166760
CHILD WELFARE SPECIALIST 3
SS415 $47,757 - $86,070
Creation Date: 03/03/2003
Change Date: 12/11/2025
FUNCTION OF WORK:To provide advanced child welfare services for the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families as mandated by state and federal laws.
LEVEL OF WORK:SUPERVISION RECEIVED:Broad from a Child Welfare Supervisor or equivalent level supervisory position.
SUPERVISION EXERCISED:Functional supervision may be provided to Child Welfare Specialists 1 or 2 on complex and sensitive investigations or cases.
JOB DISTINCTIONS:Differs from Child Welfare Specialist 2 by presence of lead worker duties and/or regular assignment of advanced assignments.
Differs from Child Welfare Supervisor by the absence of direct supervision over Child Welfare Specialists.
CORE COMPETENCIES: CORE COMPETENCIES HAVE NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED BY STATE CIVIL SERVICE FOR THIS JOB TITLE.
MORE INFORMATION ON THE SCS COMPETENCY MODEL CAN BE FOUND
HERE.
EXAMPLES OF WORK:EXAMPLES BELOW ARE A BRIEF SAMPLE OF COMMON DUTIES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS JOB TITLE. NOT ALL POSSIBLE TASKS ARE INCLUDED.
May perform the following duties based upon program assignment:
FOSTER CARE
Provides supportive counseling and other services for clients; arranges for the provision of services from community resources based on the case plan.
Interviews and establishes working relationships with children and families. Participates in developing case plan goals/objectives with the family and formalizing it in conferences and agency staffing.
Composes correspondence to compile social summaries and/or assessments. Prepares and submits appropriate reports and affidavits to the Court and/or District Attorney on cases, and testifies in court proceedings.
Serves as the agency liaison to other social service, educational, or law enforcement agencies.
May serve as the sole assistant supervisor of any child welfare unit by performing any of the following: accepting and/or assigning cases to workers, reviewing, and/or approving routine correspondence, compiling and reporting caseload statistics, serving as the child welfare representative on panels, and serving as the Child Welfare representative at public speaking events.
May serve as lead worker by participating in the training of new Social Services Specialists and/or Counselors, modeling onsite visits with new workers, and providing technical assistance and case consultation.
Prepares and submits material to the Regional Attorney for termination of parental rights, abandonment or voluntary surrender, when this action is determined to be in the best interests of the child.
CHILD PROTECTION INVESTIGATION
Obtains identifying information, determines if the report meets intake requirements, determines the current status of the child to evaluate the extent of any danger/risk, determines priority level of the report, and prepares complaint form to give to supervisor for assignment.
Conducts investigations of allegations of abuse and/or neglect of children; manages routine or specialized investigations.
Carries a caseload of complex cases in which abuse and/or neglect has been validated requiring highly specialized diagnosis, assessment, intervention techniques and complex service plans.
Evaluates and provides those services required for the child's immediate safety during the investigative process and makes appropriate referrals to family services or community resources.
Presents investigative findings to child death review, citizen review, and internal child fatality review panels.
Prepares and submits appropriate affidavit reports to the Court and/or District Attorney, and testifies at court proceedings.
May serve on 24-hour on-call duty to respond to child abuse/neglect reports.
ADOPTION SERVICES
Recruits adoptive homes for children who are legally available for adoption and do not have an adoptive resource.
Completes assessment of children available for adoption and prepares children and families for adoptive placement.
Completes comprehensive background history that is made available to children and adoptive families.
Represents the agency in juvenile court proceedings by presenting service plans and progress reports on children in caseload.
FAMILY SERVICES
Carries a caseload of selected complex cases in which abuse, and/or neglect has been validated requiring highly specialized diagnosis, assessment, intervention techniques and complex service plans.
Assesses service needs in response to identified problems and directly provides intensive intervention to families and children in a complex/specialized caseload.
Conducts regular home visits with the family to assess safety and risk factors and to determine further treatment needs.
FOSTER CARE
Provides specialized child welfare services to a caseload of children placed in residential care for various reasons.
Participates in developing case plans and objectives with the family in conferences and agency staffings, prepares cases for presentation to the multi-disciplinary team for consultation, and coordinates with other professionals regarding the needs of the child, family, and/or parent.
Interviews and establishes working relationships with children and families and composes correspondence to compile social summaries and/or assessments.
Prepares and submits appropriate reports and affidavits to the Court and/or District Attorney on cases in compliance with state laws and agency policy, and testifies in court proceedings.
Continuously assesses safety of the child and service needs of the child(ren) and families through interviews, observations and other information sources.
HOME DEVELOPMENT
Prepares and conducts extensive orientation and training for potential foster and adoptive homes identified for a specific child and for relative placements.
Acts as a leadworker and provides supervision as needed.
Through written home studies, examines and evaluates information gathered about families, housing, and environment in relation to agency criteria and licensing regulation for certification of prospective adoptive and foster homes.
Evaluates for annual recertification for foster and adoptive homes. Develops and implements a corrective action plan for any deficiencies.
Maintains listing of all foster and adoptive homes in area and recommends resources to workers placing children.
QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Six years of experience in child welfare; OR
Six years of full-time work experience in any field plus three years of experience in social services, health services, law enforcement, or investigatory work; OR
A bachelor's degree plus three years of experience in social services, health services, law enforcement, or investigatory work; OR
An advanced degree in a social science or behavioral health field, nursing, or a juris doctorate plus two years of experience in social services, health services, law enforcement, or investigatory work.
EXPERIENCE SUBSTITUTION:
Every 30 semester hours earned from an accredited college or university will be credited as one year of experience towards the six years of full-time work experience in any field. The maximum substitution allowed is 120 semester hours which substitutes for a maximum of four years of experience in any field.
NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENT:
Possession of a high school diploma or equivalent.
A current driver's license and access to a personal vehicle.
NOTE:
The incumbent of this position must not have been convicted or pled nolo contendere to a crime listed in R.S. 15.587.1 (c).