Body Safety Support Specialist (Social Services Specialist II)

• Approximately 29% of students in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) identify as Hispanic, and Spanish is the most common home language for students in the district. This position will deliver the Body Safety curriculum throughout the county to school-aged children and their parents in both English and Spanish.
• Support the Body Safety Program Coordinator with all functions related to the Body Safety Program, which include managing partner relationships with Fairfax County Public Schools and community partners; and scheduling volunteers to teach the body safety curriculum.
• Recruit, interview, assess, and train applicants who desire to be a volunteer facilitator with the program.
• Establish and maintain partnerships with county agencies, businesses, faith-based organizations, and the community.
• Participate in special events to publicize and promote public education activities and the Volunteer and Partner Services (VPS) Program.
• Conduct outreach to specifically increase and recruit bilingual (Spanish/English) speaking volunteers for VPS Programs.
• Work collaboratively and maintain partnerships with volunteers, partners and staff from the other Children, Youth and Families programs.
• Use automated technology to maintain client data, records, and correspondence.
• Assist in evaluating and updating program policies and procedures to ensure adherence to best practice.
• Maintain records for state, local and county policy requirements.
• Provide support for cross-functional activities, events, and other initiatives related to various Prevention Programs.
• Participate in agency workgroups related to volunteer engagement and interagency collaboration.
• Assist with VPS special events and activities.
• Assist VPS Team members with the development and coordinating of volunteer events; managing the VPS donations and requests; and assisting with the gift card tracking system,
• Perform other duties as assigned to ensure child safety and improve outcomes in families.
• Position requires regular travel throughout Fairfax County as well as occasional evening and weekend hours.

(The illustrative duties listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list. A complete list of position duties and unique physical requirements can be found in the position job description.)

Advocates for and assists families and individuals in obtaining services (e.g., mental health, intellectual disability, alcohol and drug, housing referrals, financial assistance for basic needs, home based services, training and medical services);
Works with the community to identify families, children and individuals needing social services and coordinates these services using a wrap-around approach;
Communicates and works with colleagues, clients and the community in a manner that supports the agency and program goals and objectives;
Participates as a contributing member on interagency, multi-disciplinary teams, community groups and professional organizations;
Collaborates and contributes to child specific teams on non-agency cases as assigned to assist in identifying community resources and services for families;
Provides training and community education on a variety of social work topics;
Recruits volunteers and manages volunteer services;
Uses automated technology and hard copy files to maintain and update case data, notes, documents, records, contacts and summaries of information;
Maintains case notes, documents and records, enters and updates case load data, contacts and summaries of information;
Prepares and provides reports on casework;
Performs or reviews initial assessment of client's presenting need and conducts additional assessment as necessary to develop a coordinated service plan that establishes goals, tasks, and time frames with appropriate county and community-based service providers;
Addresses, and if necessary diffuses, initial crisis situation with clients, assesses safety issues and refers clients to emergency services as needed (e.g., mental health services, child protective services, adult protective services, women's shelter, homeless shelter);
Demonstrates expertise in community service resources to identify, classify and describe services that address a broad array of client service needs-collaborates with service delivery professionals from all disciplines to identify service resource information requirements-translates those requirements into an automated catalog of resources necessary for client referrals and the development of client service plans;
Negotiates, facilitates, and coordinates the creative use of limited community-based service alternatives and assists staff from other county human service agencies in creative use of community resources;
Consults with community-based organizations (CBO) staff on resources and service strategies that support service area work with individuals and families.

(The knowledge, skills and abilities listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list.)

Knowledge of the principles and practices of social work;
Knowledge of current social service problems and methods/approaches to address issues;
Knowledge of regulations and guidelines relating to the assigned area of social service specialization;
Ability to analyze case information and to reach sound decisions on the basis of such information;
Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing;
Ability to use automated technology to establish and maintain case records;
Ability to maintain professional ethics and confidentiality of client information;
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of individuals;
Ability to schedule and manage workload sufficiently to meet deadlines.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Minimum of a Bachelor's degree in a Human Services field OR minimum of a Bachelor's degree in any field with a minimum of two years of appropriate and related experience in a Human Services area (Section 22VAC40-670-20 of the Administrative Code of Virginia).

In order to be evaluated for positions in the Family Services Occupational Group, individuals who do not meet the degree requirement at the time of application for employment must be in their last semester of a degree program that will meet the requirements listed above.

Contingent upon the area of assignment, some positions within this class may require specific certification(s) or experience prior to employment and/or the ability to acquire necessary certification(s) within a specified time period following employment. The certifications and preferred qualifications are identified in the position description and employment advertisement.

• Master's degree in social work (MSW) or closely related field.
• One year of professional social services work in various areas.
• Experience do you have working in a public, state or local social services agency.
• Experience providing presentations.
• Experience do you have managing or recruiting volunteers.
• Experience working with a diverse multicultural population.

Fairfax County is home to a highly diverse population, with a significant number of residents speaking languages other than English at home (including Spanish, Asian/Pacific Islander, Indo-European, and many others.) We encourage candidates who are bilingual in English and another language to apply for this opportunity.

Reasonable accommodations are available to persons with disabilities during application and/or interview processes per the Americans with Disabilities Act. TTY 703-222-7314. DHREmployment@fairfaxcounty.gov EEO/AA/TTY.