Careers in Child Welfare

Our child welfare 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.
  • We offer leadership development and mentoring for staff interested in expanding their career opportunities. Eighty-four percent of leadership/supervisor hired in the program since 2010 have been internal hires. 
  • Educational assistance including:
    • Ability 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 program for eligible staff. 
    • Tuition assistance for staff to put toward a degree program for any position at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in our child welfare programs and the associated challenges, consider the following: 

  • 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 Hospital of Wisconsin job search website. For more information about the typical tasks associated with positions in each program, please see below:
Watch a realistic job preview video. http://dcf.wisconsin.gov/bmcw/careers/index.htm

Family Case Management

  • Completion of safety assessments as needed.
  • Facilitation of Family Team Meetings.
  • Service coordination.
  • Permanency planning.
  • Caseloads of up to 15 children who are court-ordered into foster care.
  • A supervisor/worker ratio of 1:6.
  • Frequent presentations of case information in court.
  • Minimal monthly contact with parents of children in foster homes.
  • An average of 6 hours per month of supervised family interactions.

Intensive In-Home

  • Weekly contact with children and parents in their home.
  • Weekly reassessment of safety.
  • Facilitating family team meetings.
  • Coordination of community services.
  • Caseload of 8 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 parent's protective capacities through the Nurturing Parents Program curriculum in one-on-one sessions with parents.
  • Transportation of children to and from visits with family.
  • Assisting families engage in getting basic needs met through community resources.