READ THIS ENTIRE BULLETIN FOR INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO REAPPLY FOR THIS RECRUITMENT.

THIS IS A REOPENING OF AN EXISTING EXAMINATION. If you have previously applied or started an application for the Child Welfare Worker I, Exam 25-6740-01, read this entire bulletin. There are specific instructions on how to reapply for this position.

PLEASE CONTACT THE EXAMINATION ANALYST, Ione Bell AT IONE.BELL@ACGOV.ORG TO HAVE YOUR PREVIOUS APPLICATION RELEASED BACK TO YOU.

The scores and dispositions of candidates for this examination will be merged with previous exam participants. If you have previously submitted an application and choose to reapply, your new score/disposition will replace your current disposition.

Applications and supplemental questionnaires will only be accepted on-line.

The Alameda County Social
Services Agency (SSA) is comprised of almost 2,400 men and women working
collectively and in partnership with community-based organizations,
neighborhood groups and policy makers to serve the needs of the community. SSA
provides services through its administration and operating departments.
Administration includes Finance, Government and Community Relations, and Human
Resources.  SSA’s operations includes Adult and Aging Services, Children
and Family Services, and Workforce and Benefits Administration. 

The Social Services Agency assists one out of four of Alameda County’s
residents. The mission of the Social Services Agency is to promote the economic
and social well-being of individuals, families, neighborhoods, and
communities. 

To learn more about the Alameda County Social Services Agency, please
visit the website at  https://www.alamedasocialservices.org/.

THE
POSITION

The
Child Welfare Worker I is an entry-level classification. Under close
supervision, the Child Welfare Worker I provides intensive assessment, case
management and/or casework services toward providing the most stable home
environment for children who have been or are in danger of being abused,
neglected or abandoned, and may be assigned other duties. Child Welfare Worker
I’s are expected to gain experience and demonstrate proficiency which qualifies
them to promote to Child Welfare Worker II upon completion of one (1) year
full-time service.  The Child Welfare Worker I job assignment will not be
extended beyond one (1) year.

Child
Welfare Worker I positions are located in the Social Services Agency, in the
Department of Children and Family Services.

THE
IDEAL CANDIDATE

The
ideal candidates for the position of Child Welfare Worker must possess
knowledge of the laws and principles related to child welfare. They must
possess a broad knowledge and understanding of normal child development and how
trauma impacts the developmental process. The successful candidates will have
the skill and ability to conduct client interviews, assessment and crisis
intervention activities. They will understand normal family functioning and how
this functioning is impacted by trauma and loss. Incumbents in the position
will exercise sound judgment in making diagnostic risk assessments and
decisions regarding placement of children and handle high-pressure, crisis
situations professionally and be able to extract appropriate information during
such situations. They must be able to work with a variety of individuals with
varying degrees of mental health functioning, literacy, coping abilities and
life skills. They must have the ability to understand the role of the Agency in
the treatment plan and the Social Services Agency’s policies, procedures,
programs and services and be able to articulate this understanding to their
clients.

In
addition, the ideal candidate must possess the following: 

● The
ability to learn and adeptly apply principles regarding child welfare,

●  knowledge
of community resources,

●  the
ability to set limits to assist clients in taking steps toward greater
self-sufficiency,

●  the
ability to write clear, concise and descriptive reports under time restraints,

●  strong
written and verbal communication skills,

●  the
ability to work well under pressure and display sound time management
techniques,

●  an
appreciation for diversity.

For a detailed listing of the Child
Welfare Worker I duties, please click here.

EITHER I  

Education:  

Possession of a master’s degree from an accredited college or university in Counseling, or Clinical Psychology, Sociology, Education or an equivalent field (Vocational Rehabilitation majors not acceptable).

OR II  

Education:  

Possession of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university (180 quarter units or 120 semester units) with major coursework in psychology, sociology, social work, child development or an equivalent field (Vocational Rehabilitation majors not acceptable).  

AND

Experience:  

The equivalent of two (2) years of full-time post baccalaureate experience which involved the provision of direct services to families or children in one of the following or closely related areas:  child welfare, family counseling, juvenile probation, pediatric social work, alcohol and drug counseling, school social work, and school counseling.

The most suitably qualified candidates will possess the following competencies: .

Knowledge of:

• Principles of sociology and psychology relating to normal and abnormal human behavior and family and community dynamics.
• Child development and parenting skills.
• Interviewing techniques, including crisis intervention and counseling methods.
• The role of the Agency in the treatment plan and the Social Services Agency’s policies, procedures, programs and services.
• Community resources.
• Legal definitions of sexual molestation, physical abuse, general neglect, incest, failure to thrive, emotional abuse, medical neglect and other details of laws relating to child abuse reporting and other related areas of law.  

Ability to:

• Work cooperatively with varying interests and coordinate them towards achieving case plan and solving problems.
• Set limits to assist clients in taking steps toward greater self-sufficiency.
• Write clear, concise and descriptive reports under time restraints.
• Exercise sound judgment in making diagnostic risk assessments and decisions regarding placement of children.
• Deal effectively with hostile, disorganized or aggressive clients.
• supervision and consultation.
• Handle high-pressure, crisis situations professionally and extract appropriate information in such situations.
• Learn and use various computer applications such as word processing and databases.

THE EXAMINATION WILL CONSIST OF THE FOLLOWING STEPS:

1) A review of applicants’ applications to verify possession of minimum requirements. Those candidates who possess the minimum requirements for the class will move on to the next step in the examination process.

2) Oral Panel Interview Examination (Weighted as 100% of the final examination score): If the candidates meet the minimum qualifications, then the candidate will be invited to participate in an oral panel interview where they will be asked about past job experiences relating to the core competencies that successful incumbents of the job possess. The candidate who passes this portion of the exam will then be scored and put into rank order. The oral panel interview examination may also serve as the hiring interview at the discretion of the hiring authority. 

