PERMANENCY SPECIALIST

Position Overview

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is seeking an organized, professional, and results oriented individual to serve as Permanency Specialist.  Under general supervision, this position will provide professional child welfare casework services to children and families, determining the need and coordinating the placement of children in substitute care facilities.  Additionally, the position will conduct interviews with clients and professionals to obtain information for the continued diagnosis of problems and development of treatment plans.  This position provides a great opportunity for someone who is passionate about children and interested in playing a role in ensuring the safety and stability of children and youth.  DCFS offers a competitive compensation plan, excellent benefits, and a pension program.  The ideal candidate for this position will have excellent organizational skills and strong communication skills.  We invite you to join our innovative team to help make a positive difference in the lives of the children and families of Illinois.

Essential Functions

• Serves as a Permanency Specialist which provides experienced professional casework services to children and families; determines the need and coordinates the placement of children in substitute care facilities; provides recommendations and testifies in court as to client history and future plans of client behavior; provides assistance in the preparation of witnesses for testifying and prepares studies ordered by the court; participates in the administrative case review process; informs clients of their appeal rights and procedures and assists clients in the initiation of appeal rights; establishes goals for children and parents; prepares reports on progress or lack of progress toward goal; coordinates the development of a comprehensive, family-centered, culturally relevant assessment of children and families; maintains ongoing assessment of needs and strengths; evaluates the progress of the family toward attainment of minimum parenting standards, as well as the effectiveness and appropriateness of utilized services toward the goals of family preservation, family reunification, or another appropriate permanency outcome for the child; provides feedback to the family regarding progress; on a rotating basis, assigned to 24 hour “on call” duty in addition to normal assignments, to ensure that services are provided as mandated by statute and policy.

• Works with intact families and children in home and/or substitute care; develops service plans to address needs of families within agency timeframes; evaluates service delivery and reviews service plans and permanency goals, making changes to meet the needs of the child and family.

• Conducts interviews with clients and professionals to obtain information for the continued diagnosis of problems and development of treatment plans; counsels on available concrete and supportive services and available therapeutic services and provides same; implements service plans with families; provides services directly and/or makes referrals for services; provides support, guidance, and coordination to foster parents and service providers; monitors to ensure appropriate visits occur between parents and children in placements and siblings not placed together; drives to field locations to conduct on-site interviews.

• Transports clients when taking protective custody, when placing them in substitute care, and when changing placement location; transports clients to appointments (i.e., court hearings, medical appointments, counseling sessions, police station, etc.) and to necessitate the delivery of client services.

• Prepares and maintains case documentation for planning, implementing, and evaluating services; completes various agency forms, including case notes, payment, eligibility, visitation, and court reports; prepares statistical and narrative reports.

Essential Functions

• Participates in case staffings to facilitate case transfer and participates in multi-disciplinary diagnostic and technical staff conferences to assess needed services, provides input into supervisory conferences and consultation with other disciplines for casework planning, obtains information of community and agency resources seeking specialized services for clients, develops and maintains working relationships with community and other state agencies, providing interpretation of agency responsibilities.

• Performs other duties as required or assigned which are reasonably within the scope of the duties numerated above.

Minimum Qualifications

• Preferably requires a master’s degree in social work; OR a master’s degree in a related human service field, supplemented by (1) one year of directly related professional casework/case management experience related to family preservation, family reunification, adoption, youth development, counseling and advocacy services or a related field;

OR

• requires a bachelor’s degree in social work and (1) one year of directly related professional casework/case management experience related to family preservation, family reunification, adoption, youth development, counseling and advocacy services or a related field;

OR

• requires a bachelor’s degree in a related human service field and (2) two years of directly related professional casework/case management experience related to family preservation, family reunification, adoption, youth development, counseling and advocacy services or a related field.

The college or university issuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree must be accredited, and the degree program in social work must be approved by the Council on Social Work Education. The directly related professional casework/case management experience must be related to family preservation, family reunification, adoption, youth development, counseling, and advocacy services or a related field.

Conditions of Employment

1. Requires a valid driver's license, daily access to an automobile, and proof of vehicle insurance

2. Requires the ability to pass a background check.

3. Requires physical, visual and auditory ability to carry out assigned duties. 

4. Requires ability to work in a 24 hour on call capacity.