Social Services Assistant

POSITION SUMMARY:  

Assistant with social service programs, evaluate the social needs of each resident admitted and formulate a written plan of care; review and revise plan as necessary, but not often than quarterly; refer residents and families to appropriate community resources, as necessary.  

Schedule: Monday - Friday 9:00am - 4:00pm

JOB QUALIFICATIONS:  

Education:  

An associate degree in social work or an Associate degree in Human Resource Field Preferred.  

Experience: Two year of social work experience working directly with residents in a health-care setting.  

KEY JOB FUNCTION:  

• Coordinates and sets up appointments including Dental, Podiatrist, Ophthalmologist, Psychiatrist.  

• Coordinates and arranges transportation, where applicable.  

• Arranges room changes, assist resident/family with adjustment to change.  

• Keeps calendar for assessments, meetings and other clerical duties as needed, and schedules meetings for residents, staff, families.  

• Assist in facilitating family group meetings and attends IDT meetings.  

• Arranges for DME and home services at time of discharge and follows up on residents’ possessions after discharge.  

COMMUNICATION REQUIREMENTS OF ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:  

• Advocate for their residents to ensure that their needs are met and that their rights are protected. Social workers who work in elderly homes should stay up to date with legislative changes and policies that can affect their residents. They are responsible for ensuring that residents are protected from abuse and neglect and should report any suspicion of abuse or neglect to facility administrators and to appropriate regulatory and law enforcement officials.  

• Counseling to help residents adjust to life in their new homes. Adjusting to life in a supportive care setting can be difficult and challenging for those used to living independently. A social worker provides individual and group counseling as needed to help her residents overcome potential emotional, psychological and social obstacles to adjustment. If the facility does not provide certain services, such as psychiatric care, the social worker will refer her client to the appropriate resources and professionals.  

• With resident’s permission, maintain contact with family to report on changes. In health, current goals, resident’s rights, discharge planning, and to encourage participation in care planning.  

• Make referrals and obtain services from outside entities, such as talking books, absentee ballots, and community wheelchair transportation.  

• Assist residents with financial and legal matters, such as applying for pension, referrals to lawyers, and referrals to funeral homes for pre-planning arrangements. 

• Assist with discharge-planning services, such as helping to place a resident on a waiting list for community congregate living, arranging intake for home-care services for residents returning home, assisting with transfer arrangements to other facilities. Complete discharge plan in accordance with discharge-plan policy. 

• Develop relationship with resident and family and provide or arrange for provision of needed counseling services. 

• As a member of the interdisciplinary team, identify and seek ways to support. resident’s individual needs, preferences, customary routines, concerns, and choices through the assessment and care-planning process. 

• Build relationships between residents and staff and teach staff to understand and support residents’ individual needs. 

• Promote actions by staff that maintain or enhance each resident’s dignity in full recognition of each resident’s individuality. 

• Assist residents in the decision-making process concerning their own health care, and whether they would like anyone else to be involved in those decisions. 

• Assist staff to inform residents, and those they designate, about the residents. health status and health-care choices and their ramifications. 

• Provide alternatives to drug therapy and/or restraints by understanding and communicating to staff why residents act as they do, what they are attempting to communicate, and what needs the staff must meet.  

We are committed to maintaining a diverse and inclusive workplace. We are an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We do not discriminate in recruiting, hiring or promotion based on race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, age, disability or protected veteran status. We proudly support and encourage people with military experience (active, veterans, reservists and National Guard) as well as military spouses to apply for our job opportunities.