SY School Social Worker

School Social Worker

The School Social Worker will perform specialized social work in education settings to assist students with optimizing academic success. The Social Worker will collect, interpret, and synthesize information about a student's development, medical history, academic history, adaptive functioning, community environment, family dynamics by providing strategic services that identify and address the social-emotional-environmental issues that interfere with the educational process, and to work with parents/guardians, teachers, school principal/principal's designee, and community based liaisons to acquire resources to implement strategies that promote students' positive school achievement.

Essential functions include completing sociocultural assessments and adaptive behavior scales reflecting referred students' developmental delays and learning challenges. The Social Worker will assist parents in their efforts to access community resources for their children through phone calls, home visits, and school meetings. They will link families and students to available community resources and coordinate needed support, including financial aid, housing, childcare, medical care, early education interventions, emergency aid, and mental health assistance.

The Social Worker will attend Family Assessment and Planning Team meetings as needed, and provide case management for students who require FAPT funded services. They will advocate for student and family involvement and engagement with the academic process and necessary support. Reports required by the Director for Student Services and Director of Special Education will be submitted in a prompt manner.

The Social Worker will serve on school and/or community teams as needed, provide a full range of social work services to schools in accordance with federal, state and local regulations, and determine school wide needs for specific social work services through consultation with the principal and school staff. They will provide prevention and intervention assistance as a member of the Threat Assessment team and crisis response team upon request, provide in-service training to teachers and administrative staff on child abuse, behavior de-escalation, social emotional learning, and other related trainings, conduct specific psycho educational groups to at-risk students when deemed appropriate, and perform other duties as assigned by the Director of Student Services.

They will also perform other duties as directed by the school board.

Lynchburg City Schools competencies include honesty, integrity, ethical equity minded, emotional intelligence, cultural competence, safety, quality, models excellent customer service, thinks strategically, shows initiative, acts decisively, communicates effectively, works collaboratively, resolves conflict proactively, and technical capabilities including computer literacy, data analysis and management, fiscal planning and management, project management, and strategic planning.

Education and experience required include a master's degree in social work from an accredited college or university, and a licensed clinical social worker preferred. School social worker license eligibility is also required.

Knowledge, skills, and abilities include adherence to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics, ability to conduct telephone-based or in-person interviews, data collection, and data entry, strong verbal and written communication skills, ability to interact in a non-judgmental manner with culturally diverse populations and persons experiencing a wide range of social conditions, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, ability to adapt to changing environments and receive constructive feedback, knowledge of and experience with the Lynchburg City Schools organization, policies, and practices (preferred), ability to use discretion, maintain confidentiality, and ethical conduct, ability to work effectively with all levels of staff, establishing and maintaining collaborative professional relationships, strong time management skills, ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team, proficiency with use of computers, proficiency with use of mobile devices, solid knowledge and understanding of Microsoft Office and Google Drive, and ability to learn new technical programs/practices as needed, solid knowledge and understanding of equitable practices that create a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment for LCS staff, students, and community members.

The School Social Worker does not supervise any other personnel. Travel requirements include reliable transportation, necessary travel within the city of Lynchburg as needed, and minimal travel outside of the city of Lynchburg as needed.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with…