CANDIDATES MUST ATTAIN A QUALIFYING RATING ON EACH PORTION OF THIS EXAMINATION.

We reserve the right to make changes to the announced examination components. 

Alameda County utilizes a Civil Service Selection System founded on merit. Such a system is competitive and based on broad recruitment efforts and equal opportunity for qualified applicants to test in an examination process designed to determine the qualifications, fitness and ability of competitors to perform duties of the vacant position. Many of our recruitments are targeted and specific to the needs of a current vacant position, in which case, the eligible list may be exclusively used for that current vacant position. Other recruitments may be more broadly used for both current and future vacancies, or for other alternate jobs with comparable scopes of work.

To learn more about our recruitment and selection process, please visit the “What You Need to Know” section of our website, https://hrs.alamedacountyca.gov.

Applicants will be informed via email with reasonable notice in advance
of any examination process which will require their attendance. The
following dates are tentative and subject to change
based on the needs of the Agency.

*If designated as a combined oral examination/hiring interview, in addition to establishing an eligibility list, the oral interviews may serve as the final selection interview for vacancies in this classification. 

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO
MAKE CHANGES TO THE ANNOUNCED RECRUITMENT & SELECTION PLAN

Alameda County and the Human Resource Services Department will make
reasonable efforts in the examination and/or selection process to accommodate
qualified individuals with disabilities and/or medical conditions in
accordance/compliance with the State Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA),
Federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Alameda County’s Reasonable
Accommodation Policy and applicable statutes. To request an accommodation
due to a disability/medical condition during this or other phases of the
examination/selection process, please contact the assigned Human Resources
Representative listed on the job announcement before the last date
of filing. Alameda County requires applicants to provide
supporting documentation to substantiate a request for reasonable
accommodation. In order to qualify for a reasonable accommodation, applicants
must have a disability/medical condition pursuant to the ADA, FEHA and
applicable statutes. 

For more information regarding our Reasonable Accommodation procedures,
please visit our website:  www.acgov.org/hrs.

Alameda County offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package that affords wide-ranging health care options to meet the different needs of a diverse workforce and their families. We also sponsor many different employee discount, fitness and health screening programs focused on overall well being.  These benefits include but are not limited to*:

For your Health & Well-Being

• Medical – HMO & PPO Plans
• Dental – HMO & PPO Plans
• Vision or Vision Reimbursement
• Share the Savings
• Basic Life Insurance 
• Supplemental Life Insurance (with optional dependent coverage for eligible employees) 
• County Allowance Credit
• Flexible Spending Accounts – Health FSA, Dependent Care and Adoption Assistance
• Short-Term Disability Insurance
• Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Voluntary Benefits – Accident Insurance, Critical Illness, Hospital Indemnity and Legal Services
• Employee Assistance Program

For your Financial Future

• Retirement Plan – (Defined Benefit Pension Plan)
• Deferred Compensation Plan (457 Plan or Roth Plan)

For your Work/Life Balance

• 12 paid holidays
• Floating Holidays
• Vacation and sick leave accrual
• Vacation purchase program
• Catastrophic Sick Leave
• Pet Insurance
• Commuter Benefits Program
• Guaranteed Ride Home
• Employee Wellness Program (e.g. At Work Fitness, Incentive Based Programs, Gym Membership Discounts)
• Employee Discount Program (e.g. theme parks, cell phone, etc.)
• Child Care Resources
• 1^st United Services Credit Union 

*Eligibility is determined by Alameda County and offerings may vary by collective bargaining agreement.  This provides a brief summary of the benefits offered and can be subject to change.

All notices related to
County recruitments for which you have applied will be sent/delivered via
email. Please add @jobaps.com, @acgov.org,
Noreplyalamedacountyhr@acgov.org and Noreply@jobaps.com as
accepted addresses to any email blocking or spam filtering program you may use.
If you do not do this, your email blocking or spam filtering program may block
receipt of the notices regarding your application for recruitments. You are
also strongly advised to regularly log into your County of Alameda online
application account to check for notices that may have been sent to you. All
email notices that will be sent to you will also be kept in your personal
online application account. You will be able to view all of your notices in
your online application account by clicking on the “My applications”
button on the Current Job Openings page.

Please take the
steps recommended above to ensure you do not miss any notices about a
recruitment for which you have applied. The County of Alameda is not
responsible for notices that are not read, received or accessed by any
applicant for a County recruitment.

NOTE: All notices are
generated through an automated email notification system. Replies to the email
boxes Noreply@jobaps.com and
noreplyalamedacountyhr@acgov.org are routed to unmonitored mailboxes. If
you have questions, please go to our website at www.acgov.org/hrs. You may
also contact the Human Resources Analyst listed on the job announcement for the
recruitment for which you have applied.

Ione Bell | Human Resources Analyst

Human Resource Services, County of Alameda

(510) 272-6456 | Ione.bell@acgov.org

www.acgov.org/hrs

DISASTER SERVICE WORKER

All Alameda County employees are designated Disaster
Service Workers through state and local law.  Employment with the County
requires the affirmation of a loyalty oath to this effect. Employees are
required to report to work as ordered in the event of an emergency.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

Alameda County has a diverse workforce, that is
representative of the communities we serve and is proud to be an equal
opportunity employer. All aspects of employment are based on merit, competence,
performance and business need. Alameda County does not discriminate in
employment on the basis of, race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and
gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation,
marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee
organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other
non-merit factors protected under federal, state and local law. Alameda County
celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive, and welcoming
workplace environment.