The County of San Mateo's Human Services Agency is seeking qualified Spanish-Speaking Family Care Workers (Human Services Care Counselors) for the Children and Family Services branch.
In the Family Care Worker assignment, staff provide services to children and families whose cases are currently assigned to Children’s Services Social Workers with the goal of assuring safety and security for children and supporting family preservation or reunification where possible. Family Care Workers provide field-based services including, but not limited to, monitoring of parental care in high-risk situations, supervision of court-ordered visits between children and parents, in-home parent education, translation and support to Emergency Response social work staff. Additionally, Family Care Workers can and may be asked to perform duties in the Elysian Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program depending on workload, caseloads, population, coverage or other reasons. This position may be required to work nights, weekends, and holidays and to be on-call after regular hours.
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Note: There are three current vacancies assigned to the Central Support Unit in the Children and Family Services branch and are Spanish-Speaking required.Ideal candidates will have:
Experience working within the Child Welfare system;- Experience dealing effectively with at-risk youth, parents and private/public agencies;
- Experience establishing rapport with children and their families and supporting families towards goals and solutions;
- Excellent organizational and written/oral communication skills;
- Experience providing in-home support services;
- Knowledge of parenting skills, family engagement techniques, trauma informed practice, and crisis prevention strategies;
- Knowledge of family and group dynamics;
- Knowledge of strength-based approaches;
- Experience providing translation between agencies and families;
- Experience providing services in a residential setting;
- Fluency in English and Spanish;
- Flexibility in work schedule and availability.
Duties may include, but are not limited to, the following:
Family Care Worker Assignment:
Provide one-on-one training to parents and/or guardian on positive parenting and practical strategies for strengthening relationships with the child.- Provide instruction and modeling of parenting skills, including discipline, nurturing, intellectual stimulation, behavior management, and physical care; provide assessment of needs as appropriate.
- Provide in-home caretaking services to families which include meal preparation, household organizing and cleaning, supervision of children in the home, and other related tasks necessary to keep the family functioning, and are provided on both a scheduled and crisis basis.
- Provide in-home monitoring and perform unannounced home visits, including safety assessment.
- Supervise court ordered visits.
- Assist Social Workers with removals of children from home, medical assessments, placements, and attendance at IEPs.
- Transport children to supervised visits or temporary placement.
- Record in CWS/CMS summary of contacts with/on behalf of clients or court and closing summaries.
- Complete administrative tasks such as record keeping, attendance at staff meetings, regular family consultation with social workers, and consultation with collateral agencies as required.
- Provide liaison between family and social agencies.
- Testify in Juvenile Court regarding observations in the home when required.
- Provide relief at the STRTP.
- Perform related duties as assigned.
Elysian STRTP Assignment:
- Provide lead direction to a small group of lower level counselors on an assigned shift.
- Supervise and direct individual children and groups as assigned, correcting those who misbehave, and at times directly intervening in situations involving unacceptable behavior.
- Assist in planning and directing a program of recreational and teaching activities.
- Ensure the performance of all household and medical routines.
- Assist in evaluating the performance of subordinates.
- Participate in daily group meetings intended to change behavior through modern counseling techniques.
- Provide support and guidance and enhance the child's self-image to assigned children.
- Establish behavior modification programs with children involving individual contracts, incentives, positive and negative reinforcements and the grading of behavior and denial of privileges for violations of rules.
- Record significant data with regard to behavior of individuals and groups.
- Consult with Social Workers, Mental Health Workers, school counselors, teachers, police officers, sub-home parents, parents of children at the Receiving Home and community services groups.
- Testify in court regarding observed behavior of a child at the STRTP.
- Prepare daily reports of children's behavior and prepare weekly behavior summaries to be used by the Superior Court.
- Admit children to the STRTP and arrange for admissions to sub-home for children 13 years of age and younger.
- Follow all admission protocols; assure that medical attention is received if appropriate.
- Obtain medical consents; prepare documents for release and transfer of juveniles.
- Plan and organize recreational activities including group games and field trips.
- Teach a variety of manual social skills including basic art and cooking.
- Supervise visits of parents.
