Department: Student Services

Reports To: Building Principal & Supervisor of Special Education

FTE: 1.0 FTE (Special Education)

SUMMARY:

The primary role of the School Social Worker is to identify and assist students, families, and school systems to overcome barriers that interfere with learning through the use of assessment, counseling, consultation, coordination of school and community resources, and program development. The School Social Worker utilizes knowledge of human behavior, social, cultural and community influences to help create a positive learning climate. The School Social Worker functions as a mental health professional on the multi-disciplinary teams (MTSS) and provides case management services for students with IEPs. School Social Workers will conform to the standards established by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) code of ethics. 

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

This position requires possession of a master's degree from a graduate social work program approved by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE). This includes a minimum 500 clock hour-supervised social work practicum. 

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES. Other duties may be assigned.

• Conducts district approved assessments, screeners, and benchmarks to determine the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of students 
• Provides research-based effective intervention strategies to support student success

• Collects and records information to share with appropriate personnel as a component of MTSS and Student Support Team
• Provides consultation to administrators and teachers on broad areas of school mental health. 
• Consults with families regarding ways they can help their child become successful in school
• Consults with district McKinney-Vento Liaison and KSSN personnel as needed
• Provides crisis intervention services
• Helps students and/or parents cope with the impact of conditions such as unemployment, illness, divorce, pregnancy, death, relocation, drug addiction, etc.
• Provides direct social work services to students with IEPs, service delivery includes push in and pull out services 
• Provides consultation services for students with IEPs 
• Works collaboratively with the building level special education team to ensure that the needs of the students with IEPs are being met in the school setting 
• Work with a team to conduct functional behavior assessments (FBAs) and write Positive Behavior Support Plans (PBSPs) 
• Assists school staff with the implementation of PBSPs
• Works collaboratively with the building student support team and evaluation team to ensure timelines, benchmarks, and student rights are honored and valued
• Actively participates in the building attendance team - meeting with and providing educational counseling around the importance of both attendance and routines at home
• Utilizes district protocol to complete Risk Assessments on students who threaten harm to self or others in order to keep safety the priority
• Makes appropriate referrals to community agencies e.g. counseling, financial assistance, medical, psychological
• Serves as liaison between school, families and community agencies 
• Maintains an awareness of the community supports and resources that are available to our families
• Provides direct services to students and parents
• Counsels individual students/groups regarding issues which interfere with adjustment and/or performance within the educational setting
• Assists the school in planning programs that prevent, reduce, or alleviate situations which interfere with the learning process of students
• Ability to organize time, resources, and services to meet workload demands
• Maintains accurate, complete and punctual records as required by law, district policy and administrative directions
• Highly flexible
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Ability to utilize technology to accomplish assigned tasks
• Must maintain confidentiality 
• Attends workshops, training sessions, conferences, and courses required by the district and to keep up to date of professional best practices and research 
• Adheres to established regulations, policies, rules, and laws
• Carries out other duties as assigned by building or district administrator 

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES RELATED TO CULTURAL COMPETENCE AND EQUITY:

• Knowledge/awareness of own cultural identity and how this influences behavior, and desire to learn about the cultural identity of others.
• Ability to establish and nurture an environment that promotes cultural competence and equitable treatment of staff, students, and partners of the District.
• Has demonstrated experience as a leader for equity and/or has evidence of success in closing opportunity gaps for students of color.
• Ability to nurture a school environment that celebrates, respects, and values diversity, where teaching and learning are made relevant and meaningful to students

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS:

This position requires temporary approval, continuing temporary approval, or full approval by MDE. 

LANGUAGE SKILLS:

Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public. Bilingual in Spanish is preferred.

REASONING ABILITY:

Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form. 

OTHER SKILLS and ABILITIES: 

Ability to apply knowledge of current research and theory to instructional programs; ability to plan and implement lessons based on division and school objectives and the needs and abilities of students to whom assigned. Ability to establish and maintain effective relationships with students, peers and parents; skill in oral and written communication. .

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand and talk or hear and sometimes walk and sit. Occasionally the employee will bend or twist at the neck more than the average person While performing the duties of this job, the employee may occasionally push or lift up to 50 lbs such as boxes of books and AV/VCR carts. The employee is directly responsible for safety, well-being, or work output of other people.

Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision such as to read handwritten or typed material, and the ability to adjust focus. The position requires the individual to meet multiple demands from several people and interact with the public and other staff.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: 

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The noise level in the work environment is moderate to loud.

Godfrey-Lee Public Schools is an equal opportunity educational institution. It is our expressed policy that no person shall be unlawfully excluded from participation, be denied benefits of, or otherwise subjected to discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, marital status, national origin, sex, age or handicap/disability in its activities or programs as required by Title VI, Title IX and Section 504. Any person believing that the Godfrey-Lee Public Schools or any part of the school organization has inadequately applied the principles and/or regulations of (1) Title IX of the Education Amendment Act of 1972, (2) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, (3) the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and (4) Title II of the Americans with Disability Act of 1990 may bring forward a complaint, which shall be referred to as a grievance, to Mark Provost, the local Coordinator at the following address: 1324 Burton St. SW Wyoming, MI 49509.