Job Information
City of New York Supervising Social Worker in New York, New York
Job Description
The Office of Chief Medical Examiner investigates cases of persons who die within New York City from criminal violence, by accident, by suicide, suddenly when in apparent health, when unattended by a physician, in a correctional facility or in any suspicious or unusual manner or where an application is made pursuant to law for a permit to cremate a body of a person.
The core values of CARES guide our work for communities and inform our behavior toward each other and all those we serve.
Commitment: Dedicated to the mission at all times
Accountability: Responsible to each other and the community
Resilience: Adapt in the face of adversity
Excellence: Achieve and maintain the highest quality
Service: Innovate to meet evolving needs
The Drug Intelligence and Intervention Group (DIIG) at OCME was created for the joint purposes of:
Providing public sector leaders with timely and actionable information about fatal overdose, and
Providing support to bereaved family and friends of overdose victims in NYC.
The DIIG Family Support Team conducts outreach to the family and friends of overdose decedents to connect them with resources and support. The DIIG Family Support Team takes a person-centered approach to this work; each social worker works one on one with clients to assess their needs and determine the appropriate steps to meet those needs.
The Supervising Social Worker will oversee the DIIG Family Support Team, directing the team’s engagement with the families and friends of overdose decedents and serving as the direct supervisor of six social workers. This position will also be responsible for building and strengthening partnerships with other OCME units as well as social services agencies and organizations across the city and state.
Responsibilities:
Serve as direct supervisor for DIIG Family Support Team
Provide ongoing supervision and mentorship to assigned staff
Oversee time and leave for up to six Social Workers and Senior Social Workers
Participate in recruiting and hiring of new staff and ensure smooth transition during staffing changes
Assign cases to Family Support Team, ensuring appropriate workload distribution and timely outreach
Review and support case work, meeting regularly with each social worker to discuss their work with clients
Facilitate case conferences and other team meetings
In collaboration with DIIG Program Manager, refine the goals, vision, scope of work, priorities of the social work team
Improve and develop training and onboarding materials for engaging with families
Develop and maintain up to date DIIG Family Engagement Standard Operating Procedures, ensuring that protocols accurately reflect current and best practices for family engagement and bereavement support
Identify appropriate screening tools for assessing needs among clients
Collect and create written guides to bereavement and relevant community resources
Build and strengthen institutional relationships with organizations across the New York City region that provide services and resources relevant to the needs of the friends and families of overdose victims
Work collaboratively with DIIG Program Manager and external research and evaluation partners to identify and track process and outcome measures related to family engagement and peer support groups, providing input on evaluation and research protocols and analysis
Provide direct social work support to the families and friends of decedents
Conduct phone-based outreach to next-of-kin in the weeks following the loss of a loved on
Assess individual needs to determine was resources or support would be most beneficial
Work collaboratively with clients to meet their socioemotional and material needs
Provide warm hand-off referrals to relevant municipal or state agencies and community-based programs
Follow-up with clients to ensure that they have the support they need
Qualifications
A Master's Degree in Social Work from an accredited school of social work and one year of full-time satisfactory experience practicing social work utilizing one or a combination of casework, group work and community organization methodologies.
Certification and License Requirement: A valid Certified Social Worker (CSW) certificate or Licensed Master of Social Work license (LMSW) issued by the New York State Department of Education must be obtained within one year of the date of appointment. Employees who fail to obtain their CSW or LMSW within one year after appointment will automatically have their probationary periods extended for no more than six months. Failure to obtain the CSW or LMSW by the end of 18 months of service will result in dismissal.
Special Note: Section 424-a of the New York Social Services Law requires an authorized agency to inquire whether a candidate for employment with child-care responsibilities has been the subject of a child abuse and maltreatment report. The agency has the discretion to assign a candidate who has been the subject of a child abuse and maltreatment report to a position with no child-care responsibilities.
Additional Information
The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.
