Social Services Director

Social Services Director

Job Classification:
Department Manager

FLSA Classification:
Exempt

Position

Purpose:

Plans, organizes, supervises and directs all administrative and operational activities of the Social Services Department in accordance with current federal, state, and local standards, guidelines and regulations, and the facility's established policies and procedures.

Required Qualifications:

All facilities must provide medically related social services to residents. In the state of Connecticut, a skilled nursing facility is required to employ qualified social work service staff in accordance with Connecticut Regulations (Conn. Agencies Regs § 19-13-D8t). The social services department must be directed by a qualified professional social worker who has:

• A minimum of a bachelor's degree in social work or another human services field to include, but not limited to, sociology, gerontology, special education, rehabilitation counseling, or psychology.
• One year of supervised social work experience in a health care setting working directly with individuals.

Major

Duties and Responsibilities:

The Social Services Director is responsible for overseeing the development, implementation, supervision and ongoing evaluation of the Social Services Department designed to meet and assist residents in attaining or maintaining their highest practicable well-being. This includes identifying the need for medically related social services and ensuring that these services are provided in accordance with State and Federal regulations. The Social Services Director will complete and/or direct/delegate the completion of the social services component of the comprehensive assessment.

The Social Services Director will also contribute to and/or direct/delegate contribution of social services goals and approaches to the comprehensive care plan. These goals and interventions will be individualized to match the skills, abilities, and interests/preferences of each resident in compliance with Federal and State regulations, to include identifying and promoting individualized, non-pharmacological approaches to care that meet the mental and psychosocial needs of each resident.

Directing the Social Services department includes overseeing preadmission services for inbound residents, to include participation in interdisciplinary evaluation of residents' needs for institutional care and completion of the PASARR Level I. The Social Services Director will facilitate residents' safe transition back into the community through interdisciplinary discharge planning and arrangement of community-based services and follow-up care. The Director will also assist residents and their representatives in locating and accessing financial, legal, and other community resources.

The Social Services Director will coordinate implementation and oversight of procedures to ensure social services actions and interactions are adequately documented in each resident's medical record, and that legal, ethical, and professional standards of social work practice and being upheld in written recordings. The Social Services Director is responsible for overseeing the establishment of departmental QA procedures and modification of those procedures where appropriate.

The Social Services Director will oversee the process of Advance Care Planning for each resident upon admission and make sure that any Advance Directives are reviewed with the resident/resident representative on a regular basis. The Director will ensure that staff members are made aware of the residents' code status and end-of-life wishes and will assist with informing and educating residents and their representatives about health care options and ramifications.

The Social Services Director will assist residents in voicing and obtaining resolutions to grievances. The Director will review complaints and grievances made by the residents and make a written report indicating what action(s) were taken to resolve the complaint or grievance. The Director will also gather grievance reports from other Social Services staff and ensure follow-through and resolution has been completed as per facility policy.

The Social Services Director will participate in facility policy development in order to positively impact on the quality of care delivered to residents. The Social Services Director ensures that staff members are knowledgeable about Resident's Rights and encourages staff to maintain and enhance each resident's dignity in recognition of each resident's individuality. The Director will also advocate for residents and assist them in asserting their rights within the facility.

When there is an allegation of suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation, the Social Services Director will report to the Administrator and appropriate State agency, as well lead a thorough investigation into the allegation. The Social Services Director will ensure that residents who display mental illness, or psychosocial difficulties such as coping with grief and…