Careers in child welfare

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Our child well-being programs offer fulfilling and challenging career opportunities for individuals who have a passion for working with children and families involved in child welfare. We are committed to creating an environment for staff to build experiences and skills for a career versus a job. We continuously try to evolve in how we support staff.

Currently we are offering the following experiences for staff:

• Various forms of coaching for new hires into the Family Case Management, Intensive In-Home, and Family Support programs.
• A supervisor/worker ratio of 1:6
• We offer leadership development and mentoring for staff interested in expanding their career opportunities; 84 percent of leadership/supervisor hired in the program since 2010 have been internal hires.
• Educational assistance including:
  • Tuition assistance for staff to put toward a degree program for any position at Children's Wisconsin
  • Opportunities to participate in University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Part-time Title IV-E program, allowing staff to earn their master's degree in Social Work while working
  • Opportunities to participate in UWM's Full Time IV-E program for eligible staff

Associated challenges of a career in child well-being programs

• Can you deal with the emotional drain and trauma of working with abused children?
• Are you able to work with children who have been badly mistreated, who are bruised, have broken bones or severe burns?
• Are you willing to work with diverse clients across Wisconsin?
• Are you willing to occasionally work beyond regular business hours on short notice in order meet the needs of the children and families in our care?
• Are you willing and able to work evenings and weekends?
• Are you willing and able to have explicit and crucial conversations with children and their families about subjects such as sexual practices and body parts?
• Are you willing and able to remove a child from his or her parent's home, if necessary?
• Are you willing and able to go into unfamiliar and potentially unsafe neighborhoods, at times alone, to assess the immediate safety needs of a child?
• Are you willing and able to visit clients in their homes which may be in various conditions of disrepair or cleanliness?

If you are interested in applying for a position, search for the program titles on the Children's Wisconsin job search website.

Information about typical tasks

Family case management

• Completion of safety assessments and develop safety plans
• Facilitation of Family Team Meetings
• Service coordination
• Permanency planning
• Caseloads of up to 15 children who are court-ordered into foster care
• Frequent presentations of case information in court
• Minimal monthly contact with parents of children in foster homes
• An average of 6 hours per month facilitating family interactions

Intensive in-home

• Weekly contact with children and parents in their home
• Completion of safety assessments
• Develop and oversee in-home safety plans
• Facilitating family team meetings
• Coordination of community services
• Caseload of eight families
• Minimal court involvement

Family support

• Conducting supervised family interactions using the Visit Coaching Model
• Assessment of the parents' skills and capacities through use of the Adult Adolescent Parenting Inventory, Ages and Stages Questionnaire and other tools
• Enhancing parents' protective capacities through the Nurturing Parents Program curriculum in one-on-one and group sessions
• Support parents in enhancing home management and other life skills
• Transportation of children to and from visits with family
• Assisting families engage in getting basic needs met through community resources