Social Worker

Summary: The Social Worker is responsible for providing social work services to clients from diverse geographic, cultural and social backgrounds, serving as an advocate and cultural broker. The Social Worker assists staff and clients in accessing urgent basic needs beyond psychotherapy/counselling and physiotherapy services (food assistance, income generation, other medical care, education, child protection, case management support and legal services, etc.) and provides case management for SGBV/GBV, child abuse or neglect, domestic violence and other protection concerns. The Social Worker actively participates as a member of an interdisciplinary clinical team and provides support for beneficiaries to pursue opportunities in areas such as resource building related to client social service needs.

The social worker will lead service mapping, develop and standardize  referral pathways, coordinate with partners and other  organizations to facilitate survivor centered, trauma informed support, and access to justice mechanisms such as the Yazidi survivor law. This position will include participating in significant training and capacity building activities so as to develop treatment skills required to address the needs of survivors of trauma and ongoing stress.

Job Responsibilities

• In coordination with clinical team, develop an outreach system to identify vulnerable clients and refer them for services when appropriate.
• Lead and develop an outreach and awareness raising plan to reach vulnerable populations.
• Conduct social work assessments, support plans and follow up alongside existing clients.
• Effectively provide case management for beneficiaries with complex needs or in high-risk situations including accurately assessing risk, developing support plan and follow up in close collaboration with Interdisciplinary team (IDT) members.
• Oversee the referrals for beneficiaries to external organizations, including legal services and reparations via the Yezidi Survivor Law (YSL). Ensure referrals are survivor centered and confidential.
• Link clients to community resources, government agencies and other service providers when appropriate.
• Follow up the outcomes for the client and provide feedback to the source of referral.
• Create and maintain trust and positive relationship with beneficiaries, partner organizations, survivor led groups and/or organizations and the communities CVT serves.
• Ensure that all work with clients observe CVT’s confidentiality policies, guidelines around protected health information is adhered to and ethical practices are observed at all times and are in accordance with CVT’s policies and PHI standards.
• Establish and maintain networks with existing community structures and other partners for referral and networking purposes.
• Lead in mapping, strengthening and expanding referral networks.
• Cultivate and maintain lively and mutually beneficial relationships with current and potential CVT partners.
• As appropriate, advocate on behalf of beneficiaries in general to promote timely access to necessary resources, information, and services. As appropriate, participate in working groups, advocate for survivors rehabilitation and justice related needs.
• Collaborate with staff in partner organizations to strengthen and deliver clinical treatment services:
• Participate in meetings with partner organizations to strengthen and refine referral pathways.
• Deliver clinical services in collaboration with partner organization staff and within the partner organization’s centers.
• Liaise with clinical staff from within CVT and partner organizations to help identify survivors whose functioning may have been affected by war related experiences and encourage them to approach CVT for support.
• Case manages clients’ interdisciplinary care through regular communication with CVT PSCs, Psychotherapist/Physiotherapist Trainers, Resilience Programming Trainer and physiotherapists to best identify clients’ on-going needs.
• Consistently communicate prior to and throughout client sessions with other disciplines to supply and receive relevant information about the background and progress of clients as well as refer those who require further medical attention.
• Provide and attend internal trainings to orient new staff and provide on-going interdisciplinary insights.
• Recognize and respect boundaries between disciplines and establish regular communication mechanisms to address client urgent and/or on-going concerns.
• Develop and lead community outreach and awareness, education, and sensitization campaigns and programs when needed.
• Regularly coordinate and collaborate with Community Advisory Boards, survivor led groups and General Directorate of Survivors Affairs (GDSA) to facilitate awareness and understanding of services and ensure smooth referral pathways between organizations and groups.
• Attend interagency meetings to improve service delivery to client groups and access opportunities to forward CVT’s work.
• Lead needs assessments with organizations, community advisory boards and community members to accurately identify the psychological, physical, social and justice related needs of communities.
• Training:
• Participate in meetings and activities with partner organizations to identify training needs and establish training plans.
• Assist in designing, planning, logistics, implementing and facilitating external training for partners, local decision makers, community members and local and international NGOs, and government/ministry staff on trauma and health issues in order to develop a more supportive environment for people whose physical functioning has been affected by experiences of war and violence.
• Contribute to completing the documentation and reporting of external trainings.
• Activities are provided under the oversight of the Associate Psychotherapist Trainer, including live supervision of services.
• Attend regular support, debriefing, case conferences, and/or supervision meetings to ensure information and skill-sharing.
• Set and follow through on a personal self-care schedule to avoid burnout and vicarious traumatization.
• Recognize and seek support when needed from internal and/or external resources to address concerns of any workplace stress, signs of burnout and/or vicarious traumatization in an expedient manner.
• Provide formal feedback to colleagues when requested for on-going performance evaluation and development.

equired education, experience, certificates, licenses or registrations

• Minimum BA degree in social sciences, preferably in social work or equivalent experience.
• Fluency in Arabic language.
• Computer literacy in Email & Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook).
• Minimum two years of experience in social work, case management, outreach or related field.
• Demonstrated experience sensitively building trust with focus communities and partners.
• Understanding of transitional justice processes available and existing pathways to access them.
• Excellent interpersonal skills including; Demonstrating an excellent ability to use empathy, attentive listening, reflective questions and awareness of body language.
• Able to communicate effectively with people from different backgrounds.
• Strong organizational and analytical skills.
• Ability to work independently and as a team member.
• Ability to demonstrate self-reflection and willingness to develop personally and professionally.
• Strong desire to invest time and energy to develop new skills.
• Readiness to work in somewhat challenging areas.
• Able to prioritize work tasks and manage schedule.
• Able to complete written and electronic documentation.
• Demonstrated flexibility to adapt to changing program requirements, beneficiary needs, and political climate.
• Must consistently promote and represent a humanitarian and human rights understanding of their work internally and externally, including promoting acceptance of differences and non-discrimination.
• Commitment to and role modeling of human rights approach including maintaining respect regarding any sensitive issues such as religion, minority or political affiliation and treating colleagues equally regardless of differences. Strong commitment to serve beneficiaries regardless their religion, gender, minority affiliation or political background.
• Commitment to the ethical and sensitive implementation of project activities, including a commitment to confidentiality, diversity, equity and inclusion, quality service provision, and the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (including online).

Preferred education, experience, certificates, licenses or registrations

• Fluency in Shabak, Kurdish or English languages.
• Experience working as part of an interdisciplinary team.
• Work experience with survivors of war trauma.
• Knowledge of trauma informed, survivor centered principles and practices.

Interested candidates must submit an updated CV with a Cover Letter to: iraq_hr@cvt.org

Please put “Social Worker” in the Subject line.

Application deadline:  December 7^th, 2024.

Only short-listed applicants will be invited to interview.