Date Available:
2023-2024 school termReports to: Assistant Superintendent of Student Services & Equity
Position summary: The Truancy Social Worker plays a vital role in addressing truancy issues among students, with a focus on identifying the underlying causes of truancy and collaborating with students, families, schools, and community resources to develop strategies and interventions to improve attendance and reduce truancy rates. The Truancy Social Worker provides support, advocacy, and guidance to students and families, facilitating their access to necessary resources and services within the school district.
Role qualifications:

• Holds a current Illinois Professional Educator License (PEL) with Social Worker endorsement;
• Master’s degree in Social Work plus 30 hours required;
• Bilingual (English-Spanish) preferred.

Position responsibilities:

• Regularly monitors the attendance of target students (unexcused absences or excessive absences) at assigned schools.
• Establishes contact with responsible family members of target students (home visits will be required).
• Refers students to appropriate community agencies or programs as necessary for compliance with attendance requirements.
• Performs casework and group work with students to assist with personal, social, or emotional maladjustments related to school attendance and educational progress.
• Works with parents and others on problems in a student’s living situation (home, school, and community) that affect the student’s ability to attend school.
• Consults and collaborates with other school personnel in gathering and giving information on student cases.
• Collaborates with the schools’ Deans’ office and Pupil Personnel Services office to review attendance-related data and coordinate interventions.
• Compiles and disseminates attendance-related data at the school and district-level.
• Maintains case records and files.
• Completes the District’s state reporting related to absenteeism and truancy.
• Strives to maintain and improve professional competence.
• Assists the schools in adopting the most successful prevention and intervention strategies that address chronic absenteeism and truancy.
• Attends truancy and school attendance workshops.
• Provides consultation for school staff regarding student attendance.
• Mobilizes communities through collaboration and communication to help the schools identify gaps in mental health services.
• Works with community agencies to connect families to resources and services.
• Provides staff development on barriers to school attendance and other related topics.
• Serves appropriate notices as required by state law, School Board rules and procedures in a timely manner.
• Maintains accurate records of interventions and contacts and provides the schools with appropriate documentation.
• Responds to inquiries and concerns in a timely manner.
• Performs other related duties as assigned by the Assistant Superintendent or designee.

Essential skills and experience:

• Must be able to work well within a team.
• Demonstrated professionalism and ability to handle stressful situations with tact and diplomacy.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Commitment to education and District values

Reporting to this position: N/A
Physical demands and work environment: The physical demands and work environment characteristics 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.

• Physical demands: While performing duties of job, employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; talk and hear. Employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
• Work environment: The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Terms of Employment:

• Ten-month work year
• Starting annual salary between $51,958 and $92,629
• Teachers Retirement System of Illinois (TRS) pension
• 55 minute duty-free lunch (45 minutes on Wednesdays)
• Sick and personal days
• Generous fringe benefits as provided by the current negotiated Agreement
• Bi-annual evaluation based on criteria as defined in the negotiated Agreement and the Licensed Staff Evaluation Procedures