Clinical FSN Intern

The Family Support Network (FSN) Clinical Intern is responsible for providing ongoing in-home clinical services-family/individual therapy and parent education on a weekly basis to families in the St. Louis City or St. Louis County for children from 4 to age 18. Caseload size and readiness is determined by the Clinical Supervisor and/or Director of Family Services upon completion of orientation and onboarding, and is reviewed regularly based upon clinical documentation review and observation. The FSN Clinical intern will be supervised by an FSN therapist who will be a trained Field Instructor with a Master's Degree. Training for the MSW Intern will be a combination of Epworth training, on-the-job onboarding with FSN Management Staff, and shadowing opportunities with FSN family therapists. The Clinical Intern positions will receive a stipend payment $500 each at the beginning of their internships then another at the end.

Internship Learning Plan

Learning Objective #1: Student will learn how to conduct family assessments, develop treatment plans, measure outcomes and complete follow up evaluation home visits.

1. Student will complete experiential program orientation, including training on clinical best practices, documentation standards, and program procedures, and shadowing FSN therapists on client home visits.

2. Student will develop/establish professional, supportive helping relationships with clientele.

3. Student will provide parent education, psycho-education, skill-building, clinical interventions to client families.

4. Student will complete follow up home visits with clients to assess families' current functioning and provide referrals for resources as needed.

5. Student will utilize the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework to increase each assigned families' resilience against child abuse and neglect.

Learning Objective #2: Student will learn to use a team approach with other treatment team professionals as appropriate, and network with community agencies on behalf of clients, providing resource referrals as needed.

1. Student will participate in and coordinate interdisciplinary treatment teams to ensure comprehensive client supportive services; working with service providers and community organizations.

2. Student will provide case management and advocacy services to client families in order to ensure access to and full utilization of appropriate support services.

3. Student will participate in clinical roundtable and team meetings when available to learn team approach to staffing challenging cases and acquiring resources.

Learning Objective #3: Student will learn to maintain accurate and current records on clinical services and support services documentation for all assigned families.

1. Student will be trained in clinical documentation standards and program procedures for case record maintenance.

2. Student will participate in Case Record Review when available and schedule permits.

3. Student will maintain accurate and current records for all assigned families in the paper client file and ETO database in compliance with agency requirements.

4. Student's clinical documentation will be reviewed by her/his Field Instructor at least twice per month. Student will receive feedback to ensure she/he is documenting services in line with funder and accreditation standards, program procedures, and clinical best practices.

Learning Objective #4: Student will observe and acquire knowledge and skills necessary to be a professional social worker at a non-profit social service agency.

1. Student will participate in 1:1 weekly supervision with Field Instructor to obtain coaching for professional and therapeutic skills and to evaluate student learning and progress.

2. Student will have opportunity to attend clinical staffings, FSN Team Meetings, and other agency and community committee meetings as appropriate to gain understanding of professional social work services.

3. Student is encouraged to attend external workshops and trainings to enhance knowledge and skills.

4. Student will have access to FSN therapeutic resource library to support interventions with assigned clients.

5. Student will report child abuse and neglect incidents immediately, when there is immediate risk. In all other cases, student will report after consulting with Field Instructor or Clinical Supervisor.

Qualifications and Requirements:

• Desired Majors: Graduate Student in social work at Washington University, University of Missouri-St. Louis, or St. Louis University.

• FSN prefers students to have a year working with children under age 13 in any capacity, some experience in home visiting, and are focusing their studies on Children and Families and/or Mental Health/Clinical Social Work; they must exhibit knowledge of clinical skills to be allowed to have an independent caseload.

• Desired Class Level(s): Graduate, Concentration or 2nd year practicum

• Compensation: Children's Service Fund related stipend as appropriate with CSF funding - for class credit; must be enrolled in a post-secondary degree program

• Time Commitment: At least 2 semesters, 15-20 hours each week on site and including 6-8 hours direct client contact per week.

• Availability: Availability on Monday mornings is preferred due to FSN meetings, but not required. After school and evening hours are preferred for completing home visits and shadowing therapists.

• Evaluation: Evaluation of student learning and progress will occur regularly via 1:1 sessions throughout the internship experience. Epworth will conduct a formal evaluation of student learning at least once throughout the internship period and will coincide with established university processing in coordination with the office of Field Instruction.