About Job

Title: Social Worker, Adolescent Health Center (AHC)

Supervisor: Director of Mental Health Services, Adolescent Health Center

Overview: The Door is an unparalleled model for youth development, offering a comprehensive range of integrated services within a single site for over 11,000 New York City youth each year. Our mission is to empower young adults to reach their full potential by providing comprehensive youth development services in a diverse and caring environment. At The Door, youth can access health care and education, mental health counseling and crisis assistance, legal assistance, college preparation services, career development, housing supports, arts, sports and recreational activities, and nutritious meals – all for free and under one roof. By providing participants with our suite of integrated services, we seek to provide any motivated young person with the tools, resources, and opportunities needed to successfully transition to adulthood.

Summary: The AHC Social Worker will act as the behavioral health provider within the Adolescent Health Center as a part of an interdisciplinary team of medical providers. The AHC Social Worker is responsible for managing and maintaining a caseload of patients in need of short-term mental health support to supplement their medical treatment, while remaining available for clinical consult to supplement interdisciplinary medical intervention and triage immediate crises, as needed. The AHC Social Worker will work closely with social workers in other departments within The Door, more notably the Counseling Center. The ideal candidate will possess experience in engaging clients in youth development, medical settings, and/or residential treatment settings. The ideal candidate will also maintain the highest standards of cultural competency regarding race, gender identity, sexuality, culture, and class. Additional key skills include self-motivated caseload management, flexibility and comfortability with unstructured time for crisis availability, scheduling agility that accommodates competing demands (seeing caseload and triaging crises as needed), the ability to collaborate and communicate effectively on an interdisciplinary team, and comfort with brief interventions and referral coordination for longer-term treatment.

Responsibilities:

Act as the Behavioral Health Care Manager for the Collaborative Care process in the Adolescent Health Center.
Conduct a bio-psycho-social-spiritual evaluation of the total scope of client needs with subsequent referral to other services as needed, including detailed follow-up on all referrals made.
Provide case coordination and crisis intervention to adolescents who may be victims of abuse, neglect, sexual assault, etc.
Provide mental health crisis support including consultation with Health Educators and other health center staff as needed.
Participate in health care delivery and case management, in collaboration with medical providers and other health center staff.
Systematically track treatment response and monitor patients for changes in clinical symptoms and treatment side effects or complications.
Coordinate mental health assessments and track outcomes of treatment using qualitative measures.
Track patients follow up and clinical outcomes using a registry. Document in-person and telephone encounters in the registry and use the system to identify and re-engage patients.
Coordinate with other external providers including schools, medical centers, Administration for Children's Services (ACS), and foster care (systems and providers).
Support treatment planning for patients who are not improving as expected in consultation with medical providers and the psychiatric consultant and who may need more intensive or more specialized mental health care.
Provide short-term and long-term individual and group counseling to at risk adolescents using evidence-based modalities.
Conduct evaluations and create corresponding treatment plans for each client seen and document each contact in the electronic medical record (EMR).
Develop and facilitate innovative support groups related to topics such as Mental Health, Substance Abuse Prevention, Risk Reduction and Healthy Relationships, to diverse adolescent populations utilizing evidence-based group curriculums.
Provide patient psychoeducation about common mental health and substance abuse disorders and available treatment options.
Provides individual and group education with adolescents around birth control, pregnancy prevention, HIV/AIDS prevention, STD prevention, and healthy choices.
Other duties as assigned by supervisor.

Qualifications:

Master of Social Work (MSW) or LMSW (Licensed Master Social Worker) required.
Minimum of one-year clinical experience in adolescent development, mental health counseling and/or substance abuse treatment settings.
Knowledgeable of and able to apply positive youth development principles to working with young people.
Knowledgeable of social service systems and resources as related to The Door’s urban youth population.
Excellent oral and written communication skills.
Demonstrated ability in developing innovative adolescent treatment modalities and group facilitation skills.
Demonstrated ability to work effectively and creatively as part of an interdisciplinary treatment team.
Must be a professional and responsible person that is able to develop and maintain interagency liaisons as a means of meeting client needs.
Proficiency in Spanish, French, or Mandarin strongly preferred.
Knowledge of electronic medical record preferred.