thirty (30) college semester units or forty-five (45) quarter units from an accredited college or university, including fifteen (15) semester units or twenty-two and a half (22.5) quarter units in social welfare, social/human services, sociology, or other social or behavioral science*;

AND

One (1) year of full-time experience in the Social Service Aide, Eligibility Specialist II, Employment and Training Worker II or comparable classification; OR Three (3) years of full-time experience providing direct client services to disadvantaged adults or children in a private or public agency.

Social Worker II:

Pattern 1: One (1) year of full-time experience performing entry level social work case management in the Social Worker I classification in an Interagency Merit System (IMS) county;

OR

Pattern 2: One (1) year of full-time social work case management experience**; AND thirty (30) college semester units or forty-five (45) quarter units from an accredited college or university, including fifteen (15) semester units or twenty-two and a half (22.5) quarter units in social welfare, social/human services, sociology, or other social or behavioral science*;

*Examples of acceptable social or behavioral science courses include: anthropology, criminal justice, education, ethnic studies, history, human development, human services, law, nursing, nutrition, psychology, public health, social welfare, sociology, welfare, women's studies.

**Qualifying social work case management includes direct case work management, such as: assessment, evaluation; conducting investigations of abuse and neglect; preparing court reports; responsibility for a long term caseload, monitoring compliance through home calls and other personal contact; collaboration with other agencies and linking clients to resources and programs; development of a case plan, modification of case plans as needed/required; and authority to impose sanctions or implement actions that impact services.

Supplemental information

Knowledge of:

• Principles and practices of organization, workload management and time management.
• Principles and practices of note taking, report writing, English composition, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
• 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.
• Role and responsibilities of social workers.
• Principles of interviewing and problem-solving methodology.
• Basic public welfare programs on the Federal, State, and local level.
• General principles of public assistance policies and programs.
• Developing and preparing court report, case plans, case narratives and safety plans in automated computer systems.
• Entering and retrieving data and narratives from automated computer systems.
• Basic 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 of a social worker.
• Community organization and the social problems calling for the use of public and private community resources.
• Basic principles involved in the nature, growth, and development of personality and in-group processes.
• The medical, legal, economic, and social management needs of individuals and families with special medical needs such as HIV disease, drug dependency, the medically fragile child, Alzheimer's, and the terminally ill.
• The strategies and protocols surrounding crisis intervention techniques such as voice modulation and assessing the potential for suicide.
• Basic psychopathology, the different types of mental illness diagnoses, how mental illness affects human behavior and mental health services and treatments utilized by clients.

Ability to:

• Understand and learn the agency programs, policies, and procedures.
• Obtain facts and recognize the relevance and significance.
• Organize and maintain work detail.
• Establish and maintain effective client rapport and professional working relationships with agency staff, clients, and others.
• Communicate effectively, both orally (phone and in person) and in writing.
• Analyze situations and adopt effective courses of action.
• Interpret and explain to the applicant, recipient, or others public social service programs, policies, rules, and regulations.
• Develop skill 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.
• Work effectively in emotionally charged or stressful settings/emergencies.
• Operate a personal computer and other office equipment and software.
• Analyze data, interpret and apply directions, rules, policies, procedures and regulations, and develop appropriate responses.
• Accept and use constructive feedback.
• Interact professionally and respectfully with clients including difficult, hostile, or distressed clients.
• Respect cultural differences.
• Work with cases varying in difficulty /clients including clients with dual diagnoses, potentially dangerous clients or legally complex cases.
• Analyze data from multiple sources, interpret and apply complex directions, rules, policies, procedures and regulations, and develop appropriate responses.