GENERAL DEFINITION: The primary responsibility of this position will be to provide casework services to families needing guidance in parenting issues while assisting in promoting safe and stable families.
SUPERVISION RECEIVED: Work is performed under the direction of the Social Services Director.
SUPERVISION EXERCISED: No Supervisory Duties.
DUTIES:
Provides casework and guidance services to families regarding family issues.
- Assesses family dynamics to determine services needed by the family.
- Provides guidance and support to families on parenting issues, household management, child abuse and neglect, traditional values and beliefs.
- Provides individual or group education to families with children at high risk for out-of-home placement to strengthen families and promote reunification.
- Documents and maintains all contact notes made with families to ensure adequate record keeping of all documentation, court orders, reports and narratives.
- Assists families in understanding court processes.
- Works with other Social Service staff in the development and implementation of family service plans and monitoring the progress of programs and clientele.
- Conducts continuous home visits throughout the duration of the open case.
- Implement a visitation calendar and monitor visitations to work towards reunification with the goal to improve parent and child relationships.
- Submit court documents for court ordered cases in a timely manner
Develops and implements culturally appropriate methods of prevention and intervention for families at risk.
- Facilitate parenting sessions using a culturally appropriate curriculum
- Collaborate and coordinate with programs to implement traditional and cultural-related parenting and child-rearing practices.
- Educate families to reinforce the importance of family reunification by providing culturally relevant trainings or workshops.
Serves as a link between Tribal Programs, Schools and Community.
- Collaborates with local Tribal Programs, Schools and other service providers to coordinate services for clients.
- Identifies community resources for families.
- Advocates for families needing services and ensures service plans are linked with community resources.
- Conducts presentations to programs and schools regarding services of the program.
Serves as a participant in other activities that support preservation of families.
- Serves as a participant on the Child Protective Team.
- Performs on-call duty, as scheduled.
- Performs other duties as assigned or necessary
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES: Considerable knowledge of education techniques, human behavior and childhood development. Knowledge of principles guiding family preservation. Good knowledge of child rearing practices and Zuni tradition relating to family structure, including human behavior. Knowledge of case management procedures and maintenance of records and documents. Good public speaking skills. Ability to work with children and families one on one while providing mediation for the family dynamic. Competency in communicating clearly and effectively in Zuni and English. Capacity to write narrative reports and case files. Ability to communicate effectively. Ability to establish and maintain an effective working relationship with all Tribal employees, clients and the public. Ability to maintain confidentiality of all privileged information.
TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE: Associate Degree in Human Services or a closely related field and two (2) years of progressive work experience in a social and/or human services OR High School Diploma or equivalent with two (2) years of progressive work experience in social and/or human services.
LICENSE AND CERTIFICATES: Must have a valid New Mexico Driver’s License with no DWI/DUI convictions within the past three (3) years. Must be insurable for liability purposes. Driving is an essential part of the duties.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items, driving an automobile, etc. No special physical demands are required to perform work. Regular exposure to favorable conditions such as those found in a normal office.
SPECIAL WORKING CONDITIONS: The position is subject to Pre-Employment drug testing. Position is Safety Sensitive and will be subject to random drug screening for duration of employment. Must undergo and successfully pass a thorough background investigation including FBI Fingerprint Check. Work will be conducted within homes of clients to provide home-based counseling services. Travel within community is required. Will be required to be on the on-call schedule.