Social Work Supervisor

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Division of Family Well-Being and Protection, Bureau of Child Protective Services is seeking a Social Work Supervisor to join our team! 

Do you enjoy working with children and families? If so, this is a great opportunity! Iowa Department of Health and Human Services has a current opening for a team member in the Family and Child Well-Being Division. HHS is responsible for working with families who have experienced abuse and neglect. You play a key role in preparing and supporting children and families to be successful. You will also assist families in realizing their full potential by working with them as experts, case planning with team members, and the courts, and connecting families to community resources. 

HHS, Family Well-Being and Protection Division, is seeking Child Protection Supervisors (Social Work Supervisors) to plan, direct and supervise a unit of social workers who conduct child abuse assessments and/or provide child welfare services. This is a full-time opportunity, Monday – Friday with typical hours being from 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM with extra hours as needed including after-hours and weekend on call rotation. These positions require an in-office presence to your assigned location and travel to various other offices within the Service Area to meet with staff, attend court hearings and meet with clients an families as needed. Mileage is paid at $0.50/mile travelled according to the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) State Accounting Enterprise Procedures. A valid driver’s license is required; however, you may request to reserve a state vehicle if available. 

This position will be domiciled (work location) in Burlington and will provide services in that and surrounding counties. 

Daily responsibilities will include but are not limited to: 

• Coordination and implementation of goals and objectives to achieve desired outcomes
• Clinical supervision around case outcomes to assure the safety of children
• Communicating and adhering to current policy and procedure affecting the work
• Assignment work to ensure efficiency in service delivery and equitable workload and approve travel claims, payroll, leave requests and other personnel functions
• Assigning and monitoring all work schedules, manage overtime allocations, and providing input to administration
• General supervision around job duties and performance through regularly scheduled individual supervisory conferences
• Training all new employees and providing regular performance evaluations to all staff at least annually
• Reviewing and approving all legal documents prior to their submission and assuring staff maintain compliance with Iowa Code
• Conducting case record reviews to ensure compliance and quality Reviewing worker written work, computer documents, and various other documents to ensure accuracy and timeliness
• Use of various forms of technological resources to monitor, track, approve and direct work flow Conducting regular unit meetings

• Responding to customer and employee inquiries and concerns in a timely manner to assure that issues are resolved. Establishing and maintaining working relationships with collaterals and maintaining a working knowledge of community resources
• On a rotating basis, be available to all staff after hours and on-call as needed providing case consultation, crisis resolution, and approval of emergency removals. 

The ideal candidate will be able to meet the following requirements: 

• Within an office environment, provides support to large segment of agency through managing internal and external requests for information and legislative reviews requiring comprehension of request, independent judgment to assign and adherence to agency formatting of timely response or communication
• Knowledge of the principles of supervision, including delegation of work, training of subordinates, performance evaluation, discipline, and hiring
• Knowledge of interviewing skills and techniques
• Obtains information from a wide variety of sources, including written materials, telephone conversations and through computer databases and to be able to read and interpret the data. Ability and knowledge of Word, Excel, and the Internet
• Applies essential elements of management and administration in assigned office. Recognizes and defines problems, gathers facts using problem-solving tools, develops practical solutions, analyzes each potential solution, compares the outcome of each solution, and select the best solution to solve the problem
• Effectively communicates orally by expressing ideas and facts to individuals or groups
• Makes clear and convincing oral presentations
• Listens to others
• Facilitates an open exchange of ideas
• Build, foster and maintain partnerships at a variety of levels
• Applies innovative solutions to problems
• Designs new methods where established methods and procedures are inapplicable or are unavailable
• Identifies a need for and knows where or how to gather information by prioritizing, organizing and maintains information to meet completion deadlines
• Identifies rules, principles, or relationships that explain reasonable facts, data, or other information that analyzes information and makes correct inferences or draws accurate conclusions
• Displays high standards of ethical conduct. Exhibits honesty and integrity. Refrains from theft-related, dishonest, or unethical behavior
• Maintains regular attendance at work and report to work on time. Field Operations processes contain critical time frames and excessive absenteeism impacts the meeting of the time frames, which negatively impacts customer satisfaction
• Responds appropriately to supervision. Follows policy and cooperates with supervisors
• Coordinates and oversees office budget and budget control mechanism. Plans, administers, and monitors expenditures to ensure cost-effective support of programs and policies
• Works in a team environment. The ability to manage group processes
• Encourages and facilitates cooperation, pride, trust, and group identity, fosters commitment and team spirit
• Works with others to achieve goals
• Deals calmly and effectively with high stress situations (For example, tight deadlines, hostile individuals, emergency situations, dangerous situations)
• Communicates effectively in writing as well as orally to express ideas and facts to individuals or groups. Actively listens to facilitate the exchange of information to provide positive and professional customer service both within the agency and in the community
• Ability to travel, which will involve some overnight travel
• Ability to work extra hours as needed to get tasks completed.

Preference will be given to the ability to speak more than one language. Please list any additional languages you speak in your application. 

Preference will be given for education or experience which correlates directly with the requirements and duties of the position.

Benefits

Working for the State of Iowa comes with its perks. In addition to a competitive salary, you'll enjoy a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your well-being and professional growth:

• Insurance Coverage: Benefit from life insurance and free long-term disability insurance for added peace of mind.
• Employee Assistance Program: Access resources and support through our Employee Assistance Program for personal and professional challenges.

For additional information on benefits click here.

Click here to see how we compare with other employers or offers by using our Total Compensation Calculator.

Background Checks

Applicants will be required to complete a background check to be considered for this position. 

The State of Iowa is an EEO/AA Employer

HHS values those with “lived experience” and encourages adults who were fostered as youth, foster parents, and/or parents who were in the DHS system to apply. Minorities, women, persons with disabilities and veterans are encouraged to apply (Hearing and Speech Impaired – Relay Iowa 1-800-735-2942 TDD).

Our agency uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify.