Child Welfare Consultant Child Welfare Consultant

Supplemental Information

Department MISSION

DCFS is working to keep children safe, helping individuals and families become self-sufficient, and providing safe refuge during disasters.

Department VISION

We care for the well-being and safety of Louisiana’s people.

Department VALUES

Treating all people with dignity, compassion and respect, while providing services with integrity.

This vacancy is located in the Child Welfare Section, State Office Building, Baton Rouge, La.

This position may be filled as a probational appointment or a job appointment that may last up to 48 months. Job appointments may convert to probational appointments. Also, it may be filled as a detail and promoted within 12 months.

You must include all relevant education and experience on your official State application.

Resumes cannot be submitted in lieu of completing an application.

The duties that you describe in the Work Experience section of your application will be reviewed by State Civil Service as part of the process in determining if you meet the minimum qualifications for this job. 

Your experience WILL NOT be evaluated based on the job title alone. You must describe your actual duties. If you are a current employee of the State of Louisiana it is important that you indicate in the “Duties” section for each job the specific programs that you worked in to receive credit for that experience.

List all prior employment. Work experience left off of your electronic application or only included in an attached resume will not be credited. Resumes WILL NOT be accepted in lieu of completed education and experience sections on your application. Incomplete applications will not be considered. 

Applicants qualifying based on college training or receipt of a baccalaureate degree will be required to submit an official college transcript to verify credentials claimed prior to appointment. Please make every effort to attach a copy of your transcript to your application. The transcripts can be added as an attachment to your online application. The selected candidate will be required to submit original documentation upon hire.

No Civil Service test score or assessment is required to be considered for this vacancy.

To apply for this vacancy, click on the “Apply” link above and complete an electronic application, which can be used for this vacancy as well as future job opportunities. Applicants are responsible for checking the status of their application to determine where they are in the recruitment process. Further status message information is located under the Information section of the Current Job Opportunities page.

DCFS is an “Equal Opportunity Employer” and Louisiana is a “State as a Model Employer for People with Disabilities”. 

For additional information about this vacancy, please contact Etrena Gerard via e-mail at [email protected]

Minimum Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: 

Any of the following will qualify:

1. A baccalaureate degree plus four years of professional level experience in administrative services, social services, or health services.

2. A baccalaureate degree plus four years of law enforcement or investigatory experience. 

SUBSTITUTIONS: 

Six years of full-time work experience in any field may be substituted for the required baccalaureate degree.

Candidates without a baccalaureate degree may combine work experience and college credit to substitute for the baccalaureate degree as follows:

A maximum of 120 semester hours may be combined with experience to substitute for the baccalaureate degree.

30 to 59 semester hours credit will substitute for one year of experience towards the baccalaureate degree. 

60 to 89 semester hours credit will substitute for two years of experience towards the baccalaureate degree. 

90 to 119 semester hours credit will substitute for three years of experience towards the baccalaureate degree. 

120 or more semester hours credit will substitute for four years of experience towards the baccalaureate degree.

College credit earned without obtaining a baccalaureate degree may be substituted for a maximum of four years full-time work experience towards the baccalaureate degree. Candidates with 120 or more semester hours of credit, but without a degree, must also have at least two years of full-time work experience to substitute for the baccalaureate degree.

A baccalaureate degree in social work; psychology; psychiatric nursing; psychiatry; mental health counseling; rehabilitation counseling; psychological counseling; criminal justice; sociology; applied sociology; human services counseling; education with a concentration in special education; family and consumer sciences with a concentration in child, family and social services; guidance and counseling; human development counseling; social services counseling; vocational rehabilitation; or human services from an accredited institution will substitute for one year of experience.

Graduate training in one or any combination of the above fields will substitute for a maximum of one year of the experience on the basis of thirty semester hours for one year of experience. 

A master’s degree in the above fields will substitute for one year of the required experience. 

A Juris Doctorate will substitute for one year of the required experience. 

Graduate training with less than a Ph.D. will substitute for a maximum of one year of the required experience. 

A Ph.D. in the above fields will substitute for two years of the required experience.

Specialized college course work will substitute for a maximum of two years of the required experience.

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENT:

Possession of a high school diploma or equivalent.

A valid driver’s license and access to a personal vehicle.

NOTE:

The incumbent of this position must not have been convicted or pled nolo contendere to a crime listed in R.S. 15.587.1 (c).

NOTE: 

Any college hours or degree must be from an accredited college or university.

Job Concepts

FUNCTION OF WORK:

To provide consultation and program guidance to managers and other child welfare staff. 

LEVEL OF WORK:

Advanced.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED:

Broad from a Child Welfare Manager or equivalent/higher level personnel.

