As a new Child Protective Specialist (CPS), you'll attend the James Satterwhite Training Academy for six weeks to learn social work and investigative skills such as how to engage families and conduct interviews. You will also learn to use the ACS computer system and the forms used to track active cases. After you've graduated from the Academy, you will be assigned to a training unit to work with a reduced number of cases under close supervision of a training unit supervisor for an additional three months. At the completion of the three months in a training unit, you will be assigned to a transition unit for an additional five months where you will receive a modified caseload assignment. After five months in the transitional unit, you will be assigned to a CPS unit and receive cases on a regular pending rotation and continue to work closely with a supervisor to support and guide your work.

Given the nature of the work we do, our days are rarely "typical." Once assigned to a regular unit, your unit supervisor will work with you to determine which days you will work making community visits and which days you will work in the office. On the community visit days, you will work primarily in the community making visits to the homes of the families you need to visit. You may also be required to visit schools and other community agencies that the children and families are involved with. You'll be assigned cases on a rotation basis with other CPS staff in your borough office.

You will manage an average caseload of about 8 to 12 families at any given time. During your home visits, you will meet with families in order to assess the families' strengths, the safety, risk and well-being needs of children and the assistance that families may require. On some days, you may need to attend hearings at the local family court. There may be days when you need to work into the late evening in order to assure the safety of children on your caseload.

Office days will be used to complete case documentation, make phone calls, and attend trainings and meetings with your supervisor and other members in your unit. You will also use your time in the office to connect families with the services they need and following up with other office based consultants who are there to support your work. You are required to keep detailed electronic records of all case activities that you have completed for case on your caseload.

Yes! In a 5-day work week, typically, CPS are scheduled to work at the office two days; to visit the community two days in order to engage with families on your assigned cases; and to work “hybrid” at an alternative location one day, which also includes your home. All CPS receive ACS issued tablets so they can access critical documents and casework activities while working at an alternative location, in the community or away from assigned workstations. The tablets have software that helps CPS manage caseloads and meet investigative requirements.

You may be called for an emergency with a family already in your care, or to assess a new report of abuse or neglect. In those situations, the priority is always to assure the safety and well-being of the children and help to stabilize the families we serve. If you have to remove a child from a home, you will need to remain with that child until he/she has been placed in temporary care. When this happens, you may need to work overtime into the evening or later.

CPS are encouraged to go out in pairs. Once you've established a relationship with a family, both you and the family may feel more comfortable for you to visit the family by yourself. However, your personal safety is our highest priority. When responding to an abuse report, or when your own intuition tells you that a visit may be difficult, you should take a co-worker with you - another CPS, a supervisor, or one of our investigative consultants (former police detectives). Rest assured that we never send a CPS - alone or with a colleague - into a situation that we believe could be dangerous. CPS also have access to the ACS Safety App located on ACS issued Smartphones that provide an emergency response from NYPD and EMS to the location where CPS believe their personal safety is compromised.

The CPS job can be stressful, so we build in peer support, supervisory support, and camaraderie into the daily schedule of every CPS. Supervisors hold regular team meetings where CPS workers talk about their cases. Our work is by definition social in nature; the opportunity to process what has happened to you on any given day or to get help deciding how to handle a specific issue is always available. As a CPS, you will be a valued member of a team that works together to help children and families. DCP staff has continuous access to licensed and trained Employee Assistance Counselors who support staff well-being, through tools from stress-relief aides to group counseling sessions to referrals to mental health professionals. There is also a Peer Mentorship Program in which veteran CPS voluntarily provide peer support and mentoring to newer CPS. The veteran CPS are compensated for their time and commitment.

In addition, the DCP Chatline is a hotline that serves as an ombudsman and allows DCP staff to confidentially voice concerns, share ideas and get general assistance as needed. The Chatline helps staff by:

• listening to complaints, concerns, problems and issues;
• helping staff to explore and evaluate options;
• clarifying certain decisions, policies and practices;
• creating access to information, if appropriate, and helping to open channels of communication;
• helping to ensure that established policies and practices are functioning properly and equitably;
• referring staff to helpful resources;
• assisting in surfacing issues so they can be addressed in formal processes;
• taking objective action to resolve matters that fall outside the established forums and procedures;
• identifying new issues and opportunities for systemic change for DCP and bringing systemic issues to DCP leadership attention for resolution;
• listening to staff's ideas for improvements and channeling those ideas to Executive Leadership.

Your involvement with a family on your caseload should end when you either close the case or the situation stabilizes and the family members receive the support they need. Each case on your caseload can be closed or transferred to Foster Care, Preventive Services or Court Supervision Services. Your involvement should definitely end if the case is closed. If the case is transferred and there is no further case specific need for you to remain involved with the family, then your involvement should end. Your unit supervisor will be available to guide you on when you should end you involvement with a family. If a closed case is reopened, you may work with the family again, but otherwise your involvement ends when the case is closed.

Promotional opportunities and salary increases are common, beginning just six months after starting work as a CPS.

ACS provides all CPS with smart phones and tablets including high-speed internet and the ability to type, electronically handwrite, or use speech-to-text options to enter case notes and access the state's child welfare database while out in the community.

The Safe Measures Dashboard gives CPS and supervisors a streamlined overview of case data and details, including tasks and deadlines for cases, tracks completion of casework contacts with all family members on a case, and helps to prioritize workloads.

To help frontline staff make initial home visits and respond to reports of child abuse and neglect more quickly, ACS has a multi-faceted transportation approach, including access to Zip Cars when needed.

A Peer Mentorship program pairs more experienced CPS with newer child protective staff for mentoring.

ACS holds an annual CPS Appreciation Week to recognize the work of our child protective specialists that includes special events and various forms of recognition.

Mental and emotional health support is provided through the Employee Assistance Program and the ACS Employee Wellness Program aims to promote a holistic approach to physical and emotional health, fitness, and healthy living to support our employees as they endeavor to help children and families of NYC.