Social Service Assistant

Job description

The Social Service Assistant is responsible for to assisting in the planning, organizing, developing, and directing the overall operation of Social Services Department in accordance with current federal, state, and local standards, guidelines, regulations, our established policies and procedures, and as may be directed by the Administrator, to ensure that the medically related emotional and social needs of residents are met/maintained on an individual basis.

Job Responsibilities:

• Orients resident and family to nursing center, helping both adjust to new environment.
• Develop a social history on each resident.
• Develop social assessment and care plan, which identifies medically related social and emotional problems and needs with realistic goals and specific actions to be taken.
• Answer inquiries of admission and provide tours to prospective family members/residents.
• Be actively involved in pre-admission and admissions processes.
• Interviews resident/family as necessary and in private setting.
• Ability to listen and act compassionately with residents/family members; must be able to work on own and maintain job related jobs.
• Prepares and completes social service documentation in timely manner.
• Assures that notes are informative and descriptive of services provided and of residents’ responses to services.
• Participate in resident care plan conference and is active member of care plan team.
• Assist in arranging transportation as needed.
• Refer resident/family member to appropriate social service agencies when facility does not provide services or needs of resident.
• Document residents’ behavioral and psychosocial status.
• Conducts discharge planning conferences with resident, family, and appropriate staff.
• Evaluates resident’s potential for safest and most appropriate discharge plan.
• Utilizes available resources to ensure smooth transition to community upon discharge.
• Receives complaints from residents and families, forwarding complaints to appropriate staff to ensure resolution.
• Documents complaints.
• Follows facility policies and procedures.
• Serves to reinforce to residents and families the facility’s desire to deliver highest quality of care.
• Develops a community resource file and establishes contact with new providers.
• Identify and promote a supportive family or surrogate network.
• Provide individual and group help for family and residents at all times of adjustment, crisis, or particular need.
• Provide intense, frequent and short-term therapeutic groups in areas of adjustment, remediation, and self-help skills.
• Establish and assure growth of separate volunteer program designed to meet specific social service needs.
• Work with administration and staff to enable fully functioning and self-determining Family Counsel to flourish.
• In absence of Admissions Director, may answer inquiries from community including, but not limited to, admission process, availability of beds and schedule of fees.
• Distributes pre-admission packets and assists with tours of facility as needed.

Education and Qualifications:

• Must possess at a minimum a Bachelor’s Degree from accredited school in Social Work or related field.
• Previous long-term care experience is desirable.
• Past supervisory experience preferred.
• Computer experience preferred.

“We're an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.”