Social Worker

Responsibilities

• Provide mental health counseling services to individuals and student groups.
• Provide case management and wrap around services to students and families.
• This includes referrals to maximize access to school based and community based resources and service providers.
• Work with Mc-Kinney Vento liaison to identify students and families who qualify for Mc-Kinney Vento services and provide ongoing wrap around services.
• This may include conducting home visits.
• Educate staff on academic barriers such as homelessness, transportation, nutrition, etc.
• Provide trauma informed practices and restorative circles support and training to school and district level staff.
• Co-lead Student Success Planning team meetings.
• During these meetings school social worker will consult and problem solve with staff as part of the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS/Student Planning Team)
• Develop and assist in the implementation of plans for interventions with students that may include Crisis Intervention, Suicide Risk and Threat Assessments.
• Lead or participate in the district crisis response team. Providing crisis management (individual and school wide crisis prevention, response, and recovery).
• Advocate on behalf of issues of diversity, social opportunities that lead to school failure, education, chronic absenteeism, and discipline disparities.
• Link individual students and their families with resources and information on post-secondary services and resources for a student.
• Facilitate or Co-facilitate group sessions or informational meetings for students and/or families for post secondary learning opportunities or identification of options for alternative placement in career path.
• Work in collaboration with school staff to remove barriers to school attendance and academic success by providing student and family support as well as wrap around services.
• Support and facilitate parent groups to share issues, educate, and problem solve to enhance student social, emotional, and academic progress.
• Conducts research and evaluation of job functions and collects data for developing new policies and programs to enhance family and community participation in education and student achievement.
• Attends work and arrives to work on time.
• Adheres to the Social Work Code of Ethics and the Teacher Code of Ethics as defined by Tennessee Law.
• Maintains appropriate licensure and acknowledges that continued employment with the Hamilton County Department of Education is contingent upon providing required documentation to validate licensure in a timely manner.
• Communicates the role of the social worker and available services to students, parents, and community.
• Follows established procedures to ensure assigned areas are safe.
• Addresses problems in a positive, respectful manner.
• Treats students and others with respect.
• Maintains confidentiality.
• Maintain up to date documentation through the school social work documentation and online database system, as well as the Student Success Planning Platform.
• May operate a motor vehicle to conduct various work activities.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

  Qualifications

  • Masters degree in Social Work and current valid Tennessee license in School Social Worker pre-K-12 through the Department of Education.
  • LMSW or LCSW preferred.
  • Candidates may be eligible for a School Social Work license if they have one of the following:
    • Complete an educator preparation program in school social work, and be recommended by the approved educator preparation provider
    • Hold a valid social worker license issued by the Tennessee Board of Social Workers or the licensing board of a state other than Tennessee
    • Hold a degree in Social Work and hold a valid out-of-state professional-level educator license (Please note that HCS requires a master's degree)

  Compensation

  Salary is based on a combination of relevant education and experience. Salary Scale This position may be eligible for an increase in total compensation. The Differentiated Compensation Plan applies to designated schools and hard-to-staff positions. Please see https://www.hcde.org/staff/human_resources/differentiated_compensation for more details.