CPS Conservatorship Worker

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Overview

Human Resource Specialist V at Texas Department of Family and Protective Services

When 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 when they are removed from their home and monitor 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\u2019s Degree in Social Work may qualify for an increase at the point of hire.

Essential Job Functions (EJFs)

• 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 ensures that appropriate referrals for testing, evaluations, records, or further assessments are made. Ensures all services are focused on achieving positive permanency.
• Works with children, families, and communities to plan for a child\'s permanency.
• Identifies 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.
• Searches for potential kinship providers throughout the case. Completes 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 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, including 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.
• Uses effective time-management skills to ensure 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 and Abilities (KSAs)

Registrations, Licensure Requirements or Certifications

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 Screening Criteria

Child Protective Services Conservatorship Worker I : An accredited Bachelor\u2019s degree OR accredited Associate\u2019s 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.

Additional Information

Community-Based Care (CBC) is a new way to provide services that gives local communities flexibility to draw on local strengths and resources to meet the unique needs of children and their families. CBC includes many of the services that CPS normally provides, including 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. 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 2029 across Texas. This position, along with your job duties, may shift from a state position with DFPS to the SSCC, a private / non-profit agency serving the same foster care population. After the transition, your office location is subject to change within your county, which is expected before 2029. Learn more about CBC at Community-Based Care.

This position may be filled at any level from a Conservatorship Worker I to a 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. A final offer of employment will not be extended until the agency receives confirmation of successful test results.

During the 83rd Legislature (2013), Senate Bill (SB) 427 required FBI fingerprint checks for CPA employees. CPS functions as a CPA; fingerprint checks will be required for Conservatorship and related roles.

This position will be in a mobile unit, meaning the majority of work will be conducted using mobile technology, such as a tablet, while away from the office. Being mobile requires working independently yet remaining responsive to supervision and your assigned unit.

Newly hired DFPS employees in eligible positions will be assigned a DFPS cellular phone.

Career Resources

Learn about essential competencies acquired during the first months of employment : DFPS - CPS Practice Guides & Core Competencies

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