Senior Child Welfare Specialist - REMOTE

ICF partners with JBS International and the Children’s Bureau (CB) to support child welfare monitoring and improvement through the federal Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSR). CFSRs are designed to determine states’ compliance with Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act, and to evaluate child welfare system performance and require states to make improvement in outcomes for children and families. We seek a Senior Child Welfare Specialist to work with federal staff to support all aspects of these monitoring strategies. This position will be assigned to work with a federal Health and Human Services regional office and will work collaboratively with the CB Regional Office team and jurisdictional child welfare agencies in that region to monitor state child welfare performance and achieve improvement goals.

This is a full-time exempt position. The position requires home-based telework, with approximately 15-20% travel.

Key Responsibilities:

• Assisting CB in implementing all aspects of the CFSR in the assigned region, including:

  • preparing states for participation in reviews

  • conducting case reviews and secondary reviews of state’s own case reviews

  • reviewing and providing feedback on assessments, progress reports and correspondence

  • documenting, tracking, and monitoring CFSR activities for regional states

  • interviewing agency staff, partners, and stakeholders to assess system functioning and improvement

  • supporting states in the development, implementation, and monitoring of their Program Improvement Plan (PIP)

• Using and analyzing assigned state’s CFSR data indicators, context data, case review data, and other available data to assist CB and the state in understanding the state’s performance, planning for onsite reviews, developing their PIP, and monitoring and adjusting their improvement strategies

• Supporting states, in conjunction with CB, in the development or improvement of their Continuous Quality Improvement systems, including their case review processes and accurate application of the federal Onsite Review Instrument (OSRI), and the meaningful engagement of stakeholders in their process, particularly those with lived experience in the state’s child welfare system

• Coordinating, facilitating, and supporting collaboration among CB, state agency staff, state legal and judicial partners, tribal communities, CB training and technical assistance providers, grantees and others on CFSR-related work

• Participating in federally required and self-directed training and learning activities

• Assisting the CB in improving, or revising all aspects of the CFSR process and materials, such as instruments, manuals, briefs, or guides as requested

• Supporting CB by identifying regional trends or technical assistance needs by analyzing regional child welfare programs, gathering research on promising practices, and preparing reports or presentations on those as required

Basic Qualifications:

• Minimum of 8-12 years relevant experience in child welfare or a related field

• Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work or a related field

• Work history in CFSR-related child welfare programs, including work experience in a federal, state, or local public child welfare program

• Knowledge and understanding of the CFSR and PIP process, including experience accurately applying the federal OSRI

• Demonstrated ability to synthesize and analyze information and data and communicate those findings

• Experience interacting effectively on teams with a variety of individuals in different roles and influencing without directing the team to achieve its goals

• Excellent verbal, interpersonal and written communication skills

• Ability to pass a federal background check to serve in a position of public trust

• Availability to work beyond regular work hours on occasion during federal reviews

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in Social Work or a related field  

• Experience using, managing, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting public agency administrative child welfare data to drive continuous quality improvement

• Direct experience in administering the CFSR process, PIP development and/or implementation, or similar Continuous Quality Improvement or Quality Assurance processes at the federal, state, or local level

• Experience working in a federal contracting environment

Required Professional Skills:

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making