Job Title: Summer Social Worker

Period of Service: Summer

Terms: BTU

Location: Office of Social Work: Timilty

Reports to: Director of Social Work

Background & Overview:

Boston Public Schools is committed to providing every child in every classroom an equitable, world-class, high-quality education with the same unfettered access to every conceivable resource to unlock the greatness within them. As part of an equitable Multi-tiered System of Supports that advances students’ learning and outcomes, The Department of Social Work serves BPS students and families by supporting school-based social workers across the district with providing high-quality, culturally responsive direct services.

Position Summary and General Responsibilities:

This summer position will support the ongoing need of all BPS students and families during the summer months. The Social Worker will be a mental health clinician with strong crisis response experience, who will provide a range of mental health and counseling support to our students and families impacted by mental health issues, community violence, trauma and crises as they arise. This will entail direct outreach to students and families, responding to trauma at specific summer program sites and throughout the city, warm hand-offs to community partners, maintaining ongoing communication with central office and school based staff as needed. The Summer Social Worker will be part of a team of 5-10 clinicians available to support the needs of BPS students and families, irrespective of their participation in a summer program; this may include hours outside of typical summer programming. It is critical that the Summer Social Worker team represent the linguistic diversity of our BPS students and families to support Social Workers and schools in order to provide services and support in the home languages of students and families.

REPORTS TO: Director of Social Work

Time Commitment:

• In-person, Monday through Friday from 8:30 am-3:00 pm.
• In-person response with deployment across the city, at BPS and community sites.
• Social Worker will be expected to be in person.
• Work hours are 8:30am-3:00pm. Hours may vary during crisis situations.
• BTU rate of $54.00/hour, for up to 6 weeks, between July 7, 2025 - August 15, 2025

Responsibilities

• Provide counseling, consultation, and case management to individual or small groups of students, as needed and directed.
• Support the BPS Family Hotline throughout the year, supporting students and families as needed.
• Work cooperatively with student(s) families, mental health staff, external partners, and school staff to establish/enhance communication and coordinate services and opportunities for the student(s) in a manner that aligns with the students’/families’ expressed need and aspirations.
• Support individual, whole sites and district crisis response in collaboration with the Safety Services and City partners; this may include attending community events such as vigils.
• Implement restorative circles to advance collective healing as deemed appropriate
• Crisis and healing supports for adults educators/staff experiencing direct or secondary trauma
• Creating of trauma recovery plan after incident for the remainder of the summer, including BPS, City and community partners as appropriate
• Conduct home visits as needed
• Provide training and professional development (PD) to the BPS and partner summer site staff on topics related to Social Work, as needed and requested.
• Maintain documentation and data on all activities, analyzing for trends and sharing these with Social Work leadership to inform Office goals, professional development (PD), targeted strategies and advocacy, in compliance with laws and privacy policies.
• Support the office with SY25-26 planning and preparation.
• Other related duties as requested by the Department of Social Work leadership and/or district

CORE COMPETENCIES: Using the Rubric of Specialized Instructional Support Personnel (SISP), the Office of Human Capital has identified priority skills and abilities that all BPS SISP should demonstrate.

Communicating Professional Knowledge

(I-A-1 Professional Knowledge, I-A-2 Child Adolescent Development, I-A-3 Plan Development)

• Exhibits strong knowledge of child development and how students learn and behave, and designs effective and rigorous plans for support with measurable outcomes.
• Demonstrates knowledge of students’ developmental levels by providing differentiated learning experiences and support that enable all students to progress toward intended outcomes.

Cultural Proficiency

(II-C-1. Respects Differences, II-C-2. Maintains Respectful Environment)

• Actively creates and maintains an environment in which students’ diverse backgrounds, identities, strengths, and challenges are respected.

Parent/Family Engagement

(III-A-1. Parent/Family Engagement, III-B-2. Collaboration)

• Engages with families and builds collaborative, respectful relationships with them in service of student learning.
• Consistently provides parents with clear expectations for student learning behavior and/or wellness and shares strategies to promote learning and development at school and home.

Professional Reflection & Collaboration

(IV-A-1. Reflective Practice, IV-C-1. Professional Collaboration, IV-C-2. Consultation)

• Regularly reflects on practice, seeks and responds to feedback, and demonstrates self-awareness and commitment to continuous learning and development.
• Consistently collaborates with colleagues through shared planning and/or informal conversation to analyze student performance and development, and to plan appropriate interventions at the classroom or school level.
• Regularly provides advice and expertise to general education teachers and the school community to support the creation of appropriate and effective academic, behavioral, and social/emotional learning experiences for students.

Qualifications- Required:

• Education: Master’s Degree in Social Work or Mental Health Counseling
• Licensed Social Worker (LCSW or LICSW) or Licensed Mental Health Clinician (LMHC) eligible
• MA DESE School Social Worker/School Adjustment Counselor License (All Levels) or School Psychologists License (All Levels)
• Minimum of 3 years of professional experience in an urban setting providing educational clinical services and crisis response/support
• Strong skills using the Google Suite platform
• Demonstrated ability to provide culturally responsive clinical crisis support and counseling
• Experience implementing restorative justice practices
• Ability to meet the BPS Standards of Effective Practice as outlined above
• Strong interpersonal and cultural proficiency skills to work with school, students, parents and community based agencies from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds
• Professional clinical experience with children and their families.
• While an individual candidate is not required to be bilingual/biliterate, the team of summer Social Workers must hold fluency in the top home languages of the district’s students and families: Spanish, Cape Verdean Creole, Haitian Creole, Mandarin/Cantonese, and Vietnamese.
• While an individual candidate is not required to be certified in Safety Care de-escalation and restraint program, the majority of the team must be certified.
• Current authorization to work in the United States - Candidates must have such authorization by their first day of employment.

Qualifications- Preferred:

• Current BPS licensed clinician
• Certification as a trainer in Safety Care de-escalation and restraint program
• BPS values linguistic diversity and believes that candidates who speak another language bring added value to the classroom, school, and district culture and diversity. BPS is particularly interested in candidates who are fluent in one of BPS' official languages: Spanish, Creole (Cape Verdean), Creole (Haitian), Chinese, Vietnamese, Portuguese, & Somali.
• Access to a vehicle and license to drive

NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY The Boston Public Schools, in accordance with its nondiscrimination policies, does not discriminate in its programs, facilities, or employment or educational opportunities on the basis of race, color, age, criminal record (inquiries only), disability, homelessness, sex/gender, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, genetics or military status, and does not tolerate any form of retaliation, or bias-based intimidation, threat or harassment that demeans individuals’ dignity or interferes with their ability to learn or work.