SOCIAL WORKER II (UPWARD MOBILITY)

Position Overview:

The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice is seeking to hire a Social Worker II for the Monarch Youth Center located in Lincoln, Illinois to administer professional social work services involving managing a caseload of youths with emotionally disturbed, developmentally disabled, and other conditions. Determines and develops sources of information and services to facilitate youth treatment.  Interviews youth to obtain pertinent psychosocial data for problems identification, evaluation and development of treatment goals and objectives. The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice encourages all qualified applicants to apply!

Essential Functions:

• Provides direct treatment services including individual and group therapy, crisis care, community re- integration issues related to aftercare planning and program support and guidance.
• Prepares routine treatment notes, summaries and progress reports concerning the youth individual performance and response to treatment.
• Confers with parents, caseworkers, court officials, juvenile justice aftercare staff and significant others in a youth's life for purpose of addressing treatment concerns and community reintegration issues related to parole planning.
• Works closely with the institutional security, medical, and clinical services personnel to monitor youth behaviors and to preserve the health safety and security of all staff.
• Provides crisis intervention to employees and youth. Serves as a member of the Crisis Intervention Team, and provides and directs services on an on-call basis.
• Attends Quality Assurance meetings, conducts staff meetings, program meetings and other meetings associated with mental health issues.
• Performs other duties as required or assigned which are reasonably within the scope of the duties enumerated above.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Requires a Master's degree in social work from a recognized college or university supplemented by one year of professional social work experience in the evaluation and treatment/habilitation of mentally ill, developmentally disabled or other disabled persons.
• Qualifying state employees in the employee Upward Mobility Program may complete combinations of specific proficiency tests and training programs leading to a certificate of proficiency in lieu of the state requirements for this classification.

Preferred Qualifications: (In Order of Significance)

• Prefers at least two (2) years experience working with adolescents in a juvenile or residential facility.
• Prefers at least two (2) years professional experience conducting various assessments for at-risk youth.
• Prefers at least two (2) years of professional experience implementing treatment plans for at risk youth.
• Prefers at least two (2) years experience providing individual, group, and family therapy to at-risk youth.
• Prefers at least two (2) years experience managing records, reports, and correspondence, functions for individuals assigned to your caseload.
• Prefers at least two (2) years of experience with computer systems, including electronic medical records (EMRs), data management platforms, and basic software such as Microsoft Word and Excel.
• Prefers at least two (2) years of experience in clinical documentation, including developing comprehensive treatment plans for diverse mental health and behavioral concerns. Must have a basic working knowledge of creating behavior plans with measurable intervention techniques and the ability to complete clinically informed diagnostic and treatment notes in a timely manner.
• Prefers one (1) year working  knowledge of data entry, retrieval, analysis, and compliance with confidentiality regulations. Strong attention to detail and troubleshooting skills preferred.
• Prefers extensive knowledge of the theories and assumptions underlying the social work field requires working knowledge of basic principles and techniques in the social work field.
• Prefers working knowledge of the familiarity with rules and regulations covering the social work field in Illinois and  the ability to prepare complex written and oral reports.

Conditions of Employment:

• Requires the ability to pass an IDJJ/IDOC background check.
• Requires the ability to pass an IDJJ/IDOC drug screening.
• Requires ability to travel in the performance of duties, with overnight stays as appropriate.
• Requires ability to attend seminars, conferences, and trainings to stay current on methods, tools, ideologies, or other industry related topics relevant to the job duties.

The conditions of employment listed here are incorporated and related to any of the job duties as listed in the job description.