- Administer first aid and obtain medical care.
- Dispense prescribed medication.
- Supervise personal hygiene of children.
- Perform duties of Family Care Worker assignment.
- Perform related duties as assigned.
- Child and adolescent development and behavior.
- Principles and practices of childcare and custody.
- Group dynamics.
- Infant and preschool development stages.
- Common safety practices and procedures including first aid.
- Individual and group counseling techniques, especially behavior modification.
Skill/Ability to:
- Effectively engage children, youth and adults.
- Provide care for infants, preschoolers, youth and adults.
- Provide accurate observation and effective reporting of parental and child behaviors.
- Assess appropriateness of parenting skills and behaviors, as well as child's safety.
- Teach families how to effectively maintain a supportive home environment and how to effectively manage the behavior of children and youth under their care.
- Work effectively in a multidisciplinary team-based setting.
- Sense, evaluate, and handle tense group and individual situations as they develop.
- Make good, independent decisions and accept responsibility for those decisions.
- Exercise good independent judgment and remain calm in emergency situations.
- Deal effectively with parents, other agencies, and the general public.
- Instruct, train and provide general oversight to new or lower-level personnel.
Education and Experience:
Human Services Care Counselor I: Eighteen units in any of the following areas: Psychology, Sociology, Counseling, Child Development or related fields and eighteen months experience working with children or families or related work experience with families in their own homes.
Human Services Care Counselor II: Eighteen months of experience providing advice, assistance, supervision and direction to dependent and neglected adolescent age children or providing services, monitoring, supervision and assessment of children and their families whose cases are assigned to Children's Services Social Workers.
Licensure/Certification/Other Requirements:
- Be at least 21 years of age; and
- Previously been employed as a full-time or served as a volunteer at a group home, short-term residential therapeutic program, or substance abuse treatment program for at least one year; OR
- A Bachelor of Arts or Sciences Degree in Psychology, Sociology, Counseling, Child Development or related field; OR
- Have completed 12 semester units of Early Childhood Education, Adolescent Development, or Foster and Kinship Care Education, or Psychology and have completed at least 100 hours of on-the-job experience with youth (hours may be completed after starting employment at the facility. Pending completion of the 100 hours, staff shall not be counted in the staff to child ratio and shall not be left unsupervised with children).
Open and Promotional. Anyone may apply. Current County of San Mateo and County of San Mateo Superior Court of California employees with at least six months (1040 hours) of continuous service in a classified regular, probationary, Confidential and Management extra-help/limited term, and SEIU or AFSCME represented extra help/limited term positions prior to the final filing date will receive five points added to their final passing score on this examination. Responses to the supplemental questions must be submitted in addition to our regular employment application form. A resume will not be accepted as a substitute for the required employment application and supplemental questionnaire.
The examination process will consist of an application screening based on the candidates' application and responses to the supplemental questions. Candidates who pass the application screening will be invited to a panel interview (weight: 100%). Depending on the number of applicants, an application appraisal of education and experience may be used in place of other examinations or further evaluation of work experience may be conducted to group applicants by level of qualification. All applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement through any subsequent phase of the examination. All examinations will be given in San Mateo County, California and applicants must participate at their own expense.
IMPORTANT: Applications for this position will only be accepted online. If you are currently on the County's website, you may click the "Apply" button. If you are not on the County's website, please go to https://jobs.smcgov.org to apply.
~Tentative Recruitment Schedule~
Final Filing Date: Continuous until filled
Screening: TBD
Combined Panel Interviews: TBD
San Mateo County is centrally located between San Francisco, San Jose, and the East Bay. With over 750,000 residents, San Mateo is one of the largest and most diverse counties in California and serves a multitude of culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse communities. The County of San Mateo is committed to advancing equity in order to ensure that all employees are welcomed in a safe and inclusive environment. The County seeks to hire, support, and retain employees who reflect our diverse community. We encourage applicants with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply. Eighty percent of employees surveyed stated that they would recommend the County as a great place to work. The County of San Mateo is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion at all levels.
HR Contact: Arlene Cahill (Human Services Counselor - G061/G062)
