Social Worker

Housing Works • Queens, NY

1d • $65,000 - $78,000

About The Position

The Social Work – MOCJ Transitional Housing position provides short-term, supportive mental health therapy to individuals recently released from incarceration residing in Emergency Transitional Housing. The primary clinical focus of this role is to increase emotional, behavioral, and psychosocial stability during a critical re-entry period, in order to support residents’ successful transition to their next housing placement and engagement in ongoing community-based care. Housing Works operates from a harm reduction, trauma-informed, and recovery-oriented framework, recognizing the complex impacts of incarceration, community re-entry, poverty, racism, and unmet health needs. Within the MOCJ ETH model, the Social Worker functions as part of an on-site interdisciplinary team (medical, psychiatry, substance use, and re-entry supports) providing integrated services to residents with high-acuity mental health, substance use, and medical needs. The Social Worker delivers time-limited therapeutic interventions focused on stabilization, engagement, symptom management, coping skill development, and readiness for transition from the ETH setting to longer-term housing and treatment supports. This position requires flexibility, comfort working in a fast-paced transitional setting, and experience supporting justice-involved individuals during periods of heightened vulnerability. The facility operates 365 days on a 24-hour basis daily, including evening and weekend hours, work on holidays (some positions will require non-traditional work hours).

Requirements

• Master’s Degree in Social Work from an accredited institution.
• LMSW issued by New York State or limited permit eligible.
• At least one year of experience providing mental health counseling; experience with co-occurring substance use disorders is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience working with justice-involved populations, individuals re-entering the community after incarceration, or populations with complex psychosocial needs.

Nice To Haves

• Two or more years of experience providing services to individuals with substance use disorders, serious mental illness, and/or HIV/AIDS
• Experience working with justice-involved populations, individuals recently released from incarceration, or residents in transitional or supportive housing.
• Experience providing short-term, stabilization-focused therapy.
• Familiarity with harm reduction, trauma-informed care, and co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.
• Customer service abilities including effective listening skills.
• Critical thinking skills, decisive judgment, and the ability to work with minimal supervision in a fast-paced environment.
• Bilingual Spanish preferred.

Responsibilities

• Mental Health Support & Stabilization: Provide individual supportive psychotherapy to residents with mental health needs related to re-entry stress, trauma, mood disorders, anxiety, and co-occurring substance use.
• Facilitate short-term therapeutic and psychoeducational groups focused on emotional regulation, coping skills, stress management, community adjustment, and housing transition readiness.
• Conduct initial psychosocial assessments to identify clinical needs, re-entry stressors, strengths, and barriers to stabilization.
• Collaboratively develop focused, time-limited treatment goals that support safety, engagement, and readiness for transition to the next level of housing and care.
• Crisis Intervention & Risk Management: Provide crisis intervention and clinical support following behavioral health incidents, decompensation, or significant stressors.
• Conduct outreach to residents within 24 hours of significant incidents to support stabilization and reduce risk of escalation.
• Collaborate with psychiatry, primary care, and leadership on higher-risk or clinically complex cases.
• Integrated Care & Team Collaboration: Actively participate in interdisciplinary case conferences to coordinate care and support treatment planning.
• Communicate effectively with internal providers and external collaterals to support continuity of care and appropriate referrals.
• Promote diagnostic consultation between primary care providers and consulting psychiatry when residents are not improving or present with diagnostic complexity.
• Documentation & Compliance: Complete timely, accurate, and clinically substantive documentation, including progress notes aligned with diagnosis, treatment goals, and scope of practice.
• Ensure all documentation is completed within 24–48 hours of client contact.
• Maintain strict adherence to HIPAA, MOCJ, and Housing Works compliance standards.
• Other duties as assigned
• Other Functions: Attend weekly interdisciplinary team meetings.
• Participate in weekly individual clinical supervision and maintain ongoing communication with supervisor.
• Engage in required trainings, certifications, and professional development activities.
• Perform other duties as assigned to support program operations and quality of care

Benefits

• We have three comprehensive healthcare plans to choose from based on your priorities and budget. Housing Works covers most of the plan; you pay a portion, based on your salary.
• Staff begins accruing PTO immediately for a total of up to 30 days earned in the first year.
• We offer employees an educational benefit. This money is available for tuition loan reimbursement, tuition costs, and text books.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees