Child and Family Services Specialist Trainee

Are you interested in making a difference in the lives of children and families across Nebraska? The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is hiring outstanding individuals to join our team. If you are mission driven, action oriented, and want to help those in your own community, DHHS is looking for you! We are hiring candidates to join our upcoming training classes. Depending on the location of the training, you may be required to travel. Trainees are hired at $15.627 per hour and after successful completion of initial training are promoted to $18.058 per hour. To learn more about this position, please view the following link for a Realistic Job Preview: https://youtu.be/bJM9TcaFo3s.

Schedule: Monday  -Friday 8am to 5pm, after hours and on call required.

This position is federally funded and may be governed by the Federal Hatch Act. Click here to review the Act. (the web page address is: https://osc.gov/Pages/HatchAct.aspx)

In this position, you will serve as a case manager for families referred to the Department of Health and Human Services. As a Child and Family Services Specialist, you will:
• Investigate allegations of abuse/neglect, visit homes, conduct safety assessments, establish safety plans, and initiate court interventions.
• Develop, implement, and evaluate treatment plans, authorize, coordinate, and provide family services.
• Prepare cases with appropriate legal staff and testify in court.
• Develop community resources; work with schools, law enforcement, and mental health providers; inform the public of protection and safety services.
• Perform crisis intervention.
• Prepare documentation, correspondence, and court reports.
• Casework may be with children/juveniles who have been adjudicated as delinquent or status offenders.
Promotion to Child & Family Services Specialist will occur after successful completion of required classroom and on-the-job training programs. Casework is handled out of offices in Gering, North Platte, Alliance, Chadron, Lexington, McCook, Ogallala, Sidney, Norfolk, Seward, York, Columbus, Dakota City, Fremont, Pender, Pierce, Ainsworth, Broken Bow, Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney, O'Neill, Omaha, Lincoln, Beatrice, Nebraska City, and Geneva. Applicants will be requested to designate preferred office locations on the application. Submitting an application for a continuously advertised position does not guarantee that a job is available for your preferred location. Applications can be submitted every 30 days in consideration for opportunities across the state. As positions in new locations become available, eligible applications will be considered. 

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REQUIREMENTS: A Bachelors degree in social work, psychology, sociology, counseling, human development, mental health care, education, criminal justice or other closely related area. Consideration will be given to applicants who will receive a Bachelor's degree within 90 days of application date.

Family life issues and dynamics; community services; child adolescent and adult behavior. Skill in: Interviewing clients to collect and elicit essential information and assess client's needs and progress; openly and honestly discussing concerns with others in a non-judgmental way. Ability to: Learn the importance of commitment to individuals and families; protect confidential information; communicate effectively with community service providers, law enforcement, the court and legal systems and vulnerable adults' families and/or advocates; organize and maintain case records; learn and apply the principles and practices of direct case management including assessment, analyzing critical information, plan development and implementation in setting up individual case/treatment plans; respond flexibly and adapt to new or changing circumstances; manage time and work flow to work independently and meet deadlines; exhibit a sense of fairness; be available through regular and predictable work attendance; demonstrate professionalism and operate basic computer software and hardware