Family Safety Practitioner II -Adult Protective Services

• Conducts investigations in response to reports of abuse, neglect, and/or exploitation involving older adults and incapacitated adults in their own homes, community, and facility settings.
• May coordinate contracts related work to perform APS services with the assistance of the Supervisor and Program Manager and manage a county credit card for emergency expenditures. The contract work may be related to Home Base Care services.
• Assesses the need and extent of protective services required and in collaboration with the client, their support systems, and other public and private service providers, arranges for the necessary services to prevent/ameliorate the abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
• Responds to emergency cases to stabilize the situation.
• Attends court hearings and provides professional testimony.
• Coordinates the daily activities of team to include staff supervision support.
• Provides limited oversight of administrative functions/requirements associated with quality assurance and evaluation of the program for its impact/effectiveness and making recommendations for changes or improvements.
• Serves as a consultant, trainer, and policy expert for division social workers and staff from other agencies.
• Serves as a resource and member of interdisciplinary teams and work groups.
• Makes public presentations to promote community awareness of services available to prevent and address abuse, neglect, and /or exploitation.

• Conducts comprehensive clinical assessments and prepares and implements service plans;
• Works with clients to develop a plan of service to meet social, health, emotional and economic needs. With the client, formulates objectives and identifies actions to resolve the clients' problems;
• Advocates for and assists families and individuals in obtaining services (e.g., mental health, intellectual disability, alcohol and drug, housing referrals, financial assistance for basic needs, home based services, training and medical services);
• Works with the community to identify families and individuals needing social services and coordinates these services using a wrap-around approach;
• Investigates complaints of alleged abuse or neglect, and in consultation with supervisor, makes assessment of risks posed to clients in accordance with state and local policies, and works to ensure risks are eliminated or minimized;
• Provides crisis intervention on a timely basis to clients or families whose well being are seriously and imminently threatened, to include Adult Protective Services after-hours;
• Represents the agency in court proceedings and prepares testimony and testifies in Circuit, Criminal, Civil and Federal Courts;
• Communicates and works with colleagues, clients and the community in a manner that supports the agency and program goals and objectives;
• Participates as a contributing member on interagency, multi-disciplinary teams, community groups and professional organizations;
• Provides training and community education on a variety of social work topics;
• Assesses and authorizes purchase of social services to qualifying clients that will help to meet their social, health, emotional and economic needs;
• Conducts home visits to families for the purpose of monitoring, counseling and supervision;
• Recruits, develops, trains, and monitors individual service providers. Recruits volunteers and manages volunteer services;
• Uses automated technology and hard copy files to maintain and update case data, notes,
  documents, records, contacts and summaries of information. Maintains case notes, documents and records, enters and updates case load data, contacts and summaries of information;
• Prepares and provides reports on casework;
• Performs or reviews initial assessment of client's presenting need and conducts additional assessment as necessary to develop a coordinated service plan that establishes goals, tasks, and time frames with appropriate county and community-based service providers;
• Addresses, and if necessary diffuses, initial crisis situation with clients, assesses safety issues and refers clients to emergency services as needed (e.g., mental health services, child protective services, adult protective services, women's shelter, homeless shelter);
• Demonstrates expertise in community service resources to identify, classify and describe services that address a broad array of client service needs-collaborates with service delivery professionals from all disciplines to identify service resource information requirements-translates those requirements into an automated catalog of resources necessary for client referrals and the development of client service plans;
• Negotiates, facilitates, and coordinates the creative use of limited community-based service alternatives and assists staff from other county human service agencies in creative use of community resources;
• Consults with community-based organizations (CBO) staff on resources and service strategies that support service area work with individuals and families.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Any combination of education, experience, and training equivalent to the following:
(Click on the aforementioned link to learn how Fairfax County interprets equivalencies for "Any combination, experience, and training equivalent to")

Minimum of a bachelor's degree in a human services field OR minimum of a bachelor's degree in any field with a minimum of two years of appropriate and related experience in a human services area (Section 22VAC40-670-20 of the Administrative Code of Virginia).

In order to be evaluated for positions in the Family Services Occupational Group, individuals who do not meet the degree requirement at the time of application for employment must be in their last semester of a degree program that will meet the requirements listed above.

Contingent upon the area of assignment, some positions within this class may require specific certification(s) or experience prior to employment and/or the ability to acquire necessary certification(s) within a specified time period following employment. The certifications and preferred qualifications are identified in the position description and employment advertisement.

CERTIFICATES AND LICENSES REQUIRED:
Valid driver's license.
Positions within this class are required to complete the state mandated training in the functional area within a specified time period.

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
The appointee to the position must satisfactorily complete a criminal background check, driving record check, and a Child Protective Services check.

This position is considered essential personnel and will be required to report to work during times designated countywide as approved for unscheduled leave regardless of the emergency situation (i.e., weather, transportation, other disaster).

Schedule requires evenings and weekends as needed.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master's degree in social work (MSW).
• Three years of experience in social work, psychology, sociology, counseling, or related experience.
• Experience in working with older adults and/or adults with disabilities.
• Adult protective services experience
• Experience in working with diverse multicultural populations.
• Previous work experience with a public, state, or local social services agency.
• Experience providing case management.
• Experience conducting home visits.

Fairfax County is home to a highly diverse population, with a significant number of residents speaking languages other than English at home (including Spanish, Asian/Pacific Islander, Indo-European, and many others.) We encourage candidates who are bilingual in English and another language to apply for this opportunity.

Reasonable accommodations are available to persons with disabilities during application and/or interview processes per the Americans with Disabilities Act. TTY 703-222-7314. DHREmployment@fairfaxcounty.gov EEO/AA/TTY.