What are the responsibilities and job description for the SENIOR SW-IAT position at Cabarrus County?
Applicants are encouraged to apply early. The application review process will take place immediately and continue until the position is filled. This recruitment may close any time after the first review or when a sufficient number of qualified applications have been received.
Make a difference where it matters most. Cabarrus County DSS is seeking a highly skilled child welfare professional to serve as a Senior SWIAT within CPS. This advanced role is designed for experienced social workers who thrive in complex investigations, crisis response, and collaborative safety planning.
As a Senior SWIAT, you will:
- Conduct comprehensive child protective services assessments
- Manage high-risk and sensitive cases
- Provide support to team members
- Partner with community stakeholders to ensure child safety
- This position is safety-sensitive and requires occasional after-hours work and participation in an on-call duty rotation.
If you are ready to bring expertise, sound judgment, and dedication to protecting children and strengthening families, we invite you to apply.
Hiring range for this position is $60,569.60 - $72,384.00. Initial placement for new employees is customarily at entry level through 35% percentile. Pay grade for this position is 22.
At the discretion of Management, applicants who do not meet the full qualifications for the Senior SWIAT role may be considered for employment at the trainee level and corresponding pay grade. Any candidate hired at the trainee level would be required to meet the full Senior SWIAT standards within one year. Hiring range for the trainee level position is $57,657.60. Pay grade for this position is 21.
General Definition of Work:
Role Overview:
This is a highly specialized professional position focused exclusively on the most complex and sensitive child protective service cases in Cabarrus County. The Senior Social Worker acts as the lead investigator on critical cases, works in close partnership with law enforcement and the court system, and carries a highly specialized caseload.
Reports To: Social Work Supervisor IV
(These are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work performed. The omission of specific duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.)
Essential Functions/Typical Tasks:I. High-Risk Investigations & Legal Expertise
- Serve as a first responder to high-risk child abuse and neglect reports, immediately assessing the safety and risk to children in crisis situations.
- Conduct thorough, evidence-based investigations by interviewing children, families, and collateral contacts (e.g., schools, medical professionals, law enforcement).
- Manage a caseload focused primarily on high-complexity, high-sensitivity investigations.
- Specialize in cases involving sexual abuse, severe physical abuse, human trafficking, cases of irreparable harm, and child fatality.
- Act as a dedicated liaison and partner with the District Attorney's Office, local law enforcement, and the Child Advocacy Center (CAC) to coordinate investigations and information-sharing.
- Prepare detailed and complex court summaries and reports to support legal proceedings.
- Provide professional expert testimony in court hearings and potentially serve as a subject matter expert witness.
- Work with the court system to initiate the placement of alleged perpetrators on the Responsible Individuals List (RIL).
- Conduct complex interviews and analysis to substantiate alleged neglect and abuse.
II. Advanced Assessment & Intervention
- Lead the intervention and immediate response to crisis situations for children in the most critical cases.
- Quickly analyze highly stressful and potentially dangerous situations to devise and implement immediate Safety Plans.
- Apply advanced case management techniques to establish rapport and motivate highly resistant or involuntary clients.
- Engage families, support systems, and partners in Child and Family Team meetings and other conferences/meeting to manage extremely sensitive case planning.
- Regularly monitor the family's progress, adjusting the case plan as necessary to meet established goals and time limits.
- Maintain accurate, detailed, and complex case documentation detailing timelines and activities.
- May provide group, family or individual counseling and education in conjunction with mental health experts.
- Provides some behavior modification alternatives and interventions.
III. Leadership & Support
- Assigned caseload specifically focused on the most difficult and sensitive cases in the department.
- May assist supervisors with case reviews or closures for peer cases.
- Independently respond to crisis situations in a calming, de-escalating manner.
- Contribute to community education and training initiatives.
- Performs related tasks as required to potentially include but not limited to emergency shelter operations.
- Requires travel to homes, schools, health and mental health facilities, training and other service agencies.
What You'll Bring (Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities)
- Advanced knowledge of social work principles, complex casework, family dynamics, and crisis intervention.
- Proven ability to work collaboratively and effectively with high-level legal, law enforcement, and medical professionals.
- Demonstrate expertise in court testimony.
- Ability to analyze tense family situations and make critical, high-stakes decisions about child safety and devise safety plans with families as prescribed by federal and state guidelines.
- Comprehensive knowledge of federal and state child welfare laws, policies, and professional ethics.
