Social Worker

Social Worker

Work Locations: 419 Spook Rock Rd, Claverack, NY 12513; 250 Auburn Rd, Lansing, NY 14882; 6706 Pine Ridge Rd, Auburn, NY 13021; 97 Cross Rd, Goshen NY 10924; 629 Chodikee Lake Rd, Highland, NY 12528; 375 Rush-Scottsville Rd, Rush NY 14543; 300 South Rd, Brooktondale, NY 14817

Work Hours: 40 hours per week. Shift varies including day, evening, and night. These positions require assigned shift time, weekend, holidays, and overtime assignments, including mandatory and voluntary overtime. Estimated length of assignment: 12/1/25-6/30/25, however services may be extended for up to a total of two years.

Summary: This candidate will work directly to supervise court-placed youth, age 12-20, who reside at OCFS secure, limited-secure, and/or non-secure residential facilities. YSSs are part of a team that ensures that a facility is physically secure (e.g., responsible for youth movement, key and door control, and conflict resolution) and emotionally safe for both youth and other staff. YSSs help create a professional, healthy, and therapeutic environment.

Requirements:

• Two years full-time direct care experience in the care and programming of youth from ages 6-21.
• Direct care experience with youth involved in the juvenile justice system or in an institution, camp, school, community center, youth rehabilitation program, mental health or correctional institution, or residential center.
• Bachelor's degree or Associate's degree with a minimum of six months experience.

Duties:

• Establish a relationship of professionalism, confidence, safety, and trust with youth and other staff from different racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, physical ability, sexual orientation and gender identity expression (SOGIE) and/or socio-economic backgrounds. Supervise and monitor youth, which, depending on a youth's clinical needs, may include 1-to-1 supervision.
• Actively participate as a member of a youth's support team. A support team is a treatment-focused group of professional and para-professional staff who work together to address the emotional and behavioral needs and goal of youth.
• Be confident in engaging with people who may be under physical and/or emotional stress.
• Employ graduated harm reduction strategies while supervising youth. This includes correcting, and in some cases, verbally or physically intervening when a youth displays unsafe behaviors toward themselves or other youth and staff. Harm reduction requires that a YSS learn to recognize personal or situational flags that could lead to conflict or harm, provide positive mentorship to youth, and help youth work on their own interpersonal skills and use of self-regulation strategies.
• Take opportunities to improve the well-being of the facility community by being collaborative and informed.
• Supervise and/or assist youth during recreation and education activities, as well as take on various, as-needed assignments.
• Establish and maintain positive, professional, and appropriate relationships with youths' families and loved ones.
• Assist youth in achieving education, work readiness, and community transition goals.

Background Investigation Requirements: 1) All prospective employees will be investigated through a Criminal Background Check (CBC), which includes State and federal Criminal History Record Checks. All convictions must be reported; conviction of a felony or misdemeanor, or any falsified or omitted information on the prospective appointee's employment application, may bar appointment or result in removal after appointment. Each case will be determined on its own merits, consistent with the applicable provisions of State and federal laws, rules, and regulations. Prospective employees will be fingerprinted in order to obtain a record of their criminal history information and may be required to pay any necessary fees. 2) All prospective employees will be screened against the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment (SCR). Prospective employees will be required to pay any necessary fees. 3) Prospective appointees will be checked against the Staff Exclusion List (SEL) maintained by the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs. Prospective employees whose names appear on the SEL as having been found responsible for serious or repeated acts of abuse or neglect will be barred from appointment and may have their names removed from the eligible list(s) for the title(s) if applicable.

Physical/Medical Requirements Your physical and medical condition will be evaluated to ensure that you are able to satisfactorily perform the duties of this position with or without reasonable accommodation. The physical/medical standards include a fitness test, a medical standards evaluation, and a substance abuse screening.

Training Requirements Attend a 2-week Juvenile Justice Basic Training orientation, be proficient in OCFS-approved physical skills and youth restraint techniques (given two times a year for eight hours total), take NYS employee mandated annual trainings, and other annual training refreshers.