SUPERVISION EXERCISED:

May have functional supervision over staff in assigned program areas.

LOCATION OF WORK:

Department of Children and Family Services.

JOB DISTINCTIONS:

Differs from Child Welfare Supervisor by the absence of direct supervisory responsibility.

Differs from Child Welfare Manager 1 by the absence of responsibility for managing a field operations unit or a state office section responsible for the administration of child welfare programs.

Examples of Work

EXAMPLES LISTED BELOW INCLUDE BRIEF SAMPLES OF COMMON DUTIES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS JOB TITLE. PLEASE NOTE THAT NOT ALL TASKS ARE INCLUDED.

STATE OFFICE CONSULTANT FUNCTION

Develops and recommends goals and objectives for specific program area on a statewide basis.

Participates in statewide organizational goal setting and monitoring.

Develops and/or interprets policy issues related to specific major program areas, and participates in program data collection and analysis.

Provides technical assistance and consultation to all staff statewide.

Coordinates programmatic and client services needs with other state and private agencies.

Proposes and analyzes legislation for assessment of operational or programmatic impact, assures implementation of enacted legislation to assure agency compliance, and may testify before legislative committees.

Maintains responsibility for budget planning and monitoring in specific program areas, which may include the coordination of Federal funding, grant applications and management, etc.

Manages professional service contracts on a statewide basis; contracts with multidisciplinary team consultants and assists with problem resolution statewide.

Represents assigned area(s) in department meetings to give input and share in decision-making.

Reviews local office compliance with policy through on-site visits and case record review.

Identifies and reviews training needs of service delivery and staff; participates in training sessions.

Makes presentations to the public about service program and assists with public awareness.

Assures agency compliance with prevention of removal and family preservation effort requirements as mandated by Federal legislation.

Provides ongoing monitoring of program payments and expenditures by reviewing computer and monitoring reports or by collecting and analyzing raw data.

Responsible for developing additional placement resources for children including foster family homes, residential facilities, and adoptive homes.

Responsible for addressing programmatic, operational, and/or client-specific legal issues with staff attorneys, Attorney General, and private attorneys.

May serve as agency representative/liaison to support groups, community, and organizations. 

REGIONAL CONSULTANT FUNCTION

Provides case consultation for problem areas/difficult cases and assumes the role of consultant at staffings involving development of case plans designed to maximize the chances of achieving permanency plan goals. 

Conducts case reviews and staffings by developing, monitoring, and assessing report findings.

Responsible for program development including identification of policy needs, clarification and/or revisions.

Identifies training needs of local office staff and works in conjunction with the regional trainer in provision of training.

Provides case consultation of local and regional staff when written policy is not available.

REGIONAL PLACEMENT SPECIALIST FUNCTION

Assists staff with hard to place children needing restrictive placement through coordination of service delivery with public and private agencies and other offices.

Monitors bed-caps at residential facilities and approves emergency placements that exceed limitation.

Attends preservation staffings on children who have experienced at least three failed placements.

Provides consultation to restrictive facility staff and therapeutic foster care providers.

Serves as community liaison to community resources in development of programs to meet client needs.

Provides supervision of the Therapeutic Family Care Programs and Restrictive Care facilities.

Louisiana State Government represents a wide variety of career options and offers an outstanding opportunity to make a difference through public service. With an array of career opportunities in every major metropolitan center and in many rural areas, state employment provides an outstanding option to begin or continue your career. 

As a state employee, you will earn competitive pay, choose from a variety of benefits, and have access to a great professional development program:

Insurance Coverage More information can be found at https://info.groupbenefits.org/

Parental Leave – Up to six weeks paid parental leave

More information can be found at https://www.civilservice.louisiana.gov/Parental-Leave/Default.aspx

Holidays and Leave – State employees receive the following paid holidays each year:

• New Year’s Day
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day,
• Mardi Gras,
• Good Friday,
• Memorial Day,
• Independence Day,
• Labor Day,
• Veteran’s Day,
• Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
• Additional holidays may be proclaimed by the Governor

State employees earn sick and annual leave which can be accumulated and saved for future use. Your accrual rate increases as your years of service increase.

Retirement – State of Louisiana employees are eligible to participate in various retirement systems (based on the type of appointment and agency for which an employee works). These retirement systems provide retirement allowances and other benefits for state officers and employees and their beneficiaries. State retirement systems may include (but are not limited to):

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System (www.lasersonline.org). LASERS has provided this video to give you more detailed information about their system
• Teacher’s Retirement System of Louisiana (www.trsl.org),
• Louisiana School Employees Retirement System (www.lsers.net), among others

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