Family Support Specialist, Social Work

Family Support Specialist, Social Work

The core values of the OCME are to put the mission of the agency first, to be truly dedicated, and to have integrity in every aspect of our professional life. DIIG at OCME was created for the joint purposes of: 1. Providing public sector leaders with timely and actionable information about fatal overdose, and 2. Providing support to bereaved family and friends of overdose victims in NYC. DIIG conducts outreach to the family and friends of overdose decedents to connect them with resources and support. DIIG takes a person-centered approach to this work; each social worker works one on one with clients to assess their needs and determine the appropriate steps to meet those needs. The Family Support Specialist will play a significant and important role in the implementation of a pilot program aimed at supporting the needs of next-of-kin in the aftermath of a fatal overdose and other sudden traumatic loss. The Family Support Specialist will conduct direct outreach, handle case management, and provide one on one person-centered support to the social networks of overdose victims. Responsibilities include: supporting the development of a pilot program within OCME aimed at providing the families and friends of overdose victims with support during the weeks and months after losing their loved ones, contributing to the development of a DIIG Family Engagement Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), building and strengthening institutional relationships with organizations across the New York City region that provide services and resources relevant to the needs of the friends and families of overdose victims, providing direct social work support to the families and friends of decedents, conducting phone-based outreach to next-of-kin and social contacts in the weeks following the loss of a loved one, assessing individual needs to determine what resources or support would be most beneficial, working collaboratively with clients to meet their socioemotional and material needs, providing warm hand-off referrals to relevant municipal or state agencies and community-based programs, following-up with clients to ensure that they have the support they need, providing detailed documentation of encounters with clients for program evaluation purposes, as needed, conducting semi-structured interviews with next-of-kin about the lives of overdose decedents for the New York City RxStat Overdose Fatality Review Team, and other duties as assigned.

Qualifications: 1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and two years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties described above; or 2. High school graduation or equivalent and six years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties as described above; or 3. Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" or "2" above. However, all candidates must have at least one year of experience as described in "1" above.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.