NATURE AND SCOPE The effective School Adjustment Counselor is aware of and up to date on effective instructional processes, understands classroom and school environments, is cognizant and capable of operating within schools and collaborating with State agencies, applies principles of learning to the development of student competence both within and outside of school, consults with educators and other professionals regarding cognitive, affective, social and behavioral performance of students, assesses developmental needs and develop educational plans that meet those diverse needs, coordinates and interfaces with educational, psychological and behavioral health services, intervenes to provide clinical support at the individual, group, school and district level, as needed and develops effective partnerships with parents and community members within the context of the MADESE regulations for general and special education and the Westwood Public Schools policies and procedures. (Adapted from the APA database May 2017)

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS/RESPONSIBILITIES - Maintain caseload of high need students that require more frequent check-ins and counseling meetings. - Provide direct counseling services for identified students, primarily those with counseling goals and objectives on their IEPs or 504 Plans. - Provide support, outreach and consultation to teachers and parents of identified students. - Maintain contact/collaborate with outside providers/therapists of identified students. - Provide direct services, transitional programming for student re-entry from hospitalizations and partial/day programming, including outreach to teachers, parents and student. - Conduct safety assessments/crisis intervention. - Provide preventative programming: 1) Facilitate groups for socialization skills, managing stress, anxiety, grief or other special issue groups as needed (e.g. study skills, new students) 2) Participate in planning and present Signs of Suicide (SOS) program, and oversee follow up with students as needed. - Serve on Child Study and Incident Management Teams to determine appropriate pre-referral interventions and post-vention - Attend IEP, 504 and GSP meetings as needed. - Serve as liaison between the school, community resources and agencies (DCF, DMH). - Contact/liaison for students at WHS for DMH referrals, etc.All other related duties as requested by supervisor. - Step up/step down liaison for students entering/leaving hospitalization or day treatment, able to attend hospital meetings as appropriate, coordinate return transition plans with teachers, school staff, parents, student - work collaboratively with guidance counselors and school psychologists and administrators to support complex multi-system cases involving family, outside treaters, hospital/clinic settings, courts and state agencies

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

-Licensed School Adjustment Counselor/Social Worker in accordance with MA DESE regulations (LICSW, MSW, or Master’s degree in Counseling)

-Counseling or clinical experience with students facing social, emotional or behavior needs (including autism spectrum)

-Previous experience with facilitating groups

-Knowledge of diagnosis and treatment planning, cognitive-behavior therapy

-Understanding of special education laws

-Psychological testing experience preferred, but not required

PERSONAL QUALITIES

- Respectful and able to collaborate with colleagues from a variety of philosophical and academic backgrounds.

- Empathic and fair in communicating with others.

- Highly skilled in active listening techniques and aware of and skilled at using verbal and non verbal behaviors that support relationship building.

- Able to set, monitor and adjust treatment goals in an ongoing manner.

- Skill in both individual, group, whole school and district level interventions.

JOB ENVIRONMENT

Work takes place in a fast-paced school environment with in an active school building, primarily indoors. Required to juggle tasks and face interruptions as a matter of course. Job takes place in a variety of settings, including hallways, classrooms, offices, recess, gym, lunchroom and other settings.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

- Sufficient vision and hearing to read printed documents and communicate orally in team meetings.

- Frequent standing, walking, sitting, bending and reaching as well as carrying and occasionally lifting up to 30 lbs.

- Ability to take, complete and pass a de-escalation training such as Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) and to perform appropriate de-escalation actions as part of a school wide crisis response team.

- Facility with all computer and web based programs for scoring evaluations, writing reports and completing IEP progress reports and goal statements.

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.

The Westwood Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status.