Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Provides mental health services to students in elementary, high school and middle grades under the guidance of student welfare, to assist with improving home situations, environments, and conditions that may impact students’ school work, behavior, and mental health and to help families understand the school and relevant school programs.

• Counsels students for the purpose of building relationships, promoting student engagement in personal academic success, and detecting potential issues that may require intervention.

• Provides consultation and professional learning to administration, faculty, and other school employees on broad areas of mental health and wellness-related issues.

• Serves as a liaison between students’ families and the school and visits students’ homes as necessary to conduct assessments, identify underlying causes for student academic, social, and/or behavioral issues, establish effective communication, and positively promote collaboration in resolving identified concerns by encouraging parent/guardian participation in their student’s educational planning under the guidance of a supervising Social Worker.

• Serves on multidisciplinary team(s) to address needs of students, including students from special populations, to ensure data-informed implementation of appropriate services, programming, and/or placement

• Consults with administrators and appropriate school employees to ensure student success and assists in the structure to remove barriers to learning

• Refers at-risk students and their families to suitable internal or external medical, behavioral, and/or social resources or law enforcement agencies as appropriate; serves as a liaison between the families and service providers in order to gain necessary assistance under the guidance of a supervising Social Worker.

• Maintains necessary follow-up for disadvantaged students, including homeless and foster care students or those receiving state or federal assistance.

• May serve as At-Risk Counselor for the school district and, in that capacity, performs corresponding duties as appropriate, including but not limited to:

o Provides guidance, advice, and support to at-risk students and their parents/guardians in regards to pending disciplinary hearings and communicates effectively to address needs and promote student progress.

o Works cooperatively with the Behavioral Learning Specialist to facilitate the processing and preparation of documentation for disciplinary hearings.

o Serves as a member of disciplinary hearing panels on a periodic basis as required.

• Maintains necessary follow-up for students as appropriate to assist in the implementation of individual prevention and/or intervention plans or court-ordered actions and to monitor and support student progress in meeting identified goals under the guidance of the student welfare director.

• Educates and assists students and their families with the application process for participation in the annual Free and Reduced Lunch program.

• May support bilingual families and school personnel by providing interpretive services at parent meetings/trainings to ensure parent expectations are clearly communicated and understood.

• Assists schools in planning, implementing, and coordinating parent education workshops.

• Documents and compiles accurate and confidential student information for use by school personnel and outside agencies while maintaining compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPPA).

• Submits required documentation in an accurate and timely manner during the life cycle of the grant.

• Participates in a variety of approved trainings, activities, and events, including in-service programs, seminars, conferences, workshops, etc. to address professional learning needs.

• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Bachelors degree from an accredited college/university with emphasis in Social Work, Sociology, Psychology, Social Welfare, or a related field with at least three (3) years of related experience.

Physical Requirements

Requires exerting up to twenty (20) pounds of force occasionally and/or up to ten (10) pounds of force frequently and/or a negligible amount of force frequently constantly.

Terms of Employment

Ten month year. Salary as recommended by the Superintendent and approved by the Board.

This specification has been designed to represent the general nature and level of work found in this position. As such, it is not intended to contain all duties and qualifications of an employee in this position. Consequently, it is not intended to be perceived as an identification of essential job functions as required by ADA. Note: The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related or logical assignment to that position.