TENTATIVE

Occ. Code 8119100

New York State Department of Civil Service

Classification Standard

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF CLASS SERIES

          Positions in this series investigate allegations of child abuse and neglect at public and private residential facilities which provide child care and develop prevention and remediation plans.  Incumbents receive and investigate reports of alleged child abuse or maltreatment; assist the agency with foster care, adoption, and child assistance programs; provide protective programs for vulnerable adults and for juveniles who are under the care of the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) due to holding status as a juvenile delinquent, youthful offender, juvenile offender, person in need of supervision, or similar status.  These positions are classified only at OCFS and are in the non-competitive jurisdictional class.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS

          CHILD ABUSE SPECIALIST 1: full performance level; receives and investigates reports of alleged child abuse and neglect; assigned primarily to OCFSs regional offices; when working with the Justice Center, performs as part of a team that performs child protective services.

          CHILD ABUSE SPECIALIST 2: first supervisory level; supervises a team of Child Abuse Specialists 1 and also may supervise other staff, and prepares investigative reports of the more complex or highly sensitive allegations of child abuse and neglect; assigned primarily to OCFSs regional offices; when working with the Justice Center, performs as a supervisor of teams that perform child protective services.

          CHILD ABUSE SPECIALIST 3: two-position class at OCFS, one assigned to oversee the downstate regional offices, one to oversee the upstate regional offices; provides overall supervision of the conduct of child abuse investigations in facilities operated and licensed by OCFS; responsible for the ongoing implementation and direction of the institutional abuse investigations mandated by the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and other applicable laws, rules, and regulations.

ILLUSTRATIVE DUTIES

          CHILD ABUSE SPECIALIST 1

Performs the following duties, and/or related duties, under the direction of a Child Abuse Specialist 2.

·       Receives reports of alleged child abuse or maltreatment and commences an investigation. Reports can come in twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and the investigation must begin within twenty-four hours and include a safety assessment.

·       Prepares notification of the investigation to individuals who are the subject of a report, to the parents of the child, to the facility where the child is placed, to the licensing agency, and to local social services districts or other agencies that have placed the child in residential care.

·       Interviews all individuals involved in a suspected case of abuse to determine if there is fair preponderance of evidence to support the allegations.

·       Reviews documentation pertinent to the case, including medical documentation, employee personnel records, resident case files, facility incident reports and logs, and photos and statements taken by facility staff.

·       Analyzes information obtained from interviews and reports and determines the recommendation of substantiated or unsubstantiated to send to the Justice Center for approval.  

·       Prepares reports of investigations to be shared with foster care representatives, as well as reports outlining any deficiencies needing to be addressed by the facility director and foster care representative.

·       Reviews the corrective action plans submitted by the child care facilities to determine whether the plan should be approved or disapproved.

·       Refers approved plans to the foster care representative for monitoring and, for disapproved plans, notifies the facility of the need to resubmit its plan.  Updates the Vulnerable Persons Central Register with monitoring activities.

·       Notifies the Child Abuse Specialist 2 of facility non-compliance issues.

·       Provides technical assistance and training to child care facility staff regarding agency regulations and policies, laws relating to child abuse, preventive measures or appropriate corrective action methods.

·       Prepares the case and submits it to the Justice Center for review.

·       Consults with Justice Center and agency attorneys in preparation for fair hearings and testifies at hearings when necessary.

·       Provides technical assistance and monitoring to local districts in the area of foster care and child protective issues when necessary.

CHILD ABUSE SPECIALIST 2

Performs the following duties and/or related or similar duties under the direction of higher level staff.

·       Supervises a team of staff members in all aspects of investigative functions and coordinates all institutional abuse investigative activities undertaken by subordinates.

·       Upon receipt of an institutional abuse report from the Justice Center, assigns alleged cases to staff for investigation.

·       Insures 24 hour safety assessments are conducted and reviews plans implemented by the agency.

·       Insures that investigations are initiated within the time frames established by law or regulation, and discuss whether law enforcement referral is necessary.

·       Reviews all investigative reports by staff to ensure that all appropriate decisions have been made and are consistent with regulation and policy.

·       Establishes schedules for regular conferences with the staff to review investigations in progress and completed investigations.

·       Monitors patterns of abuse and neglect within facilities operated by or licensed by OCFS, local social services districts, or other agencies as law, regulation, and circumstances dictate.

·       Works with facility directors to negotiate and implement acceptable plans for correcting deficiencies identified by the staff.

·       Serves as a technical advisor to other State agencies within the region whose facilities and programs are involved in the mandates of the Child Abuse Prevention act to ensure a consistent application of the law.

·       Trains staff in investigative techniques and facilities in child abuse prevention.

·       Manages child protective services and the implementation of corrective action plans.

·       Coordinates with central office staff in the clarification of policies and procedures identified to meet the mandates of institutional abuse investigations based on technical experience gained in the regional office.

CHILD ABUSE SPECIALIST 3

Under the general direction of a unit director, performs the following duties and/or related duties in the course of directing the implementation of child abuse detection, investigation, and prevention policies at the various OCFS regional offices and at the local social services agencies within the corresponding areas.

·       Administers operating policies and procedures for the appropriate investigation of reports of child abuse and neglect in child care facility settings.

·       Provides technical assistance to the staffs of the covered regional offices and, as applicable, other agencies within the regions to ensure statewide consistency in the application of policies and determinations relating to institutional abuse.

·       Directs the implementation of interagency agreements with the Department of Education (NYSED), Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), the Office of Mental Health (OMH), and other agencies as the need may arise and as policies and legal mandates in this area change.

·       Develops sanction procedures and regulations for handling facility non-compliance with corrective action plans.

·       Ensures completion of the pre-planning and implementation activities associated with the relevant provisions of state and federal law and regulation.

·       Develops program regulations for the implementation of the relevant legislative mandates and works with regional office staff to redefine these regulations as the programs progress and as needs and situations change.

·       Analyzes data collected from the regional offices relating to facility performance, trends, corrective action, or training needs.

·       Identifies system requirements for the preparation of interim reports and the annual report to the State Legislature, as required.

·       Oversees all institutional abuse training activities.

·       Works with staff from elsewhere in OCFS as needed, and as programs require, in developing a systems capability for processing institutional abuse reports that will conform to all legal requirements.

·       Represents OCFS in all inter-agency institutional abuse activities.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

          CHILD ABUSE SPECIALIST 1

Non-Competitive: a Bachelors degree and three years of professional children and family services experience, including or supplemented by two years in the planning, development, or delivery of child abuse and/or neglect prevention programs.  Experience also must include or be supplemented by one year of investigative experience.

          CHILD ABUSE SPECIALIST 2

Non-Competitive: a Bachelors Degree and four years of professional experience of children and family services experience including or supplemented by two years in the planning, development, or delivery of child abuse and/or neglect prevention programs.  Experience must also include or be supplemented by one year of investigative experience and one year of professional supervision.  Two years of successful permanent experience as a Child Abuse Specialist 1 may substitute for the one year of professional level supervision.

          CHILD ABUSE SPECIALIST 3

Non-Competitive: a Bachelors degree and five years of children and family services experience including or supplemented by two years in the planning, development, or delivery of child abuse and/or neglect prevention programs.  Experience also must include or be supplemented by one year of second level supervision.

Date:  1/15

NOTE:  Classification Standards illustrate the nature, extent and scope of duties and responsibilities of the classes they describe.  Standards cannot and do not include all of the work that might be appropriately performed by a class.  The minimum qualifications above are those which were required for appointment at the time the Classification Standard was written.  Please contact the Division of Staffing Services for current information on minimum qualification requirements for appointment or examination.