Social Worker-MSW LCSW

Position

The Social Worker provides comprehensive psychosocial assessment, counseling, crisis intervention, and discharge planning services for patients and families across the continuum of care. This role collaborates with interdisciplinary healthcare teams to develop treatment plans, address mental health and social needs, and coordinate safe, timely transitions of care. The Social Worker serves as a resource for patients, families, team members, students, and social work staff, and supports complex cases involving behavioral health, addiction, abuse and neglect, guardianship, end-of-life care, foster care, adoption, and protective services. This position maintains strong partnerships with community agencies, legal entities, and protective service organizations to ensure patient safety and access to needed resources.

Key Responsibilities

• Meet face-to-face with patients and families to assess needs and provide support.
• Assist in developing educational materials for team members, patients, and families.
• Serve as a resource and role model for students, interns, LBSWs, and LSWs.
• Participate with the clinical team in developing treatment plans to resolve psychosocial issues and meet psychosocial needs, including consulting with other providers on mental health diagnoses.
• Communicate and collaborate with all members of the health care team to ensure patients receive safe, timely care and that patients and families are provided all necessary resources and education.
• Interpret and communicate complex patient and family needs, and model caring practices for other caregivers.
• Assess patients' and families' psychosocial risk factors, including prior functioning levels, adequacy of support systems, reaction to illness, and ability to cope.
• Counsel patients and families regarding the emotional, social, and financial consequences of illness or disability; access and mobilize family and community resources to meet identified needs.
• Provide mental health assessments of patients upon physician referral.
• Provide therapeutic intervention to facilitate complex discharge planning.
• Serve as the point person for child abuse/neglect, adult/elder abuse/neglect, institutional abuse, and domestic violence cases.
• Act as liaison between Indiana University Health and state/county child and adult protective service teams.
• Apply principles and practices of crisis intervention and de-escalation techniques.
• Provide intervention for guardianship (temporary and permanent), foster care, adoption, and mental health Level II placements.
• Provide specialized mental health services, including crisis intervention and addiction assessments, and make recommendations for psychiatric referral or community resources.
• Assist with dangerous and potentially dangerous situations, taking a leadership role in providing clinical intervention.
• Support patients undergoing acute crisis, applying de-escalation techniques as needed to avoid episodes of physical violence.
• Utilize effective interviewing techniques with alleged victims, perpetrators, family members, and significant others.
• Provide intervention for end-of-life care, guardianship, foster care, adoption, and related complex cases.

Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Social Work (MSW) required.
• Current, permanent LCSW licensure required in the State of Indiana.
• Certification in Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) or an equivalent de-escalation training, required within 6 months of hire.
• Knowledge of evidence-based psychosocial assessment, short-term therapeutic counseling, and crisis intervention for common mental health and substance use disorders.
• Knowledge of disease processes and human behavior as they relate to health-related social needs.
• Complex discharge planning skills to ensure safe transitions to the next level of care.
• Knowledge of state and county adult and child protective legal mandates.
• Knowledge of growth and development across the lifespan, including care at the end of life.
• Ability to identify decision-makers and coordinate goals-of-care conversations to support excellent care and manage patient throughput.
• Experience adapting services to geographically, culturally, and financially diverse populations.
• Ability to develop and maintain strong working relationships with hospital administrators, medical teams, law enforcement, APS/DCS, schools, probation, and other community agencies as needed.
• Computer literacy and proficiency in documentation within an electronic medical record (EMR) system.
• Availability for on-call and holiday rotation as scheduled.

About IU Health: IU Health is Indiana’s largest and most comprehensive healthcare system, with nearly 40,000 team members, 16 hospitals, and $8.64 billion in operating revenue. Our programs in cancer, cardiovascular, neuroscience, orthopedics, pediatrics, and transplants are nationally recognized. In partnership with the Indiana University School of Medicine, IU Health combines research, education, and clinical excellence to improve health outcomes for Indiana communities.

Benefits Designed for You