Family Service Worker (Human Service Worker II)

Join our team at the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services and help support our mission to partner with communities, families, and individuals to provide opportunities to access a continuum of resources that promote equity and create positive outcomes for people of all ages and abilities. Our vision is to see connected communities where all individuals and families are supported and empowered to thrive.

Under the direction of the Family and Community Engagement Manager (Child Care Specialist II), the Family Service Worker plays a vital role in supporting families enrolled in Head Start and Early Head Start programs. This position ensures families receive comprehensive services that promote child development, family well-being, and community engagement. Some local travel is required to fulfill work-related responsibilities, including but not limited to home visits, center visits, and training events.

Key responsibilities of this position include but are not limited to:

• Relationship-building and Collaboration with Families
  • Engage families of enrolled children in activities and services that support parents as their children's primary nurturers, experts, and teachers, to promote and sustain children's learning and development, as well as long-term family well-being through Family Partnership Agreement (FPA) opportunity.
  • Build trusting relationships with families and provides support and access to services that are responsive to each family's goals, living situation, cultures, beliefs, values, languages, practices, and traditions.
  • Partner with families to learn about their strengths and identify resources that can advance them toward their goals for themselves and their children.
• Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, and Attendance (ERSEA)
  • Maintain child attendance records; communicate with families and teaching staff about attendance; provide support for attendance challenges.
• Community Partnerships and Engagement
  • Identify and develop ongoing collaborative relationships with community partners to help support family access to community resources in a professional manner.
  • Provide community resource information to families while tailoring information in response to each family's goals and needs.
• Recordkeeping and Data-informed Services
  • Document and track child and parent information in the program's data management system, including but not limited to case notes, health data, enrollment data, and program information data to support family and program goals.
  • Maintain policies, guidelines, and expectations to protect the confidentiality and privacy of families' data.
• Professional Growth
  • Participate in training events, staff meetings, and ongoing professional development opportunities to learn about the role and develop the skills needed to work effectively with children and families.
  • Participate in reflective supervision, reflective practice, and peer-to-peer learning groups.

(The illustrative duties listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list. A complete list of position duties and unique physical requirements can be found in the position job description.)
Maintains knowledge of current public assistance and employment policies and applies, explains and interprets federal, state, and local policies to clients, service providers, attorneys, the public, and other interested parties;
Conducts in-depth interviews of clients to determine and reassess eligibility of clients for financial, publicly supported medical services and/or medical public assistance programs;
Performs client needs assessments to aid in making appropriate referrals to other services;
Works with clients to assist with gathering the information required to establish eligibility;
Compiles and maintains data and documents and may prepare written narratives to support eligibility determinations;
Ensures timely processing of applications to meet client needs and program policy mandates;
Uses various forms of automated technology to document, obtain, and verify information, to generate reports, and to authorize benefits and services for clients; providers, attorneys, the public, and other interested parties;
Assists clients in obtaining the resources necessary to meet emergency needs;
Assists clients in obtaining services and coordinates these with other service providers as needed;
Coordinates and manages clients' participation in a variety of services;
Participates in case staffing with other County staff or community organizations to assess and address needs of clients;
Prepares appeal documents and may represent the agency in administrative appeals filed by clients;
Determines client's employment needs in order to develop a plan of service to move them towards self-sufficiency;
Assists job seekers with job search and resume development.

(The knowledge, skills and abilities listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list.)
Knowledge of basic human behavior and social problems;
Knowledge of complex federal, state and local laws governing public assistance and welfare reform;
Ability to read, interpret and apply complex program policies and procedures;
Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing;
Ability to make mathematical computations;
Ability to schedule, organize and manage workload sufficient to meet deadlines;
Ability to use automated technology to establish and maintain case records;
Ability to handle multiple deadlines, computer systems, high volume of client contact, high caseloads, and competing priorities;
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients, co-workers and other human service providers;
Ability to work effectively with people under stress and those from various socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds;
Ability to maintain professional ethics related to confidentiality of client information;
Ability to provide excellent customer service;
Ability to work in a team environment;
Ability to maintain flexibility;
Ability to manage a complex caseload;
Ability to assess client needs through collection and analysis of employment history and other personal, family and cultural information;
Ability to use supportive counseling techniques to enhance and develop clients' problem-solving capabilities.

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")
Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a bachelor's degree, plus one year of professional work experience in human services or a related field.

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
The appointee to this position will be required to complete a criminal background check and a Child Protective Services Registry check to the satisfaction of the employer. A tuberculosis (TB) screening upon hire.

Additional Work Schedule Requirements: Must be flexible to meet program needs. Occasional evening and/or weekend work may be required

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Head Start and/or Early Head Start experience.
• Experience implementing parent curriculums, providing parent education, and facilitating groups.
• Experience utilizing database systems to document case notes.
• Experience assessing the needs and strengths of clients/families, creating family partnership agreements with clients/families, and connecting clients/families to community resources and referrals.

SELECTION PROCEDURE:
Panel interview and may include exercise.

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.

Fairfax County Government prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetics, political affiliation, or military status in the recruitment, selection, and hiring of its workforce.

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.

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