Highland Park, IL – Police Social Worker

Primary Purpose: Provides social work and mental health related services to residents, families, victims, and the general community. Work involves providing crisis intervention services, crisis counseling, victim, court and legal advocacy; providing mental health, wellness support services and training for police personnel; serving as Police Department mental health staff liaison; providing consultation, supervision and education as needed.

Supervision Received: Works under the general supervision of the Investigations Commander.

Supervision Exercised: Provides clinical support and guidance to Social Services Specialist and Victim Liaison.

IMRF pension eligible position. Hiring range $88,000 +/- DOQ. Range max: $106,195.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Directs Clinical Social Services & Advocacy including, but not necessarily limited to:

Providing emergency social service assistance to officers in the field
Providing short term crisis intervention/counseling & stabilization services.
Providing court advocacy for victim/witness and legal advocacy.
Providing mediation and substance abuse intervention services as deemed appropriate.
Coordinating with the Department of Children and Family Services & Adult Protective Services as needed.
Providing social work and mental health related services to residents, families, and the community including assessments and evaluations.
Reviewing of daily police bulletin and follow up on cases deemed appropriate.
Acts as a City Mental Health Community Liaison including, but not necessarily limited to:

Managing communication between local institutions and community citizens.
Interacting and communicating with members of the community and providing education by addressing specific mental health related needs and interests, both met and unmet, on an ongoing basis.
Provides Consultation & Supervision including, but not necessarily limited to:

Providing consultation and supervision as needed to City staff to aid in navigation and appropriate management of cases.
Providing consultation to/with other service providers as necessary.
Providing supervision hours for licensed mental health professionals/providers
Educating City Staff on mandated reporting requirements
Provides Training & Support Services including, but not necessarily limited to:

Providing mental health & wellness support services and training for police personnel and city staff.
Developing and implementing additional training as needed.
Acting as peer support clinician for staff and multijurisdictional aid.
Performs other related duties as requested.

Required Minimum Qualifications: The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education: Master’s degree in counseling, psychology, social work, or related area.

Experience: A minimum of two years working in a social services setting. Experience in crisis response and intervention services. Experience in risk- assessment and identification of mental health related symptoms. Experience in de-escalation skills and ability to treat all persons with dignity and respect in order to determine root cause of presenting issue at hand.

Certification or License: Valid LSW or LPC required. LCSW or LCPC strongly preferred. Valid driver’s license required.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Proficiencies: Flexible with ability to adapt to ever-changing work environment. Ability to work under pressure and make sound time sensitive decisions regarding an individual’s well-being (including the employee’s own well-being). Ability to prioritize response and action based on severity, assess and prioritize multiple emerging situations based on severity and need. This position requires excellent communication skills and the ability to effectively present ideas both orally and in writing, the ability to produce reports of a varying nature on a timely basis, skills in the operation of a computer, the ability to listen to and give advice and assistance to employees, as well as the general public, and the ability to establish and maintain an effective working relationship with City officials, employees, professional contacts and the general public.

Knowledge of, or ability to learn and apply, interactive theories and principles in complex and volatile situations, initiate appropriate solutions, and offer empathy to emotionally charged clients. Knowledge of, or ability to learn and apply, computer and electronic data processing skills, modern legal terminology, format of and standard legal instruments pertaining to victim rights, criminal justice system and court procedure, and crisis intervention and counseling techniques.

For more information, or to apply, visit https://www.cityhpil.com/careers