Social Worker Level 5- BE-HEARD PROGRAM- LCSW required

Empower Every New Yorker
– Without Exception
– to Live the Healthiest Life Possible

NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the United States.

We provide essential outpatient, inpatient and home-based services to more than one million New Yorkers every year across the city’s five boroughs.

Our large health system consists of ambulatory centers, acute care centers, post-acute care/long-term care, rehabilitation programs, Home Care, and Correctional Health Services.

Our diverse workforce is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible.

The Social Worker V is an integral part of an interdisciplinary, ground-breaking pilot in NYC to send a clinician and FDNY EMS
– Emergency Medical Technicians to mental health 911 calls.

These Emergency Response Teams will be the first ever NYC teams dispatched to 911 calls for mental health emergencies.

The program operates 7 days a week, between the hours of 10am and 2am.

Social workers will work during 8-hour shifts.

The licensed social worker will be responsible for supervising the team responding to 911 emergency mental health calls from community members with two Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs).

This role combines significant clinical assessment and brief treatment with knowledge of city systems and individual and team supervision.

The teams will work with individuals who are severely mentally ill, and individuals who are chemically addicted, they should be able to use crisis intervention and de-escalation techniques in the midst of a crisis.

Training will provide de-escalation and other clinical skills necessary to ensure team members are able to support and connect New Yorkers to appropriate levels of care.

The duties primarily include community-based field work responding to 911 mental health crisis calls.

Clinicians will go out in teams with two EMTs.

Their role will be to establish communication whenever possible with the person in crisis, conduct crisis assessments, de-escalate situations, and make connections to appropriate care.

Clinicians are responsible for identifying and collaborating with existing support systems, facilitating community referrals as needed, working with interdisciplinary treatment teams to develop appropriate case disposition, and documenting all interventions.

Some of the physical activities performed by this position are: working outdoors in all kinds of weather; climbing stairs; treating patients who may have infectious and communicable diseases; working for extended periods during the day or night in a vehicle; working in confined spaces such as trains and buildings; treating patients at heights such as rooftops, bridges or elevated highways; and carrying a mobile radio for communication purposes.

This position will supervise Social Workers on the teams and the program, collaborating with FDNY/EMT.

General tasks and responsibilities will include:

o Lead ongoing training, group, and individual supervision

o Demonstrate use of learned skills and improvement in patient care

o Responds as part of a team to individuals and conducts psychiatric and biopsychosocial assessments

o Observe and identify verbal and non-verbal behaviors in clinical assessments.

o Provide crisis intervention to high-risk patients

o Identify and collaborate with existing support systems, facilitating community referrals as needed.

o Collaborate with team to develop most appropriate plan, including potential to perform psychiatric removals in the community.

o Conduct and/or attends individual, unit, departmental, intra/inter hospital, and community meetings as mandated by the administration and or supervisor

o Review Medical Records as indicated by the Social Work Department

o Demonstrate knowledge about departmental, facility, network, city, state, federal and Joint Commission standards and regulations.

o Provide clinical and administrative supervision to Social Workers on the team

o Monitors staff activities to ensure compliance with all of the above.

o Prepares Performance Evaluations of supervisees.

o Conducts chart monitoring for the program.

o Assist in data collection, reporting, and other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

1.

A valid Licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW) license issued by the New York State Education Department and three years of full-time satisfactory post-licensure experience as described above, with at least two years of this experience in a supervisory capacity; or

2.

A Licensed Clinical Social Work (LCSW) license issued by the New York State Education Department and two years of supervisory experience as described above.

Special Note:

Section 424-a of the New York Social Services Law requires an authorized facility to inquire whether a candidate for employment with child-care responsibilities has been the subject of a child abuse and maltreatment report.

The facility has the discretion to assign a candidate who has been the subject of a child abuse and maltreatment report to a position with no child-care responsibilities.

Department Preferences

Preference will be given to qualified candidates with:

• At a minimum, 3 years experience working with people with serious mental illness (e.g.

mobile crisis team, mobile treatment team, community based health provider, hospital emergency room, in-patient psychiatric care).

• A minimum of 1 year supervisory experience

• English proficiency; ability to communicate in Spanish highly preferred.

Knowledge of/Experience in:

• Psychiatric assessment

• Crisis Intervention techniques

• Substance use disorders

• Clinical and administrative supervision

• Strong clinical and communication skills, and ability to work in a fast-paced environment requires as well as effective time management skills.

• Personal experience with serious mental health challenge yourself preferred or experienced by a family member preferred.

• Field based experience outside a traditional clinical/hospital setting preferred

• Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, Powerpoint)

• Psykes

• EPIC