Alt Program- Founding Social Worker

Vision for the Founding Social Worker - CSH_ALT

This is not a “check the box” counseling job. This is daily, hands-on, sometimes messy work. As a founding Social Worker, you are not joining a finished counseling program; you are helping to build it. You will set up how counseling works in our alternative model, define crisis response, and make sure mental health is part of advisory, instruction, attendance, and internships.

Mandates

• Ongoing Counseling: Conduct high-quality group and individual sessions with mandated and at-risk students. Adhere to mandated frequency, duration, and maximum group size on IEPs. At-risk students are seen 1x/week, biweekly, or as needed, depending on needs.
• Crisis Intervention: Conduct risk assessments for students presenting risk of self-harm, suicidal ideation or actions, homicidal ideation, and abuse/neglect. Monitor safety risks based on results of assessments. Examples: Connecting with emergency contacts, Referring to mental health or emergency services, Making ACS reports, if necessary.
• Documentation: Document all sessions and crisis interventions with session notes in SimplePractice. Log encounter attendance for all mandated students in SESIS. Write IEP reports and goals for mandated students; attend IEP meetings. Develop treatment plans and treatment progress reports reflecting functional growth (attendance, behavior management, internship readiness).
• Care Coordination and Advocacy: Maintain regular contact with parents/caregivers of students on caseload. Refer and advocate for services, including therapy referrals, housing resources, grief support, food access, and probation coordination. With consent, connect with external providers to align care and interventions. Coordinate with ACS workers to ensure families are receiving needed services. Support students in dealing with court requirements, housing instability, and external stressors that impact school functioning.

Qualifications

• Experience providing counseling/therapy for adolescents, preferably in a school setting.
• Experience working in an urban school, with a track record of excellent student SEL growth.
• Experience with a variety of psycho-educational and behavioral assessment tools.
• Experience in management of mental health crises.
• LMSW and NYS School Social Work Certification required; LCSW preferred.
• A demonstrated commitment to working with teens.
• Willingness to learn more tech and Computer Science skills.
• Transfer school experience preferred.