Social Worker-MSW LSW

About the role

The Social Worker collaborates directly with patients and families through face-to-face interactions, providing psychosocial assessments, counseling, discharge planning, and crisis intervention. This role involves working closely with the healthcare team to ensure safe, timely, and resource-rich care. The Social Worker also serves as a liaison between IU Health and local protective services, manages complex cases such as abuse, neglect, guardianship, and end-of-life planning, and responds to acute crises with de-escalation techniques.

Responsibilities

• Meet face-to-face with patients and families to assess psychosocial needs and coordinate care.
• Communicate and collaborate with all members of the healthcare team to facilitate safe, timely services and resource provision.
• Interpret and communicate complex patient and family needs, modeling caring practices for team members.
• Conduct psychosocial risk assessments evaluating prior functioning, support systems, reactions to illness, and coping strategies.
• Counsel patients and families regarding emotional, social, and financial impacts of health conditions or disabilities.
• Access and mobilize family and community resources to meet identified needs.
• Provide mental health assessments upon physician referral and deliver therapeutic interventions, including crisis and addiction assessments.
• Support complex discharge planning, including guardianship, foster care, adoption, and mental health placements.
• Serve as the primary point person for cases involving child abuse/neglect, adult/elderly abuse/neglect, institutional abuse, and domestic violence.
• Act as liaison between IU Health, protective teams, law enforcement, and community agencies.
• Respond to dangerous and potentially dangerous situations with clinical intervention and de-escalation.
• Support patients during acute crises, utilizing de-escalation techniques to prevent violence.
• Facilitate decision-making and care planning conversations with patients and families.
• Maintain strong professional relationships with hospital administration, medical teams, law enforcement, social services, and community agencies.
• Document all assessments and interventions proficiently in the electronic medical record system.

Requirements

• Master’s Degree in Social Work required.
• Permanent LSW licensure required.
• Certification in Crisis Prevention Intervention or equivalent de-escalation training required within 6 months of hire.
• Knowledge of evidence-based psychosocial assessments, short-term therapeutic counseling, and crisis intervention for mental health and substance use disorders.
• Understanding of disease processes, human behavior, and health-related social needs.
• Strong discharge planning skills to ensure safe transfers of care.
• Knowledge of state and county legal mandates for child and adult protective services.
• Understanding of growth and development principles across the lifespan, including end-of-life care.
• Experience in managing services across diverse geographical, cultural, and financial populations.
• Ability to develop and maintain collaborative relationships with hospital staff, law enforcement, social services, schools, and community agencies.
• Responds effectively to violence or threats, including de-escalation and safety techniques.
• Computer literacy and proficiency in documentation within an electronic medical record system.
• May be scheduled for on-call, holiday, or weekend rotations.

Benefits

Join Indiana's leading healthcare system, committed to delivering compassionate, patient-centered care. We offer opportunities for professional development and a collaborative team environment focused on improving community health.