Title:  School Social Worker

Minimum Qualifications:

• Appropriately licensed/certified by the Illinois State Board of Education
• Masters degree in Social Work from a graduate school of Social Work.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Training in education and understanding of public school services and special education are preferred.
• Experience in public school social work or child-related social work.

Accountable to:

• Director of Student Services, Building Administrators

Primary Objective:

• Assist the Building Principal and Assistant Principal under the direct supervision of the Director of Student Services to provide services for the identification, evaluation and educational programming for children from birth through age 21, and to assist parents and professionals in meeting the educational and social/emotional/behavioral, and mental health needs of children and youth.

Major Areas of Accountability*:

• Communicate with parents, school personnel, and community resource staff to involve them in a problem solving approach with children from birth through age 21 to develop coordinated action plans that meets the educational needs of the individual students.
• Assist the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of interventions, developed in groups and individual students.
• Use functional assessment techniques that are designed to focus on the child’s relationship with home, school and community and on the development of interventions to improve students’ educational performance.
• Manage time, organize materials necessary and communicate with the Building Administrators and the Director of Student Services to effectively manage cases in assigned buildings.
• Support the full and meaningful participation of parents in educational decisions.
• Collaborate and communicate with other professions to improve school social work services.
• Participate in inter-agency/inter-disciplinary meetings that determine the eligibility and appropriate educational plans for children with disabilities.
• Contribute to professional development by providing inservices, consultation, research activities and mentoring colleagues as needed.
• Participate in supervision of practicum students.
• Serve as an advocate for all children and youth.
• Report any and all violations of state and federal rules and regulations, and agency procedures to the Building Principal and the Director of Student Services.
• Act in concert with legal requirements and ethical codes of the profession.
• Demonstrate cultural competence and behaviors consistent with the core values, vision, and mission of School District 159.
• Other duties as assigned.

Requirements:

• Bending, carrying, climbing, must be able to travel between job sites, lifting, pushing-pulling, reaching, sitting, standing and walking.
• Must be able to occasionally lift, move, or push items of 50 lbs such as assisting children or moving/rearranging furniture.

Working Conditions:

• Includes extremes of temperature and humidity.
• Hazards include stairs and communicable diseases.

*All areas of accountability considered essential functions of the job.