Social Worker - Family Preventative Services

Position: Social Worker

Program/Department: Preventative Family Services

Reports to: Program Director

Work Location: 400 Liberty Street, Brooklyn NY 11207

Hours: Full Time - Monday - Friday

Salary Range: $58,000 - $58,000

In our Preventive Services program, Social Workers provide a range of supportive services to families who have been identified by the child welfare system as being at-risk for child abuse and/or neglect. Social Workers assist parents/caregivers address barriers to their children’s health, safety, and well-being, so that families can stabilize, strengthen, and reduce the need for future involvement with the child welfare system. The Social Worker’s primary responsibilities are to make safety-focused assessments of child and family functioning, develop intervention plans, and help caretakers take charge of their respective situations and avoid future child maltreatment.

Responsibilities:

• Provide in-home/ virtual/community-based supportive services to a caseload of 12 families, weekly. Services include family therapy, client advocacy, parent coaching, service coordination, and case management
• Make safety and risk assessments regarding children’s health, safety, and/or well-being and develops safety and intervention plans accordingly
• Participate in all family court hearings and family team conferences
• Provide written court reports and collaborate with Family Service Unit (FSU) and Family Court
• Legal Services (FCLS) to prepare for all family court hearings
• Collaborate with ACS (and other referral sources) to successfully engage families and transition them into specialized services, as needed
• Make at least monthly home visits to assess the safety of the home environment
• Provide advocacy and coaching to clients (off-site) to address any barriers to accessing any services needed by family members
• Document all casework activity into city and state reporting systems (i.e. PROMIS, CONNECTIONS), maintaining compliance with all mandates set by the child welfare system, as well as program protocols and procedures
• Actively participates in individual and group supervision, staff trainings, and unit meetings. This includes participating in consultations (of live or taped sessions) and receiving and giving direct feedback from/to peers and supervisory staff on a regular basis
• Engage in all activities required by the program’s model development process and delivers services as described by the current version of the model
• Collaborate with ACS and other service providers (as needed) to address barriers or challenges related to assessment, service coordination or planning, and/or crisis intervention
• Attend ACS conferences; intervenes and offers advocacy to families, as needed
• Other tasks as may be required

Qualifications Required:

• Master’s degree in Social Work, Mental Health Counseling, or Marriage and Family Therapy required;
• Basic computer literacy;
• Strong time management and organizational skills;
• Previous work experience in a helping role with children, teens, parents, or families;
• Willingness and ability to do field work , including home visits in the community;
• Strong interest in learning Structural Family Therapy and working from a systemically- oriented perspective; willingness to participate in training and supervision methods that include live and taped observation (i.e. give and take constructive feedback) on a regular basis;
• Ability to be resourceful and remain communicative in the face of stress and change;
• Ability to work until 8 pm, twice a week