Child Welfare Case Worker

Heartland Consulting

Red Lake Nation, Minnesota. Primary duty station: BIA Red Lake Agency, Red Lake, Minnesota, with field work across the reservation and travel to off-reservation placements, courts, and trainings as required.

About the role

The Child Welfare Case Worker provides ongoing case management for children and families working toward reunification or another permanency goal. This role manages complex in-home, foster care, and permanency cases with independent professional judgment, including scheduling visits, making service referrals, and addressing routine placement needs.

The Child Welfare Case Worker is assigned when a child is placed or when the BIA Social Services Program Manager opens a case for services. Case planning and monthly visits begin immediately upon assignment. This role serves as the point of contact for the court and family from the Admit/Deny hearing onward.

This position works staggered shifts within the 7:30 a.m.–7:30 p.m. coverage window, including evening visits. It does not conduct investigations or serve in the investigative on-call rotation.

This role drafts case plans, placement recommendations, and court reports for approval but does not approve final case plans or sign court filings. A child’s placement may only be changed in an emergency coordinated with the appropriate officials and law enforcement.

Contractor personnel are employees of Heartland Consulting, not federal employees. Indian Preference applies.

What you will do

• Begin case planning and monthly visits immediately upon assignment. Develop written case plans within 30 days of case opening and permanency plans within six months of placement.
• Conduct monthly face-to-face visits with children and families and document visits in the case management system.
• Make reasonable and active efforts to reunify families, treating reunification as the primary plan unless the court finds otherwise.
• Draft case plans, placement recommendations, and court reports for approval. Attend and testify at review, permanency, and other hearings as required.
• Serve as the point of contact for the court and family from the Admit/Deny hearing onward.
• Coordinate Interstate Compact and residential placements, and provide independent living and transition planning for youth age 16 and older.
• Respond to placement disruptions, runaways, and critical incidents. Obtain emergency placement items when a child is moved without essentials.
• Report any new allegation of abuse or neglect in placement immediately for intake and cross-reporting.
• Record each assignment in FASS-CMS Cloud.
• Manage complex cases independently, including scheduling visits, making service referrals, and handling routine placement needs within the role’s authority.
• Work staggered shifts within the 7:30 a.m.–7:30 p.m. coverage window, including evening visits.

Minimum qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in social work, sociology, psychology, counseling, human services, criminal justice, or another related behavioral or social science field from an institution accredited or pre-accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Social work degrees must be from a Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)-accredited program.
• At least three (3) years of child welfare casework experience.
• Valid driver’s license.
• Ability to complete a Moderate Risk Public Trust background investigation. No work or child contact is permitted until cleared; the typical clearance timeline is approximately 60 days. A favorable investigation under PL 101-630 before entry on duty is preferred.
• Willingness to complete mandatory security training and initial training within 15 calendar days of entry on duty and before independent duty.
• Child passenger safety certification if transporting children.
• Willingness to work staggered shifts, including evening visits.
• Completion of required cultural orientation on Red Lake Nation history, Ojibwe culture and language, closed-reservation status, and tribal protocols within 15 days.

Benefits

Healthcare benefits, including medical, dental, and vision, will be described before the first interview.

How to apply

. Send to HR@HeartlandConsulting.com.