At UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, we recognize the challenges and stress that hospitalization, illness, or injury can bring to patients and their families. Clinical Social Workers play a key role in helping patients and families navigate these psychological stressors, providing support across all areas of the hospital. As integral members of the healthcare team, our Social Workers strive to reduce health disparities.

The Clinical Social Worker II or Clinical Social Worker III (LCSW) will provide comprehensive psychosocial support to patients and families within UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital – San Francisco in Adolescent Medicine in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Responsibilities include psychosocial assessments, crisis intervention, counseling, brief therapeutic interventions, consultation, education, community linkage, and facilitating the plan of care across the healthcare continuum.

 

The CSW II/III collaborates with the care team to coordinate resources and services, ensuring timely and safe discharges while addressing patients’ psychosocial needs. They act as consultants to service lines, clinical teams, and departments, and participate in program development and quality improvement initiatives.

 

The CSW III brings advanced clinical expertise, distinguished by leadership in program planning, education, clinical supervision, and consultation. Both CSW II and III practice in alignment with UCSF’s mission of Caring, Healing, Teaching, and Discovering, and adhere to UCSF’s Everyday PRIDE values: Professionalism, Respect, Integrity, Diversity, and Excellence.

 

Social work services are provided to all patients, regardless of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, social, cultural, educational, or religious background, language, age, ancestry, citizenship, color, national origin, race, presence of mental or physical disability, source of payment for care, medical condition, marital status, or veteran status.

 

Department Description:

Position is with the Cardiac Intensive Care Thursday-Friday and Inpatient Acute Care on Saturdays. 

 

Minimum Required:

• Master’s degree from a CSWE accredited school of Social Work. 
• Experience (internship/career) in a healthcare and/or hospital setting preferred. 
• Knowledge and abilities essential to the successful performance of the duties assigned to the position, including knowledge of relevant community resources commensurate with illness, symptoms, mental status, and impairments in functioning and knowledge of the medical and psychological sequelae of course of illness and impact on social functioning (may be specific to patient population). 
• Demonstrates resourcefulness, effective written and oral communication, diplomacy, and organizational and analytic skills. 
• Self-directed, assertive and creative in problem solving, systems planning and patient care management in a high-volume work environment. 
• Ability to work effectively and collaboratively with interdisciplinary teams.  
• Basic pager, telephone, and computer skills including the use of the internet.  
• This position requires flexibility to orient and work at all UCSF Medical Center locations.

 

REQUIRED FOR CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKER III 

• All items from Clinical Social Worker II Requirements, as well as items below: 

• Licensed in Clinical Social Work in the state of California/Board of Behavioral Sciences. 

   

• The CSW III has advanced clinical knowledge and skills and is distinguished from the CSW II by leadership activities including participation in advanced program planning, provision of educational programs, clinical supervision, consultation to the clinical team, other departments, and the community. 

 

Preferred:

• Experience working with pediatric patients, preferred 
• Second language, Spanish. 
• Current California State License of Clinical Social Work in good standing. 
• Three years of experience in a healthcare setting required and hospital setting preferred.

 

Licenses/Certifications:

• Licensed in Clinical Social Work in the state of California/Board of Behavioral Sciences.

 

%  

of time 

Essential Function (Yes/No) 

   

Key Responsibilities 

(To be completed by Supervisor) 

30 

Yes 

• Provide psychosocial assessment and interventions on the basis of preliminary risk screening, assesses patient’s and family’s psychosocial risk factors through evaluation of prior functioning levels, appropriateness and adequacy of support systems, reaction to illness and ability to cope. 

• Intervene with patient and families regarding emotional, social and financial consequences of illness and/or disability; illicit support of CSW III, as appropriate to deal with families exhibiting complex family dynamics that impact directly on patient care and discharge. 

• For patients with significant or intensive psychosocial needs, serve as primary care manager, working in close collaboration with case manager to manage the clinical resources and transition planning for patient within assigned caseload from admission through discharge, actively working to identify/eliminate barriers to delivery of clinical services required to advance care and promote timely discharge once medically ready. As primary care manager: 

1. Meet with provider, care team and patient to identify goals for medical readiness and formulates primary/back-up discharge plan 

1. Coordinate and lead multi-disciplinary rounds and monitor discharge milestones, assign accountability for tasks, and proactively identify and address/escalate barriers to timely discharge 

1. Reassess patient, as needed, to make real-time adjustments to discharge plan 

1. Complete all required documentation in APeX screens and patient records 

20 

Yes 

• Active member of the interdisciplinary team, specifically on complex psychosocial cases, contributing to team goal setting and plan of care through attendance, participation in, and facilitation of multi-disciplinary rounds (MDRs). 

• Participate in discharge planning activities for complex patients, to drive timely discharge when patient medically ready and to provide appropriate linkage with post-discharge care providers 

• Work in a collaborative practice model, facilitating care coordination with the multidisciplinary treatment team for care progression to optimize patient outcomes and timely discharge when patient is deemed medically ready. 

15 

Yes 

• Intervene with patient and families regarding emotional, social and financial consequences of illness and/or disability; deals with families exhibiting complex family dynamics that impact directly on patient care and discharge. 

• Educate patient/family and physician regarding post-acute options and addresses issues of choice. 

10 

Yes 

• Assess, intervene with and report domestic violence, child/elder abuse and other reportable situations in accordance with legal mandates and UCSF policy and procedure.  Collaborate with Psychiatry and other appropriate teams on cases with psychiatric holds or primary mental health/substance abuse problems and/or patients expressing suicidal or homicidal ideation. 

• Knowledge and skill with substance use and dependence assessment and intervention strategies, mental illness, end of life/bereavement, benefits and entitlements, and adjustment to illness. 

• Screen for suicidal/homicidal ideation and follow legal mandates, UCSF policy and procedures to assure patient safety. Collaborate with UCSF Psychiatry, Child or Mobile Crisis and other appropriate teams on cases meeting criteria for psychiatric holds or complex behavioral health concerns. 

10 

Yes 

• Serve as a resource person and provide counseling and intervention related to treatment decisions and end-of-life issues; identify surrogate decision maker, facilitate completion of Advance Health Care Directive and the POLST; when appropriate, coordinate application for probate conservatorship. 

• Consult on challenging custody issues to clarify decision-making capacity, identify surrogate decision maker, facilitate completion of Advance Health Care Directive when appropriate coordinate court order consents for surgeries 

5 

Yes 

• Comply with Department standards for timely submission, accuracy and completeness of documentation in the Medical Record and collects all required statistical data. 

5 

Yes 

• Attend department, hospital and community in-services related to field of practice. 

• Participate in quality improvement activities and program planning for the Department, Hospital and Service Lines. 

5 

Yes 

• Provide oversight and direction for activities delegated and performed by the Resource Coordinator and/or Patient Care Navigator. 

• As available and under the direction of the Social Work Supervisor, provide clinical supervision to CSW II staff for the purpose of LCSW licensure in compliance with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS). 

• Participate in coverage as needed and assigned.   

• Compliant with all UCSF policies relevant to scope of work. 

• Comply with Department standards for timely submission, accuracy and completeness of documentation in the Medical Record and collects all required statistical data. 

100% 

 

(To update total %, enter the amount of time in whole numbers (without the % symbol - e.g., 15, 20) then highlight the total sum (e.g., 1%) at the bottom of the column and press F9. The total sum should add up to 100%.)