ABOUT THE POSITION

Social Services Practitioner III - Per Diem
Child Life Specialist

Masters Degree in Child Life REQUIRED!
Child Life Certification Required within 12 months of hire.

The Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley is seeking a Social Services Practitioner III to work as a Child Life Specialist. The Child Life Specialist position plans, implements, and evaluates the Child Life program within RUHS-MC. Child Life Specialists provide emotional, social, and educational services to the pediatric patients at RUHS, adult patients with children wanting to visit, crisis response during pediatric traumas, grief support for children, developmentally appropriate diversion activities, as well as medical education to children undergoing surgery. Child Life Specialists supervise child visits for patients expected to expire and provide additional support to families with grieving children.

Under general direction, performs difficult social service casework dealing with complex individual and family problems or social service casework for patients and their families in healthcare facilities; plans, organizes, implements, and evaluates all clinical services provided to pediatric patients and needs of children in required assignments; may participate in and assist with conducting in-service training programs; may provide leadership as a program consultant in the utilization of casework concepts and methodology; performs other related duties as required.

The Social Services Practitioner Ill - Per Diem is a broad range journey to advanced level classification of the professionally trained social caseworker in the Social Services Practitioner - Per Diem series and reports to an appropriate supervisory or manager level position. Incumbents are characterized by the responsibility for performing full scope social service casework often requiring difficult diagnosis and intensive treatment services.

Depending on area of assignment, incumbents may be required to have a master's degree from an accredited college or university in social work, social welfare, social or behavioral sciences, or social/ human services.

The Social Services Practitioner Ill - Per Diem is distinguished from the Social Services Supervisor by the latter's responsibility to provide full time supervision of staff performing casework. The Social Services Practitioner Ill - Per Diem is not a natural progression underfill to the Social Services Supervisor.

Per Diem personnel are distinguished from regular employees in that they receive additional compensation in lieu of County fringe benefits and work assignments are flexibly scheduled or on an as needed basis.

Hours:
Evening and weekend coverage
Evenings as needed (6p-11p) and weekends for 12 hours

EXAMPLES OF ESSENTIAL DUTIES

• Carry a caseload of the more difficult types of social service cases requiring a high degree of technical competence where social or family problems or environmental forces adversely affect family life; assess client's problems and develop treatment plans; lead self-care, well-being and educational courses to community participants and/or staff.
• Complete case studies for the purpose of assessing problems and determining appropriate types and methods of treatment; develop intensive long or short-term treatment plans to improve or restore individual or family functioning.
• Act in a lead capacity for a small group of Social Services Practitioners or services employees, such as aides and volunteers.
• Act as a casework consultant to staff members without professional training.
• Function at a highly skilled level in such areas as counseling, protective services, medical social work, family services, community organization, and adoptive services.
• Take part in staff development programs to increase knowledge of the social work processes and augment personal technical competence.
• Provide therapeutic marital, family interrelationship and adoptive parent counseling.
• Investigate and provide services to clients where their physical or emotional welfare is involved; work with cases involving neglect, abuse, emotional or behavioral problems, physical/mental disabilities, or other health conditions affecting a client's personality, family relationships, child, or in-home care arrangements.
• Provide services and counseling in cases of desertion or impending loss of a spouse, child, or caretaker.
• Interpret public social service rules, regulations and policies to clients and the public.
• Maintain casework records and prepare reports and correspondences.
• Frequently conduct field visits, away from the home office, which may include long distances in order to carry out service plans, observe and assess client needs, and provide information and social work services.
• Assess client family environment in order to determine potential or imminent risk to the safety of children/disabled adults/elderly residing in the household; when safety needs dictate, remove child/ disabled adults/elderly from home and transport them, complying with all safety regulations, including the use of age appropriate California safety mandated equipment, when assisting with initial removal or facilitating a placement change, which may include managing/lifting the client's necessary assistive equipment (e.g., wheelchair).
• Maintain up-to-date electronic records of all aspects of client case management in a centralized database.
• Perform studies of patients and their families to determine the nature of their problems; learn to develop the most effective treatment methods and treatment plans according to need.
• Interview patients, families and friends to obtain information for case records.
• Assess the psychosocial needs of pediatric patients and initiate appropriate interaction accordingly.
• Coordinate and consult with medical and other staff members and with outside agencies regarding available resources.
• Learn to interpret significant emotional, social and economic factors to healthcare team members.
• Participate in seminars of other types of training programs to enhance social work capabilities; may participate in group therapy.
• Assist in conducting training of social service aspects of medical treatment for healthcare personnel outside of the social services unit.
• Under close supervision, provide social casework services to help patients and their families adjust to social, emotional and financial problems created by illness or disability.
• Plan, implement and evaluate the Child Life Program.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Education: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a master's degree in social or behavioral sciences, social/human services, child life, child development or a closely related field to the assignment.

