Description
Lead and oversee child welfare programs, including child protective services, foster care, adoption, and family preservation, to ensure child safety, permanency, and well-being. Direct policy, budgets, compliance, and staff while coordinating with courts and community partners.
- • Build partnerships with courts, schools, law enforcement, health and behavioral health providers, and community agencies to coordinate services.
- • Oversee budgets, staffing plans, performance dashboards, and mandated child welfare reports.
- • Lead and support supervisors, caseworkers, licensing staff, and contracted providers.
- • Monitor caseloads, quality assurance, and outcomes to ensure child safety, permanency, and well-being.
- • Develop and enforce policies, procedures, and practice standards aligned with child welfare laws.
- • Set eligibility and service criteria for investigations, in-home services, foster care, adoption, and kinship supports.
- • Analyze data and community trends to guide prevention strategies and program goals.
- • Engage families and community groups to explain programs, rights, responsibilities, and complaint processes.
- • Recruit, hire, and retain child welfare staff; oversee foster and adoptive parent recruitment and licensing.
- • Represent the agency before courts, oversight bodies, legislators, and media while protecting confidentiality.
- • Manage program budgets, contracts, grants, and Title IV-E/IV-B funding.
- • Assess impacts of new laws and regulations and implement required practice changes.
- • Advise staff and partners on child protection statutes, court procedures, and agency policy.
- • Oversee grant development and public information campaigns on prevention, reporting, and caregiver recruitment.
- • Direct response to critical incidents; review high-risk cases and resolve serious complaints.
- • Implement and evaluate training on safety assessment, trauma-informed care, cultural humility, and legal requirements.
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O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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Last reviewed: Jan 2026
