Human Services Clinician II - Child Protective Services

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Arlington County requires all applicants to thoroughly complete each section of the application, including prior job responsibilities, duties, and supplemental questions. While you may attach a resume, it will not replace a completed application. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

The Child and Family Services Division of the Department of Human Services (DHS) is seeking a Human Services Clinician II to provide Child Protective Services (CPS). The work involves case management, investigations, assessments, and the provision of short-term intervention to ensure child safety and well-being as well as to stabilize and support families. This Human Services Clinician serves a culturally and ethnically diverse population and will be part of a multi-disciplinary treatment team planning, organizing, and coordinating service delivery.

Specific duties include:

• Investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect; which includes interviewing children, parents, and other involved parties to protect children, preserve families, and reduce the risk of further maltreatment;  
• Performing comprehensive assessments of children and their families, including home visits to determine risk and safety;  
• Providing emergency crisis intervention to maintain safety and provide services in the best interest of the youth;  
• Designing and implementing safety plans with children and families to reduce risk and enhance safety;  
• Preparing court petitions and testifying in court;  
• Searching for and initiating contact with family members and/or additional supportive adults;  
• Coordinating and facilitating family engagement activities including Family Partnership meetings; and  
• Documenting assessments, treatment plans, critical incident reports, detailed case contacts, progress notes, and service plans for court review.

Arlington County DHS is committed to delivering client services in an effective, equitable, respectful, and trauma-informed manner. Our staff is dedicated to ensuring our clients are approached, engaged and cared for in ways that demonstrate competency, sensitivity and awareness of factors which impact the client experience. This includes but is not limited to: cultural identity, gender, racial, and ethnic diversity, religious/spiritual ascription, physical capability, cognitive and literacy levels, sexual orientation, and linguistic needs.

Minimum: The applicant may be hired at either the “Full Performance” or “Trainee” level depending on their education and experience as noted below.

Full Performance:

• Master's degree in Social Work, Counseling, Psychology, or other directly related clinical discipline;
• A clinical practicum involving diagnostic, treatment and case management services in a child welfare setting (foster care, adoption, child protective services, family preservation, permanency planning, or domestic violence) prior to graduation; and
• Two years of post-Master's degree experience providing professional clinical social work services.

Trainee:

• Depending upon the applicant’s current qualifications, a training period will be established to last no longer than the equivalent of 24 months. At the end of the training period, the employee must meet the experience, training, proficiency and certification requirements for the position as noted in the “Full Performance” section above. Once the candidate qualifies, the one-year probationary period will begin.

Substitution: Directly related higher level clinical degrees may substitute for the Master's Degree education requirement and 1 year of child welfare work experience. The remaining year of experience to meet the "Full Performance" level must be obtained after the higher degree was awarded, and must be in child welfare.

Desirable: Preference may be given to candidates with experience or certifications in one or more of the following:

• Performing child protective investigations;  
• Family group facilitation, foster care, and/or family preservation;  
• Working within the court system;  
• Bilingual (English/Spanish); and/or 
• Virginia licensed or license eligible as a clinical social worker.

Special Requirements

Background Check: A pre-employment criminal records check will be conducted. It will include checks of the following: criminal record, driving record, education, professional licensure, and credit history. You will be required to sign a release authorizing the County to obtain your background information.

Driver’s License: The applicant must possess, or obtain by