Synagogue & Community Social Worker

Jewish Family & Children’s Service is seeking a Synagogue & Jewish Community Social Worker to join the Betty Ann Greenbaum Miller Center for Jewish Healing team serving Greater Boston synagogues. The center supports members of the Jewish community through illness, loss, aging, and life transitions. This role brings that work directly into synagogues and communal settings, where people often turn first when they are struggling.

You will be embedded in partner synagogues and lead bereavement and support groups throughout the Jewish community. You will help clergy, staff, lay leaders, congregants, and families respond to grief, mental health, and social service concerns with compassion, skill, and appropriate referrals. This is a high-impact, highly visible position, well suited to someone who is skilled at leading groups, building trust, and partnering with clergy and communal leaders.

This is a full-time, hybrid position reporting to the Director of the Miller Center for Jewish Healing, with clinical supervision from the Director of Community Resources and Mental Health Supports. This role includes:

• Weekly on-site work at partner synagogues and group locations in Greater Boston
• Regular work at JF&CS Headquarters in Waltham
• Travel to partner communities
• Regular evening and occasional weekend availability

• $56,000 - $64,000 annual salary, commensurate with credentials and experience
• Hybrid schedule
• Travel/mileage reimbursement
• Immediate eligibility for dental and vision plans
  • Medical insurance coverage is effective the 1st of the month following 30 days of employment
• Generous paid time off includes sick time, vacation time, personal time, and national and some Jewish holidays

• Serve as the on-site social worker for selected partner synagogues
• Consult with and train clergy, synagogue staff, and lay leaders as they respond to community members facing mental health, caregiving, grief, family, aging, or basic-needs concerns
• Provide supportive consultation, information and referral, short-term case management, and basic needs assistance to congregants, as appropriate.

• Develop, launch, and facilitate in-person and virtual bereavement and other support groups for synagogues and communal settings throughout Greater Boston
• Build and maintain relationships with the synagogues and partners that host groups
• Manage group clinical dynamics, assess when participants need a higher level of care, and make appropriate referrals
• Manage group administration, including outreach, intake and screening, scheduling and documentation

• Support other Center programs with projects assigned based on agency needs and your skills and interests

For more than 150 years, Jewish Family & Children's Service has been helping individuals and families build a strong foundation for resilience and well-being. We intentionally serve and employ people of ALL faiths, backgrounds, cultures, and abilities.

We have a strong culture of professional development, work-life balance, and promotion from within.

JF&CS is an equal opportunity employer who serves and employs people of all cultures and faith traditions. Employment opportunities are available to all without regard for race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, or disability.

You are a confident, organized, and flexible professional and an experienced group facilitator with a strong presence, sound independent judgment, a working knowledge of mental health and social service resources, and deep familiarity with Jewish communal life.