Program Specialist

Job Location: Position will be in Constituent Services within Central Office. Base will be negotiable dependent on the applicant selected. Accepting within Children's Division only.

The Department of Social Services partners with families and communities to protect children, rehabilitate youth and move families to self-sufficiency so that Missourians can lead safe, healthy and productive lives.

Why you’ll love this position:

Are you passionate about helping people? Do you love working with children and families? Do you enjoy assisting people in difficult circumstances? The Department of Social Services - Children’s Division cares for at-risk children and families by providing family preservation and reunification services, investigating allegations of abuse and neglect, and conducting foster care and adoption case management. If you want to be part of a great team working to make a difference, please come join us!

What you’ll do:

• Coordinates, through research efforts, further development of policy and practice to include technical assistance statewide based on review of constituent concerns and after applying knowledge of policy and law to resolve issues. In conjunction, this position continues to monitor and evaluate compliance with overarching statue/policy/law to recommend areas of assistance and/or gaps in service and/or policy.
• Position regularly and daily reviews the Constituent Services log to retrieve incoming requests, in turn, reaches out to constituent and legislative inquiries to coordinate/mediate/facilitate/resolve issues with internal staff.
• Collaboration with Departmental and multi-disciplinary members on legislative, specialize requests and media through data, trends, and review responses.
• Receives letters from Office of Child Advocate for statewide review, reviews, tracks, and logs findings for compiling and identifying statewide trends for utilization.

All you need for success:

Minimum Qualifications

• A High School Diploma or High School Equivalent and Eight or more years of professional experience with a public or private agency in the delivery of protective services, including casework/case management in: investigation of abuse or neglect; coordination of foster care, adoptions, and family centered services; treatment/rehabilitation; and/or providing in-home family crisis intervention services, and possession of a valid vehicle operator’s license.

OR

• Two or more years of experience as a Senior Social Services Specialist (CSSP).

OR

• A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university (Substitutions allowed); and ,

Four or more years of professional or technical experience providing social services; or conducting investigations or audits of social service providers, recipients, and/or applicants.

(A combination of earned credit hours from an accredited college or university in the preferred fields such as social work, family and child development, special education, psychology, sociology, or related behavioral sciences and experience described may substitute for the stated qualifications. 30 credit hours are equivalent to 1 year of experience. Professional experience as described must be of a substantial period of time (over 50% of time)).

(Additional qualifying experience may substitute on a year-for-year basis for deficiencies in the stated college education.)

(Lack of post-secondary education will not be used as the sole basis denying consideration to any applicant)

Preferred Qualifications

• Ability to travel throughout the State of Missouri as needed
• This individual should have strong written, oral and analytical skills with knowledge and experience related to child welfare issues.
• Candidate should possess strong organization skills and ability to complete tasks and projects autonomously

More reasons to love this position:

The State of Missouri offers an excellent benefits package that includes a defined pension plan, generous amounts of leave and holiday time, and eligibility for health insurance coverage. Your total compensation is more than the dollars you receive in your paycheck. To help demonstrate the value of working for the State of Missouri, we have created an interactive Total Compensation Calculator. This tool provides a comprehensive view of benefits and more that are offered to prospective employees. The Total Compensation Calculator and other applicant resources can be found here .

If you have questions about this position please contact: CD-HR@dss.mo.gov

The State of Missouri is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

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• State of Missouri

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