Family Safety Practitioner I

This position includes a signing bonus of $2,500 (full-time) for new county hires.

This is an exciting time to join Fairfax County Government as we shape racial and social equity policies in the county through the One Fairfax Policy. Using this framework, we intentionally consider equity when making policies or delivering programs and services. To learn more, we highly encourage you to watch the Becoming One Fairfax-An Introduction to Key Concepts video by clicking here and visit the One Fairfax webpage here.

ABOUT THIS POSITION:
Our Adult and Aging Division welcomes applicants interested in the Adult Services Family Safety Practitioner I position.

• This position under supervision, performs entry-level assessment of social, health, emotional, and economic needs of clients to implement and monitor a plan of service; makes appropriate referrals; provides consultation; and performs related work as required identifying resources and monitoring services in place.
• Supports other family safety practitioners with routine client check-in calls and completes notes, documentation, follow up and referrals as needed.
• Helps with identifying and utilizing available resources and refers clients to public and private agencies and services.
• Assists clients and families with completing Medicaid applications and obtaining needed income and resource documentation.
• Maintains documentation about availability of resources for program staff use.
• Performs other duties as assigned in support of the Adult and Aging division and the Department of Family Services including but not limited to assisting with administrative tasks and driving agency vehicles to county facilities for repair and maintenance.
• This position will require assessment, care planning, and coordination skills, the ability to manage competing priorities, and to respond effectively to both deadlines and crisis situations.
• This position attend and participates in local meetings.
• This position requires assessment, care planning and coordination skills; the ability to manage competing priorities and to respond effectively to crisis situations.
• This position works with the client, family and service providers to resolve service delivery issues.
• This position completes required paperwork and follows policy required by the state.
• This position utilizes local and state information systems for individual client record keeping and tracking.
• This position performs record keeping according to local and state policy requirements within designated timeframes.
• The primary purpose of the Adult and Aging Division is to ensure resources, advocacy, safety and well-being of older adults, adults with disabilities and caregivers are met. To ensure that the division can carry out its purpose and meet the agency's responsibilities related to advocacy, protection, and wellbeing, the Adult and Aging Division Director may move or reassign this position's related work duties and responsibilities within the job class.

(The knowledge, skills and abilities listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list.)

Knowledge of the principles and practices of professional casework;
Knowledge of current social service problems and methods/approaches to address issues;
Knowledge of law, policy, regulations and guidelines relating to the assigned area of social service specialization;
Ability to analyze case information and to reach sound decisions based on such information;
Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing;
Ability to use case management and documentation software systems to establish and maintain case records;
Ability to maintain professional ethics and confidentiality of client information;
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of individuals and organizations;
Ability to schedule and manage workload sufficiently to meet policy-driven deadlines, court orders and supervisory deadlines;
Ability to effectively and empathically engage with persons from different cultures who may be experiencing stressful family situations;
Ability to employe empathy and emotional intelligence while performing client related tasks.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
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.

• Full-time equivalent professional social services or human services experience in any of the following areas: adult protective services, adults with disabilities, child protective services/preservation, homeless shelters, hospital social work, housing, intellectual disabilities, mental health, older adults.
• One or more years of full-time equivalent experience conducting home visits.
• One or more years of full-time equivalent experience working with a diverse multicultural population.
• One or more years of full-time equivalent experience working in an inter-disciplinary team setting.
• Experience working in a public, state or local social services agency
• One or more years of full-time equivalent experience working with computerized case management programs.
• Proficient in any of the following Microsoft Office Suite applications: Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access

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.