About the Department
Our vision is to ensure that “Washington state’s children and youth grow up safe and healthy— thriving physically, emotionally, and academically, nurtured by family and community."
Attention: **INTERNAL ONLY: This position is open to current DCYF employees only.**
Job Title: INTERNAL ONLY - Relative Search and Engagement Social Service Supervisor 5 (SSS5).
Location: Olympia, WA - Statewide Location – The position can be located anywhere in WA State, as the work is primarily remote. Occasional travel may be necessary for meetings and training.
Closes: 04/19/2026
Salary: $78,912 - $106,104 Annually.
The Department of Children, Youth, and Families has an exciting opportunity to join our CW Programs and Practice Division in a leadership role in advancing our kin-first culture as a Relative Search and Engagement Social Service Supervisor 5 (SSS5). This opportunity is for DCYF Employees only. If you work for DCYF, have child welfare experience, and are looking for an opportunity for professional growth and development in a supervisory role, please apply.
Click here to learn more about DCYF.
The Relative Search and Engagement Supervisor serves as a first-line supervisory leader within the Child Welfare Division and provides oversight and direction to staff responsible for kin search, engagement, and kinship placement support. By ensuring timely identification, notification, and engagement of kin and relatives, this position helps preserve family connections and increases the likelihood that children experience safe, stable, and family-based placements. This supervisor supports DCYF’s mission by supervising practices that prioritize safety and stability while strengthening family and community connections. It ensures consistent implementation of federal and state due diligence requirements and integrates kin engagement efforts into frontline child welfare practice to support improved outcomes for children and families. Through coaching, oversight, and collaboration with field supervisors and program leadership, this position helps remove barriers to kinship placement and permanency and promotes equitable and legally compliant decision-making. This role exercises independent judgment in supervising staff, directing daily operations, resolving complex practice issues, and advancing continuous improvement in kinship engagement and placement practices. By translating policy and statutory requirements into effective field operations, this position directly contributes to safer, more stable placements and stronger family and community connections for children and youth served by DCYF.
Some of what you will get to do:
- Supervises and provides oversight to Relative Search and Engagement Specialists.
- Directs, assigns, and oversees staff work related to identifying, locating, informing, and engaging adult relatives and other suitable adults for children placed out of home, ensuring work aligns with federal and state due diligence requirements, program policy, and practice standards.
- Ensures staff conduct timely and thorough follow-up relative searches and engagement, including reviewing prior search activity, identifying youth who remain unplaced with kin, and directing appropriate next steps to strengthen kinship placement opportunities.
- Provides guidance and oversight to ensure kin are contacted, informed, and supported appropriately, including discussing permanency options (Title 11 and Title 13 guardianship versus adoption), identifying barriers to placement or involvement, and coordinating with Licensing Division and/or Interstate Placement on the Placement of Children processes.
- Ensures staff document all kinship search, engagement, and permanency-related activities accurately and timely in FamLink, and monitors documentation quality to ensure compliance, consistency, and accountability.
- Supervises staff collaboration, caseworkers, supervisors, and child welfare leadership, ensuring coordinated efforts when new or follow-up searches are required and when placement concerns arise.
- Oversees staff participating in staffings, Youth and Family Meetings, and other case-related discussions, ensuring information gathered through kin engagement informs safety, placement, and permanency decision-making.
- Provides coaching, training, and technical assistance to staff on due diligence practices, kin engagement strategies, confidentiality requirements, respectful communication, and the appropriate use of research tools and data systems.
- Monitors staff performance and workload distribution, sets expectations, reviews work products, addresses performance concerns, and completes performance evaluations.
- Oversees Quality Assurance and Record Management.
- Oversees staff compliance with federal and state due diligence requirements related to kinship search, engagement, notification, and permanency planning.
- Represents and coordinates the Relative Search and Engagement program in collaboration with Child Welfare leadership, legal partners, headquarters staff, tribal partners, and other external partners.
- Consults with Assistant Attorney General on complex cases, legal questions, and policy application, ensuring staff practice aligns with statutory requirements and legally sound decision-making.
Eight (8) years of paid social service experience* AND 30 semester or 45 quarter credits in a Social Services discipline.
OR
A Master’s degree in social services, human services, behavioral sciences or any Master’s degree which includes 30 semester or 45 quarter credits in a Social Services discipline AND Three (3) years of paid social service experience* in planning, administering, developing, or delivery of public child welfare, social, health, or chemical dependency treatment programs.
OR
A Bachelor's degree in social services, human services, behavioral sciences or any Bachelor’s degree which includes 30 semester or 45 quarter credits in a Social Services discipline AND Four (4) years of paid social service experience* in planning, administering, developing, or delivery of public child welfare, social, health, or chemical dependency treatment programs.
OR
One (1) year of experience as a Social Service Specialist 4 (SSS4).
OR
Two (2) years of experience as a Social Service Specialist 3 (SSS3).
AND
- The ability to take action to learn and grow.
- The ability to take action to meet the needs of others.
NOTE: A two-year Master's degree in one of the above fields that included a practicum may be substituted for one (1) year of paid social service experience.
*Paid social service experience must include at least one (1) year of assessing risk and safety to children and providing direct family-centered practice services.
In addition to those required qualifications, our ideal applicant will also have some or all of the following:
- Previously demonstrated working knowledge of Federal and State Child Welfare laws and WA State dependency process.
- Previously demonstrated experience with FamLink, ACES, Barcode, and other search databases.
How do I apply?
- Cover Letter
- Resume
The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) is committed to Washington’s children and youth growing up safe, healthy, and thriving. We invite all candidates to join us in our mission to create a diverse and equitable workplace that reflects the communities we serve. If you are excited about this role but you believe that your education and/or experience might not align perfectly with every qualification in the job posting, we encourage you to apply anyway.
The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, national origin, honorably discharged veteran or military status, or the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability or the use of a trained service animal by a person with a disability.
This recruitment may be used to fill multiple vacancies.
The incumbent must successfully complete Supervisor Core Training (SCT) within one year of initial appointment.
Must successfully complete formal training courses as required by law, policy, and regional requirements within twelve months of initial appointment.
This position is included in the supervisory bargaining unit represented by the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE). For more information: https://wfse.org/
If you would like an accommodation throughout the application/interview process, contact DCYF Recruiter. If you're experiencing technical difficulties creating, accessing or completing your application, call NEOGOV toll-free at (855) 524-5627 or email [email protected]. Persons needing accommodation in the application process or this announcement in an alternative format may call the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at 360-664-1960.
Degrees must be obtained from an accredited college or university whose accreditation is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), or a foreign equivalent verified by a NACES-approved organization at naces.org. Foreign Equivalency certification must be attached to the application for degrees obtained outside the U.S.
Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications and wish to claim Veteran's Preference MUST attach a copy of their DD214, NGB Form 22, or Predischarge Certification (issued not more than 120 days prior to End of Term of Service (ETS) by date of submission). If claiming preference based on Predischarge Certification, the individual will be required to provide their official discharge documentation, such as a DD Form 214, NGB Form 22, or equivalent, within 30 days after the date of discharge. Please blackout (redact) the social security number before attaching any documents. For additional information on Veterans' Preference and guidance on how to determine if you are eligible, click here.
DCYF participates in the federal E-Verify program. The selected candidate must provide proof of identity and authorization to work in the United States, consistent with E-Verify requirements, on their first day of employment.
2026-02977