CHILD WELFARE SPECIALIST 3 (ADOPTIONS) Print (https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/louisiana/jobs/newprint/4784890) Apply  CHILD WELFARE SPECIALIST 3 (ADOPTIONS) Salary $3,904.00 - $7,025.00 Monthly Location Lake Charles, LA Job Type Classified Job Number 204279/CALCWS3ADOPT010925KS Department DCFS-Department of Children and Family Services Opening Date 01/13/2025 Closing Date 1/18/2025 11:59 PM Central + Description + Benefits + Questions Supplemental Information Department MISSION DCFS is working to keep children safe, helping individuals and families become self-sufficient, and providing safe refuge during disasters. Department VISION We care for the well-being and safety of Louisiana's people. Department VALUES Treating all people with dignity, compassion and respect, while providing services with integrity. Department VALUES Treating all people with dignity, compassion and respect, while providing services with integrity This vacancy is located in the Calcasieu Parish Child Welfare Adoptions Unit. This position has a Special Entrance Rate (SER) of $ 24.35/hr. In accordance with La. R.S. 46:51.2 the department shall conduct a State Central Registry (SCR) check for a potential employee of the department to determine whether or not said individual's name appears on a SCR subsequent to December 31, 2009, and whose duties include: investigations of child abuse or neglect, supervisory or disciplinary authority over children, direct care to a child, or performance of licensing surveys. In accordance with state laws, selected candidates must pass the following checks before any final job offer will be made: Drug Test, Criminal Background, State Central Registry, and Louisiana State Police Sex Offender and Child Predator Registry. Must possess a valid driver's license. This position may be filled as a probational appointment or a job appointment that may last up to 48 months. Job appointments may convert to probational appointments. Also, it may be filled as a detail and promoted within 12 months. Youmust include all relevant education and experience on your official State application. Resumes cannot be submitted in lieu of completing an application. The duties that you describe in the Work Experience section of your application will be reviewed by State Civil Service as part of the process in determining if you meet the minimum qualifications for this job. Your experienceWILL NOTbe evaluated based on the job title alone. You must describe your actual duties. If you are a current employee of the State of Louisiana it is important that you indicate in the “Duties” section for each jobthe specific programs that you worked in to receive credit for that experience. List all prior employment. Work experience left off of your electronic application or only included in an attached resume will not be credited. Resumes WILL NOT be accepted in lieu of completed education and experience sections on your application. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applicants qualifying based on college training or receipt of a baccalaureate degree will be required to submit an official college transcript to verify credentials claimed prior to appointment. Please make every effort to attach a copy of your transcript to your application. The transcripts can be added as an attachment to your online application. The selected candidate will be required to submit original documentation upon hire. No Civil Service test score is required in order to be considered for this vacancy. To apply for this vacancy, click on the “Apply” link above and complete an electronic application, which can be used for this vacancy as well as future job opportunities. Applicants are responsible for checking the status of their application to determine where they are in the recruitment process. Further status message information is located under the Information section of the Current Job Opportunities page. DCFS is an "Equal Opportunity Employer" and Louisiana is a "State as a Model Employer for People with Disabilities" For additional information about this vacancy contact: Katherine.Siverand.DCFS@LA.GOV Minimum Qualifications MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Six years of experience in child welfare; OR Six years of full-time work experience in any field plus three years of experience in social services, health services, law enforcement, or investigatory work; OR A bachelor’s degree plus three years of experience in social services, health services, law enforcement, or investigatory work; OR An advanced degree in a social science or behavioral health field, nursing, or a juris doctorate plus two years of experience in social services, health services, law enforcement, or investigatory work. NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENT: Possession of a high school diploma or equivalent. A current driver's license and access to a personal vehicle. NOTE: The incumbent of this position must not have been convicted or pled nolo contendere to a crime listed in R.S. 15.587.1 (c). Job Concepts FUNCTION OF WORK: To provide advanced child welfare services for the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families as mandated by state and federal laws. LEVEL OF WORK: Advanced. SUPERVISION RECEIVED: Broad from a Child Welfare Supervisor or equivalent level supervisory position. SUPERVISION EXERCISED: Functional supervision may be provided to Child Welfare Specialists 1 or 2 on complex and sensitive investigations or cases. LOCATION OF WORK: Department of Children and Family Services. JOB DISTINCTIONS: Differs from Child Welfare Specialist 2 by presence of lead worker duties and/or regular assignment of advanced assignments. Differs from Child Welfare Supervisor by the absence of direct supervision over Child Welfare Specialists. Examples of Work EXAMPLES LISTED BELOW INCLUDE BRIEF SAMPLES OF COMMON DUTIES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS JOB TITLE. PLEASE NOTE THAT NOT ALL TASKS ARE INCLUDED. May perform the following duties based upon program assignment: FOSTER CARE Provides supportive counseling and other services for clients; arranges for the provision of services from community resources based on the case plan. Interviews and establishes working relationships with children and families. Participates in developing case plan goals/objectives with the family and formalizing it in conferences and agency staffing. Composes correspondence to compile social summaries and/or assessments. Prepares and submits appropriate reports and affidavits to the Court and/or District Attorney on cases, and testifies in court proceedings. Serves as the agency liaison to other social service, educational, or law enforcement agencies. May serve as the sole assistant supervisor of any child welfare unit by performing any of the following: accepting and/or