CPS Conservatorship Worker

Job Description:
OVERVIEW
Whenever a child must be removed from their home, Texas courts appoint Child Protective Services (CPS) to serve as a "Conservator" of the child. Conservatorship Specialists are a specific type of caseworker legally responsible for a child's welfare whenever they are removed from their home and monitors children's care while in CPS conservatorship. They work closely with parents, extended family, and legal parties to help children find a permanent, safe place to live.
Newly hired employees holding a Master's Degree in Social Worker may qualify for an increase at the point of hire.
A Child Protective Services Conservatorship Specialist- SAO CPS Conservatorship Specialist .
WHY WORK FOR DFPS?
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) is responsible for protecting the unprotected - children, elderly, and people with disabilities - from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. DFPS accomplishes this responsibility by employing over 12,000 workers who live up to the agency's Mission, Vision, & Values in service to the citizens of Texas.
DFPS is not only a qualifying organization for the Service Loan Forgiveness Program , which forgives the remaining balance on college student Direct Loans after making 120 qualifying monthly payments, but also offers excellent health benefits , special discounts on many products and services through the Discount Purchase Program , a lifetime monthly retirement annuity as well as Texa$aver 401(k) and 457 Programs under the Employees Retirement System of Texas. An additional benefit you will receive is 12 days of paid annual leave, 12 sick days, and the potential to earn up to four days of administrative leave each year. Your annual paid leave accrual increases as your tenure increases.
HELP US MAKE A DIFFERENCE:
To explore more of what CPS Conservatorship Specialists do, click here .
To view a realistic online video about Child Protective Services workers and clients, please click here .
You will also have access to a self-assessment that will help you determine if this type of work is something that is a good fit for you.
DFPS is committed to its employees' professional development and ongoing success, and offers the DFPS Certification Program to enhance skills and advance careers within our organization. The program is tailored specifically for DFPS employees, provides the opportunity to earn additional compensation through a supportive learning environment that fosters growth and innovation, and equips participants with the knowledge and skills needed to deepen their expertise in their respective role.
Essential Job Functions:
• Receives cases from investigators after children are removed from their homes, placed in CPS conservatorship, and placed in care outside their homes.
• Determines each child's needs and ensuring that appropriate referrals for testing, evaluations, records, or further assessments are made. Ensures all services are focused on achieving positive permanency.
• Working with children, families, and communities to plan for a child's permanency.
• Identifying potential permanency resources for the child through ongoing contact with parents, family members, and other individuals the child and family identify as important to them.
• Searching for potential kinship providers throughout the case. Completing home studies of a child's family members or family friends (kinship providers) who might care for the child.
• Meets with the parents to assess risk and safety issues, identify behavior changes necessary to achieve child safety, referring parents to appropriate services to address the identified needs to move towards positive permanency. Discusses with parents their progress towards making changes to behaviors that pose dangers to their child(ren).
• Meets with children, parents, family friends, or foster homes in public as well as in their own homes.
• Collaborates with a Placement Team, including Kinship staff, for placements, as needed.
• Participates in meetings and conferences at times and places convenient for the family members as well as everyone involved in the case.
• Visits children monthly to assess the child's feeling of safety in their current home, to plan for permanency, and to discuss their needs, wishes, and progress while in care
• Attends and participates in court hearings about the child and family. This includes contacting the parties in the case before hearings, preparing court reports, and testifying in court on the child's needs, the family's progress, and the department's efforts to achieve permanency for the child.
• Keeps the child's, parents, caregivers, court-appointed attorney and guardian ad litem(s) informed about the child's circumstances and significant events.
• Works with the department's attorney to prepare for contested-court hearings and trials.
• Works with kinship caregivers and foster parents to ensure that they have what they need to care for the child or youth placed with them i.e., keeping them informed about developments in the case, returning phone calls, and in some areas of the state being available 24 hours a day / 7 days a week at certain times.
• Transitions children home during reunification services and provides support to the family until the legal case is closed.
• Supervises adoptive placements until the adoption is final or until the case is transferred to an adoption caseworker.
• Using effective time-management skills to make sure all key tasks are done.
• Documents case records by completing forms, narratives, and reports to form a written record for each client.
• Develops and maintains effective working relationships between Child Protective Services staff and law enforcement officials, judicial officials, legal resources, medical professionals, and other community resources.
• Performs other duties as assigned and required to maintain unit operations.
• Promotes and demonstrates appropriate respect for cultural diversity among coworkers, clients, and all work-related contacts.
• Attends work regularly in accordance with agency leave policy.
Knowledge Skills Abilities:
• Knowledge of child development
• Knowledge of family dynamics
• Skill in effective verbal and written communication.
• Skill in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships.
• Skill in problem solving techniques
• Ability to operate a personal computer.
• Ability to travel and attend child and family visits as well as other work related appointments and meetings after 5pm.
• Ability to be on call on a rotating basis and work irregular hours.
• Ability to work in an emotion-filled environment and which may require conducting home visits in isolated or high crime areas and may involve exposure to substandard and unsanitary living conditions.
Registration or Licensure Requirements:
This position requires use of the applicant's personal motor vehicle to complete job functions.
Applicants for positions must have a reliable motor vehicle, and acceptable driving record for the past five years, and a current, valid Texas driver's license appropriate for the vehicle and passenger or cargo load. Applicants must provide proof of driving record, insurance, and license.
