School Social Worker

Domus is the educational provider for incarcerated youth in the Hartford Juvenile Residential Center (HJRC). Students are remanded to the center and attend school, full time, until they area transferred to another program, or released. It is our role to provide a comprehensive education experience to all students, using the common core standards and our curriculum. Our educational mission is to successfully transition our students to the next stage of their education.

The School Social Worker will provide direct social-emotional, behavioral, and mental health support to students in both individual and group settings. This role is critical in helping students navigate trauma, develop coping strategies, and build the skills necessary for successful reintegration into school and community environments. The School Social Worker will collaborate closely with teachers, administrators, and facility staff to support the whole child.

REPORTS TO : Director of Domus at Hartford Juvenile Residential Center

Essential Responsibilities

• Integrated intervention efforts that emphasize primary prevention
• Early screening and intervention: Observations, collaboration with school staff, Parental Contact
• Approaches to intervention that target multiple risk factors in home, school, and community settings and involve parents, teachers, and administrators
• Counseling services to IEP and regular education students
• Crisis intervention
• Development of IEP: Goals, objectives, present levels
• Participant at PPT meetings
• Collaboration with community agencies
• Support to parents/guardians
• Medicaid Billing
• Support to Culture and Climate as member to such school wide systems: PBIS, SSST, SPMT, Restorative Practices facilitator
• Approaches that seek to improve individual and system factors contributing to academic success: Collaboration and planning with teachers and other related school staff members
• Classroom Lessons: Second Step, Social Skills, Mindfulness, etc.
• Staff Presentations: DCF training, SEL, IDEA related topics, etc.
• Develops and Facilitates Social Skills Groups: self-esteem, anger management, executive functioning skills, etc.
• Works closely with building administrators: Leadership team member, crisis team leader, etc.
• Conducting Evaluation: Initials, Re-evaluations, Annuals, FBA's and BIP's
• Data-informed decision making and intervention fidelity
• Have the knowledge of and comply with local, state, and federal mandates related to informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, and access to records within the context of legal and ethical rights of minors and parents.

Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Social Work (MSW) required
• Connecticut Certification in School Social Work (071) required or eligible
• Experience with at-risk youth or in juvenile justice, school, or behavioral health settings preferred
• Ability to work with behaviorally challenging youth in a calm, positive manner
• Strong commitment to trauma-informed care and the Domus mission
• Demonstrated initiative, flexibility, and collaboration skills
• A great sense of humor
• Flexibility and adaptability, able to shift styles to fit the needs of a wide range of cultures, people, and organizations

Skills

• Excellent organizational, time management and follow-up skills
• A strong work ethic
• High emotional intelligence, able to easily develop deep, trusting relationships with diverse individuals from many different backgrounds
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with demonstrated ability to speak and write clearly and persuasively
• Excellent problem-solving, critical-thinking, and strategic planning skills
• Ability to receive and respond to constructive feedback
• General computer literacy in relevant educational software programs and excellent proficiency with MS Office
• Must be able to instruct, evaluate, direct, discipline, delegate, supervise and motivate students
• Ability to learn quickly and be effective in a fast-paced, dynamic, entrepreneurial environment
• Knowledgeable about Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), as well as restorative justice principles and practices.

Domus is an equal opportunity employer. People of color and bilingual Spanish speakers are strongly encouraged to apply.

OUR HIRING PROCESS & TIMELINE:

• To apply: complete the online application and submit a resume and cover letter.
• We will review all qualified applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
• Candidates should note that this job requires you to meet in person with students and you are based on site at the Hartford Juvenile Residential Center. Candidates should note that this is an in-person job, and remote work is not an option.

Compensation

• This is a 10-month position that follows the school calendar year.
• Staff members are provided with a competitive salary ranging from $50,000 - $70,000, a comprehensive benefits package (health, dental, vision, 403(b) plan, life insurance, disability, etc.), and a working environment that includes all the necessary technology and resources to succeed.

Core Program Beliefs

The following beliefs are essential commitments for our staff team:

• We believe that within each of us is a desire to move towards health and achievement, under the right conditions. It is our job to provide young people with those conditions.
• We believe that every young person wants to love and be loved. It is our job to love these young people, and to help them learn to love themselves and others.
• We believe in the power of belonging.
• We accept young people for who they are. Right here. Right now. They do not have to change to be respected and loved and valued and be a member of our community. Behavior is not a condition of their worth as human beings.
• We believe that every young person wants to be in charge of their own life. To that end, we will give young people a voice in this program, and choices of how to best accomplish their goals.
• We are hungry to understand if our interventions are having the intended impact. We will be meticulous in our data entry, and ruthless in our hunt to understand the data and learn from it. If what we are doing is not working, we will set aside our egos, intentions and preconceived notions and we will change what we are doing.
• We believe that the young people with whom we work deserve our full attention and our best selves. Therefore, we will: NOT allow our personal beliefs or baggage to interfere with our work; we will commit to doing excellent work all the time on behalf of our young people; we will be honest and transparent with ourselves, our colleagues and our partners. To be very clear, by working in this program we are committing to:
  • Engaging in self-care outside of work so that our personal issues don't interfere with our ability to focus on our young people;
  • Open communication - Bringing all issues directly back to the person OR to the group session in a way that fosters a healthy team;
  • Learning our craft before practicing on our youth;
  • Giving and receiving honest feedback, even if it is uncomfortable to hear or say

Working Conditions

• Work will be performed inside of the Hartford Juvenile Residential Center.
• Expect to work a school day/year as established by the Director. This is a 10-month school year position.
• Work will be under the supervision of the Director with periodic performance appraisals.
• Will be working with faculty, staff, and administrators in a team-teaching approach.
• The Hartford Juvenile Residential Center is an environment not controlled by Domus, which at times may be high-risk. Teachers will be required to follow all rules and procedures as established by the Hartford Juvenile Residential Center.