Objectives

Knox County Children Services is seeking a full-time Social Services Worker II - Intake Investigator. This individual is responsible for investigating allegations of child abuse, neglect and/or dependency. Individual completes assessments of safety and overall family functioning to determine the need for immediate and/or ongoing protective services involvement. Individual works closely with families and community partners to assist in ensuring the safety and well-being of all children.   Knox County provides competitive wages and a comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, holiday pay, medical insurance, life insurance, educational assistance programs, and more. Knox County is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Essential Functions

• Evaluate safety and risk of all children being served in all interactions. 
• Conduct individual interviews of children and adults to complete investigations of child abuse and neglect. 
• Complete safety assessments and family assessments to determine need for community resources and/or ongoing case management services. 
• Remove children from unsafe situations if safety cannot be arranged with a less restrictive option.  
• May maintain a caseload of alternative response ongoing cases for families in need limited case management services. 
• Visits with all children and their caregivers as required by Ohio Administrative Code, agency policy and/or as directed by chain of command. These visits may include in-home, in the community and/or in the office. 
• Attends and participates in supervision meetings as established by the employee's chain of command and based on the needs of the worker/caseload; attends and participates in all agency meetings including unit, department, division, and all-staff meetings.
• Make referrals to community resources. 
• Testify in Court as required.  
• Consult with Agency attorney for court involved cases or situations of a child being imminent risk of serious harm. 
• Prepare accurate and detailed written reports for Agency attorney and legal assistant.
• Serves as on-call caseworker as assigned on on-call yearly schedule.  
• Attends trainings as identified by the chain of command regarding child welfare and meets the annual requirements for working as a Caseworker in the State of Ohio. 
• Completes documentation in the SACWIS and Traverse systems pursuant to agency and departmental guidelines. 
• Attends and participates in placement staffing, administrative case conferences, family team meetings (FTM) and all other meetings related to the families on their caseload. 
• Reports suspected child abuse or elder abuse as required. 
• Maintains regular and predictable attendance. 
• Provides culturally competent service to all clients, the public and colleagues.
• Performs related non-essential functions as needed.

Job Standards

Bachelor's degree in Behavioral Science, Social Services, Early Childhood Development Technology or education in a Social Services or a related field. Must have 101 hours of CORE training within the first year of employment and continuing education of 36 hours per year required thereafter.   Must possess a valid Ohio Driver 's License and acceptable driving record. Must meet and maintain qualifications for driving on county business as a continued condition of employment. All required licenses and certificates must be maintained as a condition of continued employment.

Supplemental Information

Equipment: Ability to operate a variety of office equipment such as computer, copier, scanner, telephone, calculator, FAX machine, VCR/TV, DVR, camcorder, camera, recorder/tape player, and other equipment necessary to perform duties. Individual uses