Knowledge of: Principles and techniques of social casework and of the function of public social service agencies; individual and group behavior with emphasis on normal growth, development and family relationships; social casework objectives, principles and methods; socioeconomic and cultural factors which promote stable family life, and an understanding of the factors that affect family security; physical and mental illnesses and their impact on personality; community organizations and the services they provide; laws, rules and regulations governing the operation of public social services agencies; basic computer skills.

Ability to: Establish rapport with clients and their families; effectively apply casework knowledge and skills; apply the principles of general and/or child psychology and family relationships; evaluate personal and psychological factors in the client and/or family's situation; work constructively within an agency and community setting; effectively utilize appropriate resources and services; provide consultation to others; demonstrate skill in planning and analysis; control personal bias and apply social work ethics; maintain effective working relationships with other employees and the general public; provide consultation to and assist in the professional development of less experienced Social Services Practitioners; input and retrieve data from computerized system.

Other Requirements
License: Possession of a valid California Driver's License is necessary at the time of hire and must be maintained throughout employment. County vehicles may be available but are not guaranteed. Employees may be required to use their own vehicle for field travel. Mileage reimbursement is available when using a personal vehicle for County business.

Incumbents may be required to participate in a mandatory on-call schedule.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
Reasonable Accommodations
The County of Riverside is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to applicants as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). If you are a qualified individual and need a reasonable accommodation to take this exam, contact the recruiter before taking the exam. For additional information and the accommodation form, visit the Disability Access Office web page at: http: //dao.rc-hr.com

Veterans' Preference
The County has a Veteran's Preference Policy. Upload a copy of your (or your spouse's) Member-4 Form DD-214 indicating dates of service, and a copy of your spouse's letter of disability (if applicable) with your application. For privacy reasons, it is recommended that you remove your social security information from the document(s). A Human Resources Representative will review the materials and determine if you qualify for veterans' preference. See the policy here .

Pre-Employment
All employment offers are contingent upon successful completion of both a pre-employment physical exam, including a drug/alcohol test, and a criminal background investigation, which involves fingerprinting. (A felony or misdemeanor conviction may disqualify the applicant from County employment).

Probationary Period
As an Approved Local Merit System, all County of Riverside employees, except those serving "At Will, " are subject to the probationary period provisions as specified in the applicable Memorandum of Understanding, County Resolution, or Salary Ordinance. Temporary and Per Diem employees serve at the pleasure of the agency/department head.

What's Next?

This recruitment is open to all applicants.

Application Period
BASED ON THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS RECEIVED, THIS POSTING MAY CLOSE WITHOUT NOTICE.

Applications will be reviewed in the order of when it was received.

Applications received prior to the closing date will be considered based on the information submitted. Changes or alterations cannot be accepted. All applicants must submit a complete application by the closing date of this recruitment. No late applications will be permitted.

Include relevant work experience details on your resume and/or application.
Applicants who fail to provide information demonstrating they possess the position requirements may not be considered further in the application process. A description of job duties directly copied from the job classification or job posting will not be considered.

Upload a copy of any license(s), official/unofficial transcript(s), degrees, and/or related employment documents to your NeoGov account. If your education was completed outside of the United States, you will need to provide a copy of your Foreign Education Equivalency evaluation from a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services ( NACES ) or Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc. ( AICE ).

For questions regarding this recruitment contact the recruiter, Jeremy Holforty:
jholfort@rivco.org/ 951-955-5558.

GENERAL APPLICATION INFORMATION:

Please read and follow any special application instructions on this posting. Click the 'Apply' link located on this page to submit your application. For instructions on the application process, examinations, Veteran's preference, pre-employment accommodation or other employment questions, please refer to our web site, www.rc-hr.com . A pre-employment physical examination and background check may be required.

SEIU Per Diem employees participate in the 401(a) Temporary and Part-Time Employees' Retirement Plan and are required to contribute 3.75% of salary to the pension plan. The County contributes a matching amount.

Note: Employees on assignment through the Temporary Assignment Program (TAP) receive different benefits. See the list here .