Job Description
The Social Service Worker 2-Licensing and Facilitation Caseworker is responsible for conducting comprehensive foster-adopt home assessments, including home visits, interviews, documentation, and certification recommendations, while maintaining compliance with state systems and standards. The position coordinates child placements, supports foster parent recruitment, training, and public outreach, and collaborates closely with caseworkers, supervisors, and community partners. Additional duties include participating in on-call coverage, assisting with overflow child welfare cases involving assessments and investigations, crisis intervention, and service linkage to ensure child safety and stability.
Duties
30% Conduct foster-adopt home assessments, comprised of home visits, interviews & extensive consultations with all family members; observe family interactions and assess overall level of functioning; recommend certification/approval or denial of certification/approval based upon home study findings. Maintain case records & supporting documentation (eg., police reports, references, safety audits & home study reports). Enters completed home studies into SACWIS and documentation into the electronic data management system. Provides assistance with kinship assessments and home studies to determine eligibility for the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program (KGAP). Seeks and maintains Ohio Assessor qualifications.
30% Conducts placement searches and coordination with agency foster homes/networks, group homes, and residential centers for the care of children in agency custody. Communicates regularly with the primary caseworker and supervisor on the coordination of a child’s placement.
30% Plan, implement & evaluate foster parent recruitment activities (eg., identify needs, respond to and/or investigate inquiries, conduct home visits). Increase public awareness (eg., develop and evaluate recruitment materials, advertisements, fliers, inquiry packets and public presentations). Assists with the planning & implementation of foster parent orientation and on-going training; develop facilitate group orientation classes; coordinate annual foster parent training; develop and implement individualized training for foster parents.
10% Participate in ongoing training, supervisory/staff meetings, staff consultations and other related management support tasks. Participates in weekend and night coverage on a rotating basis. Assists with overflow case assignments by assessing the validity of complaints accepted according to Department of Children and Youth (DCY) rules and agency policy of abuse, neglect, and dependency by conducting interviews of adults and children at various locations, completing assessments in the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS), gathering evidence, and working with community partners and/or collateral sources. Provides interventions to alleviate crisis and reduce risks to children by engaging the family, community partners and referring for service linkage. When assigned two or more overflow cases from the area of Intake, Ongoing, and/or Adoption, SSWII’s will receive a temporary 5% increase during the duration of working high risk cases. Upon completion of those cases or when only assigned one overflow case, the worker will return to their original base rate of pay. Perform other duties as assigned.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications
FOR CHILDREN SERVICES CASEWORKER POSITIONS
Per Section 5153.112 of the Ohio Revised Code, applicants of a Public Children
Services unit must have one of the following:
1. A bachelor’s degree in human services-related studies, or
2. A bachelor’s degree in any field and have been employed for at least two
years in a human services occupation, or
3. An associate’s degree in human services-related studies, or
4. Been employed for at least five years in a human service-related occupation.
For employment to continue, a person described in Option 2, 3, or 4 above must
obtain a job-related bachelor’s degree not later than five years after the date
employment with the agency commences.
NOTE: All liability and responsibility for determining “human services-related
studies” or “human services-related occupation” rests with the employing agency.
Per Section 5153.122 of the Ohio Revised Code, each caseworker shall complete at
least ninety hours of in-service training during the first year of the caseworker’s
continuous employment, consisting of courses in recognizing and preventing child
abuse and neglect, assessing risks, interviewing persons, investigating cases,
intervening, providing services to children and their families, and other topics
relevant to child abuse and neglect. After the first year of continuous employment,
each caseworker annually shall complete thirty-six hours of training in areas relevant
to the caseworker’s assigned duties.
In addition, applicant must have valid driver’s license.
Supplemental Information
Unusual Working Conditions/Hazards
The position possesses responsibility for the safety of children or adults by requiring the
incumbent to make determinations as to whether these children or adults are in an "imminent
risk of harm.” These children and adults are incapable of protecting themselves from physical,
mental, and/or sexual abuse. Injuries, if they do occur are likely to involve temporary disabilities
such as bruises or cuts. Serious mistakes in terms of failing to remove children or adults from
homes could conceivably, although extremely infrequent, cause death (e.g., suicide) or a
permanent disability. Additionally, the position involves performing duties which require taking
some special safety precautions, such as when contacting and negotiating with a family
suspected of child abuse or neglect. However, performing this duty does not require the use of
protective clothing. Exposure to these situations is likely to result in threats of injury, which are
rarely acted upon. However, the position involves regular exposure to environmental factors
(e.g., cold, excessive heat, noise, fumes, vibration, dirt) during interviews and meetings
conducted outside of the office. The position may involve lifting or carrying children, and
exposure to contagious diseases.
