Preschool Social Worker

Racker; Town of Ithaca (NY); On-site; USD 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health care options for families and I

Continuing education funding

Employer retirement matching

Paid vacation for school holidays and/

Paid sick time

20% childcare discount for full-time

Job summary

Racker in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York seeks a Preschool Social Worker for its Early Childhood Program, supporting Partnership classrooms in Cortland and Ithaca. This role integrates family services, home and classroom visits, and collaboration across educational teams.

The position emphasizes family education, trauma-informed practices, and evidence-based strategies within a multi-tiered framework to help autistic children and similar learners thrive in school and at home.

Qualifications

• Graduate degree (Master's) in Social Work, Psychology, or Behavioral Sciences or related field.
• Professional experience working with students with disabilities and supporting families.
• Experience or training in Applied Behavior Analysis, and/or developmental disorders, and Autism Spectrum disorders preferred

Responsibilities

• Works collaboratively with administrators and interdisciplinary team members to ensure quality services to all students and their families.
• Facilitates collaboration between families and classroom teams, including regular communication with individual families.
• Participate in intake process
• Collaborate with social work team to organize and offer pertinent monthly training series to families at all sites
• Provide education, training, and support for families on children's diagnosis, goal progression, carryover strategies and general evidence-based strategies.
• Implements classroom management and individual behavior intervention through a multi tiered approach
• Provides training and support to classroom staff on family dynamics, trauma history, and respectful family-centered perspectives and interactions
• Provides assistance as necessary to management and team during student/family crisis and/or suspected child abuse/neglect screening and reporting
• Facilitate and participate in yearly home visits with the teacher, complete additional home visits as needed to meet family need and assist with skill carryover
• Advocates for families and individuals in the school system
• Support families to access needed community resources
• May include provision of family counseling services if indicated in the child's annual IEP; documents per regulation and in a contemporaneous manner.
• Depending on interest, experience and classroom need may include creating and/or facilitating social skills groups for either daycare or special education students.

Skills

Family collaboration

Interdisciplinary teamwork

Intake process

Family education

Behavior intervention

Crisis support

Advocacy

Community resources access

Education

Master's in Social Work

Experience with disabilities

ABA / autism knowledge

Job description

Overview

Racker is excited to welcome applicants for a full-time Preschool Social Worker position in our innovative Early Childhood Program. This position would work with our Partnership classrooms in both Cortland and Ithaca. Partnership is our ABA-based, intensive classroom model for autistic children and those with similar strengths and needs. Join our dynamic team of experienced therapists, teachers, and paraprofessionals in the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York. Our Preschool Social Worker works in a team environment with early childhood staff and families of preschoolers, providing services that include family support and workshops, home and classroom visits, and facilitating collaboration between home and school. While this is not a direct therapy position, the Family Support Coordinator spends regular time in each classroom supporting kids and teams.

Racker offers a competitive rate and flexible schedules. Our competitive benefits include

• a continuum of health care options for families and individuals
• funding and time for continuing education
• retirement investment with employer match
• paid vacation for school holidays and breaks
• paid sick time
• a 20% discount on childcare services for children of full-time staff

* $45,000 - $55,000 starting salary * 7.5 hour shift * LMSW *

Responsibilities

• Works collaboratively with administrators and interdisciplinary team members to ensure quality services to all students and their families.
• Facilitates collaboration between families and classroom teams, including regular communication with individual families
• Participate in intake process
• Collaborate with social work team to organize and offer pertinent monthly training series to families at all sites
• Provide education, training, and support for families on children's diagnosis, goal progression, carryover strategies and general evidence-based strategies.
• Implements classroom management and individual behavior intervention through a multi tiered approach
• Provides training and support to classroom staff on family dynamics, trauma history, and respectful family-centered perspectives and interactions
• Provides assistance as necessary to management and team during student/family crisis and/or suspected child abuse/neglect screening and reporting
• Facilitate and participate in yearly home visits with the teacher, complete additional home visits as needed to meet family need and assist with skill carryover
• Advocates for families and individuals in the school system
• Support families to access needed community resources
• May include provision of family counseling services if indicated in the child's annual IEP; documents per regulation and in a contemporaneous manner.
• Depending on interest, experience and classroom need may include creating and/or facilitating social skills groups for either daycare or special education students.

Qualifications

• Graduate degree (Masters) in field of Social Work, Psychology, or Behavioral Sciences or related field.
• Professional experience working with students with disabilities and supporting families.
• Experience or training in Applied Behavior Analysis, and/or developmental disorders, and Autism Spectrum disorders preferred