Investigation Coordinator

This position is EXEMPT from the State of Delaware Merit System.

Recruitment #053123-J65725-21800

Summary Statement

The Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) is an agency within the Judicial Branch charged with safeguarding the welfare of Delaware’s children.  It accomplishes this mission through advocacy, education, collaboration and evaluation with a vision of safe and resilient children with supportive families.  OCA’s Office of the Investigation Coordinator (IC Office) reviews, analyzes and monitors all reported cases of child sexual abuse, juvenile trafficking, serious physical injury, and death of a child from inception to final criminal and civil disposition to ensure multidisciplinary team (MDT) collaboration and child welfare system accountability.  The IC Office advocates for the improvement of laws and policies that affect children and their families and to ensure justice for child victims.  It furthers OCA’s goals to:

  • Provide a voice for children to achieve permanency and justice and to improve laws and policies that affect children and their families
  • Foster a communicative multidisciplinary team that builds trust and respect amongst members with a shared goal of improving outcomes for children and families
  • Ensure accountability by examining child welfare data, laws and policies
  • Develop quality training to increase professional expertise and public awareness

The mission of the IC Office is to foster a multidisciplinary team response pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding for the MDT Response to Child Abuse and Neglect to achieve legal protections for child victims and punishment for perpetrators.  To that end, the IC Office oversees the establishment and maintenance of an independent database for cases within the IC purview and also reviews and maintains data on infants with prenatal substance exposure and their families.  With support from the OCA data team, the IC Office is responsible for analyzing collected data and statistics, identifying child welfare system issues and trends, providing pertinent data to the Child Protection Accountability Commission and members of the multidisciplinary team, and making recommendations for system improvement in accordance with State and Federal law.

The State Investigation Coordinator leads the IC Office within OCA.


Preferred Qualification

Applicants who do not possess the preferred qualification will still be eligible to compete for this position if job requirements are met.

  1. Experience working with Delaware’s child welfare system.
  2. Experience working with law enforcement agencies.
  3. Experience supervising staff.
  4. Experience leading a program area, unit or division.
  5. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with representatives from other agencies, organizations, and associations.

Essential Functions

The State Investigation Coordinator is a member of the OCA Leadership Team and leads the Office of the Investigation Coordinator within OCA with the following duties:

  • Oversees the review and monitoring of each reported case involving child death, serious physical injury, sexual abuse, and juvenile trafficking of a child from inception to final criminal and civil disposition to ensure a multidisciplinary team (MDT) response. 
  • Coordinates the multidisciplinary (MDT) team response, serves as a dispute resolution resource, and facilitates communication/decision-making between law enforcement, Deputy Attorneys General, the Division of Family Services, medical professionals, the Children’s Advocacy Center and other professionals involved in the criminal and civil response to child abuse and neglect. 
  • Oversees adherence and compliance with the Memorandum of Understanding for the Multidisciplinary Response to Child Abuse and Neglect by the signatory MDT agencies.
  • Conducts legal research and analysis to evaluate, improve, and develop child welfare policy and procedure, training, and resources for various agencies to improve the MDT criminal and civil legal response to child abuse and neglect. 
  • Directs, manages, oversees, and facilitates emergency, monthly, and special MDT Case Review meetings for identified child abuse and neglect cases in each county, including child abuse deaths, serious physical injuries, sexual abuse, and juvenile trafficking to improve permanency and justice for the most serious child abuse victims. 
  • Administers the state and federal grants received and policy and procedure development for the Office of the Investigation Coordinator.   
  • Participates as the chairperson or facilitator on various child welfare committees, workgroups and taskforces to ensure compliance with the charge and applicable law and accomplishment of  long-term goal setting and implementation.  
  • Serves and actively participates as a Commissioner on the Child Protection Accountability Commission and presents statistical reports and recommendations to improve the MDT response to child abuse victims. 
  • Serves and actively participates as a member representing the IC Office on the CPAC Child Abuse and Neglect Panel for the in-depth review of child death and near-death cases. 
  • Hires, supervises, manages, and evaluates performance of the Deputy IC, three MDT Coordination Specialists, a Management Analyst II position and one contractor position in the IC Office. 
  • Reviews and provides case analysis, multidisciplinary intervention, and comprehensive data on all substance exposed infants and their families.
  • Drafts legislation and participates in its passage.  
  • Completes other projects as assigned by the Child Advocate.
In addition to leading, directing and managing the Office of the Investigation Coordinator as indicated above, the State Investigation Coordinator is a member of the OCA Leadership team.  In that role, the State Investigation Coordinator is one of five leaders that establish all policies and procedures for OCA, manage all fiscal and personnel decisions, and develop mission, vision and goals for the agency.  The State Investigation Coordinator also represents OCA in countless child welfare partner committees, workgroups and policy meetings including the CPAC Committee on the Investigation, Prosecution and Treatment of Child Sexual Abuse (Chair), CPAC Legislative Committee, CPAC Crimes Against Children Workgroup, CPAC Data Utilization Committee, and the CPAC Training Committee. The State Investigation Coordinator also serves as an Advisory Board member of the Children's Advocacy Center. 

Job Requirements

Applicants must have education, training and/or experience demonstrating competence in each of the following areas:

  1. Possession of a law degree and licensed to practice law in the State of Delaware.
  2. Experience in interpreting laws, rules, regulations, standards, policies and procedures. 
  3. Knowledge of casework principles and practices.
  4. Ability to prepare reports and maintain accurate records. 
  5. Ability to prioritize work and manage time effectively.
  6. Experience in data collection and analysis which includes collecting, compiling, and maintaining data from multiple sources such as files, records, databases, customers, staff, or others. 
  7. Knowledge of making recommendations for continuation or changes to operations, programs, services, policies or procedures based on data findings.
  8. Ability to communicate courteously and effectively, both verbally and in writing. 
  9. Statewide travel is required.

Conditions of Hire

  • A satisfactory criminal background check and child protection registry check is required as a condition of hire.
  • Direct deposit of paychecks is required as a condition of hire.

Benefits

  • Full time employees are eligible for FREE parking!!!
  • To learn more about the comprehensive benefit package please visit our website at https://dhr.delaware.gov/benefits/

Selection Process

The application and supplemental questionnaire are evaluated based upon a rating of your education, training and experience as they relate to the job requirements of the position. It is essential that you provide complete and accurate information on your application and the supplemental questionnaire to include dates of employment, job title and job duties. For education and training, list name of educational provider, training course titles and summary of course content. Narrative information supplied in response to the questions must be supported by the information supplied on the application including your employment, education and training history as it relates to the job requirements.

Once you have submitted your application on-line, all future correspondence related to your application will be sent via email.  Please keep your contact information current. You may also view all correspondence sent to you by the State of Delaware in the “My Applications” tab at StateJobs.Delaware.gov.

Accommodations

Accommodations are available for applicants with disabilities in all phases of the application and employment process.  To request an auxiliary aid or service please call (302) 739-5458. TDD users should call the Delaware Relay Service Number 1-800-232-5460 for assistance.

The State of Delaware is an Equal Opportunity employer and values a diverse workforce. We strongly encourage and seek out a workforce representative of Delaware including race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.