Family Service Specialist

An incumbent in this class functions at the entry level and directly provides, coordinates and monitors the delivery of professional social work services to children, youth and families; or adult special populations and families; to resolve problems involving client abuse, neglect, dependency, antisocial behavior, exploitation and family dysfunction, which may include economically disadvantaged clients.

Essential functions are fundamental, core functions common to all positions in the class series and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all job duties for any one position in the class.  Since class specifications are descriptive and not restrictive, incumbents can complete job duties of similar kind not specifically listed here.

• Provides services to advocate for health, safety and welfare or rights of clients and their families and assists them in obtaining needed services. 
• Interviews clients and family members and/or professionals to gather personal, social and background information; works closely with the client and family to formulate a clear description of the client and family’s problems; identify the key forces which maintain the problems; discover resources and strengths available to the client and family to resolve the problems; and identify the blocks, if any, that prevent the client and family from resolving the problems without the intervention of the State agency. 
• Determines eligibility for various social service programs offered by the agency or available in the community. 
• In collaboration with the client and family, and with consultation from a technical superior, develops and implements service/treatment plans, outlining the goals and objectives to be accomplished, methods and techniques to be used, and anticipated results; helps the client and family to obtain community, social and/or therapeutic services and resources needed to accomplish plans and objectives. 
• Conducts individual and family counseling sessions with clients and members of the family to aid in achieving satisfactory social development and adjustment to specific problems and situations. 
• Assesses progress toward goals and makes recommendations on plans such as reclassification, discharge, aftercare, emergency protective placement in emergency or crisis situations, guardianship, petitions or options counseling. 
• Prepares social histories, client progress reports, evaluation and discharge summaries, court reports or petitions; prepares and maintains a variety of records and files pertaining to clients assigned to caseload. 
• Enforces court orders and conditions of community supervision as required. Attends court hearings and other judicial proceedings to answer questions; makes recommendations and prepare progress reports regarding clients.  
• May be called upon to intervene in crisis situations such as potential suicides, assault and battery against clients, and sexual abuse cases.  May coordinate with law enforcement and other emergency staff if needed. May be required to isolate and/or physically restrain clients who are acting out.
• May be required to perform emergency duty which requires being on call for an assigned time period.

•  One year of experience in professional health or human service work.

***2nd shifts include a 5% shift differential.*** Writing Exercise: A writing exercise will be given at the time of interview.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. The State of Delaware Executive Branch participates in the Federal E-Verify system where the State will provide the federal government with each new hires Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. For more information refer to our job seeker resources.

Pre-employment Drug Testing:  Upon a conditional offer, you must undergo pre-employment drug testing as part of the hiring process.

Criminal background check:  A satisfactory criminal background check is required as a condition of hire.  The recruiting agency may require the applicant to pay for the criminal background check as part of the conditional offer of hire.

To learn more about the comprehensive benefit package please visit our website at https://dhr.delaware.gov/benefits/

The application and supplemental questionnaire are evaluated based upon a rating of your education, training and experience as they relate to the job requirements of the position.  It is essential that you provide complete and accurate information on your application and the supplemental questionnaire to include dates of employment, job title and job duties.  For education and training, list name of educational provider, training course titles and summary of course content.   Narrative information supplied in response to the questions must be supported by the information supplied on the application including your employment, education and training history as it relates to the job requirements.

Once you have submitted your application on-line, all future correspondence related to your application will be sent via email.  Please keep your contact information current.  You may also view all correspondence sent to you by the State of Delaware in the “My Applications” tab at StateJobs.Delaware.gov.