Position: AIDP Social Worker
Supervisor: Community School Assistant Director
Overview
The Door helps over 11,500 young people each year by empowering them to reach their full potential by providing comprehensive youth development services in a diverse and caring environment. The Broome Street Academy Charter High School prepares young people for post-secondary success that leads to positive life outcomes. We value student strengths and will provide multiple pathways to success through a curriculum of rigorous academic, career and social instruction grounded in the principles of positive youth development. Together, The Door and Broome Street Academy are implementing a Community Schools initiative to develop and implement sustainable best practices for improved student attendance and academic success, student and caregiver engagement, and academic achievement.
Broome Street Academy students live all over the city, presenting a unique challenge in both building a community school and helping truant students overcome barriers to regular attendance. The Attendance Improvement and Dropout Prevention (AIDP) Social Worker will play a critical role in addressing these challenges. AIDP SW is responsible for closely coordinating this work with in-school interventions delivered by other social workers, teachers, and other staff. While this is a position at The Door, it is 100% dedicated to Broome Street Academy.
Responsibilities
- Direct and contribute to the community-based component of BSA’s attendance improvement practices and develop comprehensive attendance improvement interventions.
- Work in collaboration with BSA’s Director of Social Emotional Learning, social workers, Director of Admissions, Caregiver Coordinator, Guidance Department, teachers, and other members of the support staff as it pertains to targeted students to develop a thorough reintegration plan for disengaged/truant students.
- Work in collaboration with BSA’s Data and Evaluation Associate to assess trends with specific students; review historical attendance records of incoming students
- Work with Caregiver Coordinator to create/present psycho-educational workshops for caregivers on best practices to improve student attendance; potential mental health barriers including depression contributing to low motivation to attend school, etc.
- Work with Director of Admissions to orient new students and incoming 9th graders to school and screen for needed support services
- Work with Attendance Associate and Director of Social Emotional Learning to contact NYS Central Registry to report situations of neglect/abuse.
- Support Attendance Associate, Community School Assistant Director, Dean of Social Work, and student champions with adherence to BSA attendance policies and ensure accurate data tracking.
- Liaise and maintain ongoing communication with preventative workers, ACS, probation officers, therapeutic workers, criminal/family court systems, law enforcement, etc. regarding attendance and/or behaviors to establish interventions/updates.
- Support families in finding alternative educational opportunities for students once all avenues of reintegration have been exhausted or at the request of caregivers.
- Perform community outreach, including home visits, throughout the five boroughs to meet with caregivers and/or students in their communities as part of the truancy tracking process. AIDP SW will also serve as an advocate and accompany students and/or caregivers on site visits to potential alternative placements, organizations offering preventative services, court sessions, etc.
- Document all interventions utilizing established record keeping systems; report back daily to Community School Assistant Director. Update Head of School, other support staff and administrators as needed.
- Identify and develop relationships with alternative educational programs; attend open houses, fairs, etc. to gain knowledge of different options for students in need of new placement.
- Support BSA’s social work staff with crisis intervention as needed.
- Participate in weekly AIDP team meeting; BSA’s social work team meetings/case conferencing; Wednesday morning Advocacy meeting; supervision with Community School Director; attend other meetings required by the Director of Social Emotional Learning and Community School Assistant Director.
- Attend professional development workshops, seminars/webinars, and trainings; attend BSA and Door after-school events/activities and trips.
- Serve as a Champion© for a small group of BSA students.
Qualifications
- MSW degree required, LMSW preferred
- Three years+ of experience in a school setting (preferred) or mental health or community-based setting
- Ability to engage and diffuse crisis situations
- Ability to work effectively with adolescents, families, professionals and other personnel from a wide range of cultural, social and economic backgrounds.
- Experience working with adolescents required
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
- Excellent organizational skills
- Familiarity with multiple New York City neighborhoods and geographies preferred
- Ability to independently travel throughout New York City and take initiative to effectively coordinate schedule with supervisor, colleagues and families
- Prior experience conducting home visits or other attendance improvement interventions a plus
- Bilingual (English/Spanish) a plus
Hours: Full Time – 35 hours a week
Salary: $54,000 - $56,000 annually