The Human Services Agency (HSA) of County of San Mateo is seeking qualified applicants for the position of Children's Services Social Worker III in the Children and Family Services (CFS) Branch.
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Exciting news! Candidates have the opportunity to receive a sign-on bonus of up to $15,000. First-time external new hires, or current staff promoted internally or from other County departments into a regular Children’s Services Social Worker III role within the Children and Family Services (CFS) branch of the Human Services Agency (HSA), may be eligible to receive a sign-on bonus of up to $15,000 (subject to discontinuation at any time). The sign-on bonus will be in 3 phases and will be prorated for part-time positions. Restrictions Apply.
The Position
The Human Services Agency (HSA) of County of San Mateo is seeking qualified applicants for the position of Children's Services Social Worker III in the Children and Family Services (CFS) Branch.
Working under general supervision, Children's Services Social Workers provide highly skilled, intensive casework services to children and their families. Provision of services to a difficult caseload requires exercising discretion and using judgment in assessing and working with the needs of children and families and providing casework consultation within CFS and to outside agencies.
This classification series is distinguished from the Social Worker classification series for having responsibility for children and family welfare service cases. It is further distinguished from the Psychiatric Social Worker Series in that the latter provides clinical counseling/therapy and requires a clinical license.
CFS is responsible for addressing child abuse and neglect on a 24/7 basis. As such, some assignments are required to work nights, weekends, and holidays. Additionally, this position is subject to on-call shifts. Some shifts may include a differential rate according to the AFSCME MOU.
As a field, child welfare work is challenging and stressful, but also extremely rewarding. Children’s Services Social Workers are exposed to children and families dealing with trauma from their experience with abuse and neglect, financial hardships, addiction to alcohol and other drugs, mental health issues, discrimination, and racism.
Working in public child welfare requires culturally responsive engagement with families who may lack trust in government agencies due to previous experiences of institutional racism and oppression. Outstanding organizational, time management and writing skills are critical to success as a child welfare worker as you support children and families and coordinate with the courts and service providers. While paperwork and other administrative functions of the job are demanding, it is your time with families that will have a lasting impact. Many children and families experience their social worker as the one person in their life who made a difference, sometimes altering or impacting the course of experienced generational or historical trauma.
New hires will be assigned to the New Worker Training Unit (NWTU) prior to any decisions being made regarding unit assignments. At that time, assignments will be made to any unit within CFS based on the agency’s needs. Traditionally, new workers are assigned to Emergency Response (ER), Court Investigations, or Family Maintenance & Reunification (FM/FR). New workers could also be placed in the Weekend and After-Hours units.
We are grateful to support the resiliency of children and partner with families and their relatives, communities, and Tribes who care greatly about them. If you are ready to commit to this great and challenging work, we welcome your interest in this field.
The ideal candidate will possess:
- Mastery of core Child Welfare Services competencies, including alignment with the national goals of promoting safety, permanency, and well-being when working with families.
- A master's degree from an accredited college or university in social work that includes an internship.
- Experience and/or knowledge of Integrated Core Practice Model (ICPM) behaviors.
- Experience and/or knowledge of Safety Organized Practice (SOP) tools.
- Experience with various techniques in interviewing, family engagement, and problem solving with families of diverse backgrounds.
- Experience with trauma-informed assessment and intervention.
- Value for addressing racial disparities and disproportionality within child welfare.
- The ability to successfully manage multiple competing priorities.
- The ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing.
- Preferably, the ability to speak Spanish; Spanish-speaking proficient candidates must pass the Spanish fluency examination and will receive compensation for their language skills.
Application/Examination
Open and Promotional. Anyone may apply. Current County of San Mateo and County of San Mateo Superior Court of California employees with at least six months (1040 hours) of continuous service in a classified regular, probationary, Confidential and Management extra-help/limited term , and SEIU or AFSCME represented extra help/limited term positions prior to the final filing date w ill receive five points added to their final passing score on this examination.
IMPORTANT: Applications for this position will only be accepted online. If you are currently on the County's website, you may click on the "Apply" button. If you are not on the County's website, please go to https://jobs.smcgov.org/ to apply. Online applications must be received by the Human Resources Department before midnight on the final filing date.
TENTATIVE RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE
Final Filing Date: Monday, March 25, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.
Screening: Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Combined Panel Interviews: Tuesday, April 9, 2024 and/or Wednesday, April 10, 2024