SWIAT (Trainee) Education and Experience $57,657.60. Pay grade 21:
- Bachelor’s degree in Social Work AND one of the following: one year of social work experience; qualifying internship; successful completion of the NC Child Welfare Collaborative program or;
- Master’s in Social Work or;
- Bachelor’s Degree in related Human Services major AND 2 years of social work experience or;
- Master’s Degree in related Human Services major AND 1 year of social work experience or;
- Bachelor’s Degree AND 3 years of social work experience OR Master Degree AND 2 years of social work experience.
- An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
At the discretion of Management, applicants who do not meet the full qualifications for the Senior SWIAT may be considered for employment at the trainee level and corresponding pay grade. Any candidate hired at the trainee level would be required to meet the full Senior SWIAT standards within one year.
Senior SWIAT Education and Experience $60,569.60 - $72,384.00. Pay grade 22:
This role requires specialized experience in Child Protective Services (CPS) Family Assessment and/or Investigations. All degrees must be from an accredited college or university. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
Education Level | Required Experience in CPS Investigations |
Master’s Degree in Social Work (MSW) | Minimum 2 years of experience in CPS Family Assessment and/or Investigations. |
Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work (BSW) | Minimum 3 years of experience in CPS Family Assessment and/or Investigations. |
Master’s Degree in Human Services | Minimum 3 years of related experience to include 1 year experience in CPS Family Assessment and/or Investigations. |
Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services | Minimum 4 years of related experience to include 2 year experience in CPS Family Assessment and/or Investigations. |
Master's Degree (Any Field) | Minimum 4 years of related experience to include 2 year experience in CPS Family Assessment and/or Investigations. |
Bachelor's Degree (Any Field) | Minimum 5 years of related experience to include 2 year experience in CPS Family Assessment and/or Investigations. |
Some county job postings indicate that you can qualify with an "equivalent combination of education and experience." If this language is included in the job description, it means you may qualify through either education, your years of directly related experience, or a combination of both.
If you have indicated that you have earned a certificate, diploma, or degree from a technical school, college, or university, please note that Cabarrus County will verify your educational credentials. Official transcripts must clearly show the specific credential awarded to ensure accurate validation.
Special Requirements:
- Possession of a valid NC driver’s license.
- Must successfully complete all required NC state child welfare pre-service and in-service training.
- Position involves travel and work in various community settings, including areas where there may be heightened safety concerns or isolated locations where immediate access to emergency services may be delayed.
- This position is safety-sensitive and requires occasional after-hours work and participation in an on-call duty rotation.
- This position involves frequent travel and visits to diverse home environments, which may sometimes be in poor repair, unsanitary, or otherwise non-standard conditions
Physical Requirements:
- Frequent bending, kneeling, standing, and walking, including the ability to climb stairs quickly during home visits.
- Ability to occasionally lift/exert up to 50 pounds (e.g., car seats, small children), frequently up to 20 pounds, and constantly up to 10 pounds.
- Requires the use of hands for fingering, reaching, grasping, and performing repetitive motions (e.g., keyboarding, paperwork).
- Ability to speak clearly, loudly, and quickly to convey detailed instructions or de-escalate crisis situations.
- Ability to perceive information at normal spoken word levels and make fine distinctions in sound (e.g., detecting signs of distress).
- Required for computer data analysis, operating office equipment, document review, and observing general surroundings and activities (day and night).
- Exposure to bloodborne pathogens is possible, and the worker may be required to utilize specialized Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and follow established safety protocols.
Supplemental and Contact Information:
Cabarrus County selects applicants for employment based on job-related knowledge, skills, and abilities without regard to race, color, gender, national origin, religion, age, disability, political affiliation or political influence.
Degrees must be received from appropriately accredited institutions. Transcripts, degree evaluations and cover letters may be uploaded with your application. Applicants who obtained their education outside of the United States and its territories are expected to assume responsibility for having their academic degrees validated as equivalent to a degree conferred by a regionally accredited college or university in the United States.
Please be sure to complete the application in full. Resumes may be uploaded with your application but will not be accepted in lieu of a fully completed application and will not be considered for qualifying credit. "See Resume" or "See Attachment" will NOT be accepted.
If multiple applications are submitted to an individual position, only the most recent application received prior to the posting closing date will be accepted. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 PM on the closing date.
Due to the volume of applications received, we are unable to provide information regarding the status of your application over the phone. To check the status of your application, please log in to your account. Processing applications will take an average of 6 – 8 weeks due to the high volume of applications received. It is not necessary to contact the Human Resources Office to check the status of an application. Upon the closing date, applications are "Under Review" and will be screened by Human Resources for the most qualified applicants.
For technical issues with your applications, please call the NEOGOV Help Line at 855-524-5627. If there are any questions about this posting other than your application status, please contact HR at 704-920-2200.
Salary : $57,658 - $72,384