Department/Unit:
Pediatrics General

Work Shift:
Day (United States of America)

Salary Range:
$70,068.00 - $108,605.00

Medical Social Worker
Department of Pediatrics
Albany, NY

The Medical Social Worker in Child Abuse Pediatrics provides psychosocial assessment, crisis support, and care coordination for children and families affected by suspected abuse or neglect, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams across inpatient and outpatient settings. This role evaluates safety and family dynamics, connects patients to resources, coordinates with community partners such as CPS, and ensures safe discharge and follow-up. Responsibilities also include documentation, mandated reporting compliance, team collaboration, and supporting trauma-informed, family-centered care.

Responsible for providing psychosocial assessment, support services, resource coordination, short term counseling and appropriate referrals of patients and their family members to behavioral health providers.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
• Clinical assessments of patients to include a review of the patient's clinical presentation, mental status, academic, developmental, psychological and social function. Evaluation should include information regarding previous health history as well as behavioral health testing and treatment.
• Develop clinical interventions designed to address the patient's medical and/or behavioral health conditions, support adaptation, coping skills and empowerment, as well as minimize functional impairment for patients and families during and post treatment. Interventions should reflect the patient's developmental ability and be based on empirically validated clinical theory and respectful of the patient and families cultural including ethnicity, religion, and socio-cultural factors.
• Provide in both the inpatient and outpatient settings ongoing assessment, education, support and short term supportive counseling to the family throughout the patient's treatment course.
• Produce clear, concise and comprehensive documentation of assessment, observations, treatment plan and proposed ongoing interventions. The clinician will utilize clinical judgment to provide a case conceptualization to guide both medical and psychological treatment. Function as an integrated member of the patient's treatment team, providing updates regarding the patient and families' adjustment to the existing behavioral health conditions and/or existing and anticipatory medical conditions.
• Identify, connect, and serve as a liaison to community resources and support programs on behalf of the patient and family as needed and according to their unique medical and behavioral health needs.
• Identify gaps in service areas, and work with patients and families to promote additional support and care especially during times of transition and shifts in care as related to patient's disease process and prognosis.
• Provide supportive counseling, follow-up contact, and referrals to additional resources to patients and families struggling with cessation of treatment as well as to bereaved families.
• Maintain all AMC required employee training and education and comply with employee standards and conduct as defined in the AMC employee manual.

Qualifications:

An individual must be able to perform each duty satisfactorily. The requirements are representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.

Education and Experience Required:
• Masters Degree in Social Work, Psychology or similar program from an accredited program.
• Previous experience in hospital, outpatient, or similar setting working with children, adolescents, and families preferred.
• Training in clinical interventions based on sound clinical theory, with experience or a demonstrated ability to modify these interventions based on a child's age and developmental level.
• Experience in working in multiple modalities (i.e. individual, family and group), and working effectively with a multidisciplinary team preferred.

Skills and required abilities for the position:
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively with other members of the health care team.
• Knowledge of developmental stages of children and adolescents.
• Knowledge of clinical interventions based on accepted clinical theory and ability to modify these
• interventions based on a child's age and developmental level
• Ability to work in multiple modalities, including individual, family and group
• Compassion and understanding for working with patients and families during very stressful times.
• Knowledge and skill in clinical psycho-social interventions
• Skilled at identification and coordination of resources within the health care system and in the community.
• Excellent clinical judgment.
• Awareness of culture, ethnicity, developmental ability, gender, socio-economic factors and other considerations as they relate to patient presentation, understanding of illness, interventions, and treatment approaches and options.
• Caring, clinical competence, and professionalism.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and all other professional standards.

Work Environment:
• Individual must have the ability to change and be flexible with regard to day to day work responsibilities.
• Knowledge of infection control is necessary for working with patients and families.
• All position requirements listed indicate the minimum level of knowledge, skills, and/or ability deemed necessary to perform the job proficiently.
• This position description is not an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities, or requirements. Employees will be required to perform any other job-related instructions given by their supervisor, subject to reasonable accommodations

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