assigning cases to workers, reviewing, and/or approving routine correspondence, compiling and reporting caseload statistics, serving as the child welfare representative on panels, and serving as the Child Welfare representative at public speaking events. May serve as lead worker by participating in the training of new Social Services Specialists and/or Counselors, modeling onsite visits with new workers, and providing technical assistance and case consultation. Prepares and submits material to the Regional Attorney for termination of parental rights, abandonment or voluntary surrender, when this action is determined to be in the best interests of the child. CHILD PROTECTION INVESTIGATION Obtains identifying information, determines if the report meets intake requirements, determines the current status of the child to evaluate the extent of any danger/risk, determines priority level of the report, and prepares complaint form to give to supervisor for assignment. Conducts investigations of allegations of abuse and/or neglect of children; manages routine or specialized investigations. Carries a caseload of complex cases in which abuse and/or neglect has been validated requiring highly specialized diagnosis, assessment, intervention techniques and complex service plans. Evaluates and provides those services required for the child's immediate safety during the investigative process and makes appropriate referrals to family services or community resources. Presents investigative findings to child death review, citizen review, and internal child fatality review panels. Prepares and submits appropriate affidavit reports to the Court and/or District Attorney, and testifies at court proceedings. May serve on 24-hour on-call duty to respond to child abuse/neglect reports. ADOPTION SERVICES Recruits adoptive homes for children who are legally available for adoption and do not have an adoptive resource. Completes assessment of children available for adoption and prepares children and families for adoptive placement. Completes comprehensive background history that is made available to children and adoptive families. Represents the agency in juvenile court proceedings by presenting service plans and progress reports on children in caseload. FAMILY SERVICES Carries a caseload of selected complex cases in which abuse, and/or neglect has been validated requiring highly specialized diagnosis, assessment, intervention techniques and complex service plans. Assesses service needs in response to identified problems and directly provides intensive intervention to families and children in a complex/specialized caseload. Conducts regular home visits with the family to assess safety and risk factors and to determine further treatment needs. FOSTER CARE Provides specialized child welfare services to a caseload of children placed in residential care for various reasons. Participates in developing case plans and objectives with the family in conferences and agency staffings, prepares cases for presentation to the multi-disciplinary team for consultation, and coordinates with other professionals regarding the needs of the child, family, and/or parent. Interviews and establishes working relationships with children and families and composes correspondence to compile social summaries and/or assessments. Prepares and submits appropriate reports and affidavits to the Court and/or District Attorney on cases in compliance with state laws and agency policy, and testifies in court proceedings. Continuously assesses safety of the child and service needs of the child(ren) and families through interviews, observations and other information sources. HOME DEVELOPMENT Prepares and conducts extensive orientation and training for potential foster and adoptive homes identified for a specific child and for relative placements. Acts as a leadworker and provides supervision as needed. Through written home studies, examines and evaluates information gathered about families, housing, and environment in relation to agency criteria and licensing regulation for certification of prospective adoptive and foster homes. Evaluates for annual recertification for foster and adoptive homes. Develops and implements a corrective action plan for any deficiencies. Maintains listing of all foster and adoptive homes in area and recommends resources to workers placing children. Louisiana State Government represents a wide variety of career options and offers an outstanding opportunity tomake a differencethrough public service. With an array of career opportunities in every major metropolitan center and in many rural areas, state employment provides an outstanding option to begin or continue your career. As a state employee, you will earn competitive pay, choose from a variety of benefits, and have access to a great professional development program: Insurance Coverage More information can be found at https://info.groupbenefits.org/ Parental Leave– Up to six weeks paid parental leave More information can be found athttps://www.civilservice.louisiana.gov/Parental-Leave/Default.aspx Holidays and Leave – State employees receive the following paid holidays each year: + New Year's Day + Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, + Mardi Gras, + Good Friday, + Memorial Day, + Independence Day, + Labor Day, + Veteran's Day, + Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. ***** Additional holidays may be proclaimed by the Governor State employees earn sick and annual leave which can be accumulated and saved for future use. Your accrual rate increases as your years of service increase. Retirement – State of Louisiana employees are eligible to participate in various retirement systems (based on the type of appointment and agency for which an employee works). These retirement systems provide retirement allowances and other benefits for state officers and employees and their beneficiaries. State retirement systems may include (but are not limited to): + Louisiana State Employees Retirement System (www.lasersonline.org). LASERS has provided this video (https://lasersonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Your\_Retirement\_System.mp4) to give you more detailed information about their system + Teacher's Retirement System of Louisiana (www.trsl.org), + Louisiana School Employees Retirement System (www.lsers.net), among others 01 Are you a current permanent DCFS employee? + Yes + No 02 Do you possess a valid Louisiana driver's license? + Yes + No 03 Do you possess a high school diploma or equivalent? + Yes + No Required Question Agency State of Louisiana Address For agency contact information, please refer to the supplemental information above. Louisiana State Civil Service, Louisiana, 70802 Phone (866) 783-5462 Website http://agency.governmentjobs.com/louisiana/default.cfm Apply Please verify your email addressVerify Email