Social worker - Education Program

Background

The “Recovery Response in the South to IDPs and Affected Population by the War in Lebanon” project’s objective is to address immediate and life-saving humanitarian needs as a result of conflict in Lebanon.

The education intervention aims to enhance access to learning opportunities and promote the well-being of children affected by the crises through retention support and mental Health and psycho-social support (MHPSS) activities.

The social worker will be responsible for the identification of the direct target group in the project. She/He will do outreach work in the communities, to ensure that all community members are informed about the project activities.

The social worker supervises the vulnerability assessment of the target group. The social worker will work in close collaboration with the educators, the field coordinator, and the project coordinator. She/He will report to the field coordinator and project coordinator as well. The social worker will be based in Saida.

Main responsibilities

1. Outreach & Retention activities

Outreach beneficiaries for the projects’ activities. The social worker has a direct communication with the families and explains in details the goal, activities and requirements for their participation in the project;

• Share the goal and the main activities with caregivers and children;
• Follow up on the children’s participation in the projects’ activities.
• Encourage the retention support of the participants in the activities while addressing the reasons of drop out with a clear and adapted action plan. The social worker builds a collective response to increase attendance with all the project team members;
• Share the children’s achievements with their parents in order to increase motivation and build trustful relationship with the community members.
• Update the database/attendance sheet on a weekly basis with the support of the Field Officer;
• Identify and outreach constantly throughout the project through home visits, phone calls, SMS campaigns, newsletters, and leaflets, direct approach to the caregiver/child and local stakeholders, among others, with the support of the other team members, especially in identifying the needs.

Communication with families regarding the children’s participation in the educational activities

• Visit/call parents when a child is absent for more than 2 consecutive sessions and address the issue to ensure regular attendance;
• Set an action plan with the field officer to increase regular attendance;
• Meet with caregivers and explain more about the goal and the activities of the project;
• Share the children’s achievements with their parents to increase motivation and build trustful relationships with the community members.

Identification of other protection needs among community members

• Report on any identified need (weekly report, daily communication) to field officer and coordinators;
• Participate in the identification of targeted groups in case of distribution / extra support;

2. Case identification activities, individual support and referral activities

• Establish an internal referral pathway between team members or follow the existing referral system if exists
• Check existing internal referral forms
• Establish a simple internal referral form for all team members if existing forms are not relevant in collaboration with the field officer and coordinators;
• Clarify the process with all team members;
• Follow up on the implementation of/following the internal referral pathways
• Provide the team members with necessary information about the case’s follow-up to adapt their practices if necessary.
• Ensure that the field teams have a clear understanding of the different referral pathways as well as the different services provided by Amel and other stakeholders in the area.
• Ensure a smooth referral process with external actors (provision of information, follow-up with beneficiaries, etc.)

3. Observations of activities

• Observe on a regular basis the project activities to identify cases in collaboration with the psychologist.

4.  Quality standards

• Coordinate with all team members to ensure that the Child Protection & Child Safeguarding Protocol is followed;
• Ensure that recognized international best practices, Amel’s policies as well as methodologies developed by Amel’s Education program are applied in the support provided to the children, the caregivers, and the community members;
• Always ensure strict adherence to the principles of Child Protection, including respect for confidentiality and a child-centered approach, and act in the best interest of the child.

5.  Awareness raising 

Organize awareness-raising activities

• Create a monthly plan with the team members to provide psychosocial activities;
• Conduct weekly awareness sessions with children and community members in collaboration with the psychologist according to the monthly plan;
• Conduct monthly focus group discussions to address specific issues with children and community members according to the monthly plan.
• Conduct individual sessions with parents and children to address specific issues;

6. Coordination, collaboration and networking

• Team’s level: coordinate with all team members to ensure that the Child Protection Protocol is followed and that the PSS monthly plan is shared and completed; Ensure smooth referral of cases to the psychologist when needed.
• Centers’ level: coordinate with centers’ staff (Health, Protection, GBV, etc.) to refer cases / to improve internal practices (experience sharing)
• Develop AMEL’s network in the area to increase opportunities for external referrals;
• Contribute to creating a local mapping of the service providers in the area in collaboration with the Head of the Center, Field officer, and coordinators;

7. Monitoring and Evaluation/Reporting

• Contribute to the data collection in close collaboration with the Field Officer;
• Submit weekly reports to the Field officer and or /the Field coordinator.
• Submit other narrative reports such as Focus Group Discussion’s results, etc.

The Social worker may support additional tasks and carry other responsibilities that are not mentioned above, depending on the needs of the education program.

Qualifications, Skills and Requirements:

Bachelor's Degree in Social work or equivalent. 

3 to 5 years of experience as social worker.