Initial Selection Criteria:
Child Protective Services Conservatorship Worker I: An accredited Bachelor's degree OR accredited Associate's degree plus two (2) years of relevant work experience OR 60 accredited college credit hours plus two (2) years relevant work experience OR 90 accredited college credit hours plus one (1) year of relevant work experience.
Examples of relevant work experience in social, human, or protective services include paid or volunteer work within social service agencies or communities providing services to families or other at-risk populations.
Child Protective Services Conservatorship Worker II: Employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist I for 9 months AND have received Child Protective Services Specialist Certification OR currently employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist II or Child Protective Investigations Specialist II in Texas Department of Family and Protective Services OR previously employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist II or Child Protective Investigations Specialist II in Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
Child Protective Services Conservatorship Worker III: Employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist II for 9 months AND have received Advanced Child Protective Services Specialist Certification OR currently employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist III or Child Protective Investigations Specialist III in Texas Department of Family and Protective Services OR previously employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist III or Child Protective Investigations Specialist III in Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
Child Protective Services Conservatorship Worker IV: Employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist III for 24 months AND have received Senior Advanced Child Protective Services Specialist Certification OR currently employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist IV or Child Protective Investigations Specialist IV in Texas Department of Family and Protective Services OR previously employed as a Child Protective Services Specialist IV or Child Protective Investigations Specialist IV in Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
Additional Information:
REQUISITION# 619204
Community-Based Care (CBC) is a new way to provide services than traditional foster care because it gives local communities the flexibility to draw on local strengths and resources and find innovative ways to meet the unique and individual needs of children and their families. CBC includes many of the services that Child Protective Services (CPS) normally provides. This includes foster care, case management, kinship, and reunification services. A single contractor in each designated community area creates a network of services, foster homes, and other living arrangements and, when ready, provides case management for each child and their family as well. CPS works with each contractor (Single Source Continuum Contractor or SSCC) to carefully manage the transition from traditional foster care to community-driven care. Full implementation of CBC is projected for the year 2029 across the state of Texas. With open proposal options, any given community or regional area may be selected for CBC transition. This position along with your job duties and function will shift form a state position with Texas Department of Family Protective Services to the SSCC, which is a private and non-profit agency serving the same foster care population. After the transition, your office location is subject to change within your same county which is expected to occur before 2029. To learn more about CBC, please visit here .
This position may be filled at any level from a Child Protective Services Conservatorship Worker I to a Child Protective Services Conservatorship Worker IV. Factors such as education and experience may be considered when establishing the starting salary.
Applicants considered for placement in this position will be required to pass a drug screening. At the point of offer, candidates will be referred to a testing site. Note that it is important to maintain current contact information in the event you are referred for testing. A final offer of employment will not be extended until the agency receives confirmation of successful test results.
During the 83rd Legislature (2013), the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 427 which requires prospective and current child placing agency (CPA) employees to complete a Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) fingerprint check. Child Protective Services functions as a CPA therefore a fingerprint check will be required for each Conservatorship (CVS) and Foster/Adoption home (FAD) direct delivery staff or applicant being considered for employment.
This position will be in a mobile unit which means the majority of the work will be conducted using mobile technology, such as a tablet, while away from the office. Being mobile requires working independently yet still being responsive to supervision and your assigned unit.
Newly hired DFPS employees in eligible positions will be assigned a DFPS cellular phone.
Learn about the essential COMPETENCIES required/acquired during the first few months of employment:
Core Competencies .
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
These requirements are not exhaustive, and additional job related physical requirements may be added to these by individual agencies on an as needed basis. Corrective devices may be used to meet physical requirements. These are typical requirements; however, reasonable accommodations are possible.
Physical Activities: He/she is frequently asked to stand, hear and talk; he/she is occasionally asked to climb.
Physical Demands: The incumbent typically performs work that requires him/her to exert up to 20 pounds occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects.
Visual Requirements: The incumbent must be able to see objects clearly at 20 inches or less, and at 20 or more feet. In addition, he/she must be able to adjust his/her eyes to bring objects into focus, distinguish colors, see objects in his/her peripheral vision, and see objects in three dimensions.
Working Conditions: He/she typically works in a mobile environment (the majority of work is performed outside of the office environment) and is exposed occasionally to adverse environmental conditions including, but not necessarily limited to, extreme heat, wetness and humidity, chemicals, close quarters, gases and heights.
Interview Requirements:
Any candidate who is called to an agency for an interview must notify the interviewing agency in writing of any reasonable accommodation needed prior to the date of the interview.
MOS Code:
Note: There are no direct military occupation(s) that relate to the initial selection criteria and registration or licensure requirements for this position. All active duty, reservists, guardsmen, and veterans are encouraged to apply. For more information see the Texas State Auditor's Military Crosswalk .
As a state agency, DFPS is required Texas Administrative Code (TAC 206 and 213) to ensure all Electronic Information Resources (EIR) follow accessibility standards. The staff must be familiar with the WCAG 2.1 AA and Section 508 to create accessible content including but not limited to; Microsoft Office documents, Adobe PDFs, webpages, software, training guides, video, and audio files.
HHS agencies use E-Verify. You must bring your I-9 documentation with you on your first day of work.
I-9 Form - Click here to download the I-9 form.
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), HHS agencies will provide reasonable accommodation during the hiring and selection process for qualified individuals with a disability. If you need assistance completing the on-line application, contact the HHS Employee Service Center at 1-888-894-4747. If you are contacted for an interview and need accommodation to participate in the interview process, please notify the person scheduling the interview.