School Social Worker (34787)

Social Worker 8.0 Work-LifeFull-Time

Listed compensation

$55K - $70K

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

Ask the employer about the work setting, call expectations, weekend coverage and time off.

Posted 7mo ago

Job Description

  • Job Location: Sweet Home - Amherst, NY 14226
  • Position Type: Full Time, 12 Month
  • Education Level: Graduate Degree
  • Salary Range: $55,001.95 - $70,127.49 Salary

Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center is seeking a full time School Social Worker at our Sweet Home location in Amherst, Early Childhood Special Education Program. This is year-round position which includes paid school breaks.

The Social Worker serves as a member of a multi-disciplinary team to provide behavioral and clinical direction, support, and treatment to preschool students with special needs, social and emotional concerns. Essential Functions: Display competence as a Social Worker, adhering to legal and agency guideline.

Serve as an advocate to children/clients, providing counseling/support and delivering advice. Providing guidance to children/clients emotionally, socially, educationally, etc. Facilitating social skills groups for children/clients.

Deliver on-going assessments and/or treatment to children, communicating with necessary staff and documenting assessments appropriately. a.

Collaborate with other team members or those individuals designated by the agency and/or contract (e. g. family members, teachers, speech-language pathologists, consumers, etc.) to facilitate comprehensive treatment. b. Communicating with families on an on-going basis on prognosis.

Provide family support, serving as a communication and counseling resource for families. Complete paperwork on newly enrolled children. Respond to crisis situations, ensuring each situation is handled appropriately in terms of reporting and documentation.

Communicating such events to other staff, families, supervisors as appropriate. Assist supervisors and staff when reporting child abuse, neglect and related issues. Ensure appropriate paperwork is documented and reports are seen to completion.

Ensure supervisors are aware of reports when staff communicate with social worker. Assists with staff and supervisors when making phone calls to CPS and documentation, as needed. Helps staff/supervisors understand the reporting process and documentation, serving as a knowledgeable resource in the field.

Maintain licensure and staying abreast of best practices in the field Attend and provide necessary training and in-service. Participate in mandatory all-staff in-service. Attend all team meetings, as assigned by the designated program.

Provide annual “Mandated Reporter” training, ensuring all staff understand the definition of mandated reporter and have knowledge of identifying child abuse.

Requirements

  • Experience-1-2 years working with preschool children with social-emotional and behavioral concerns and delays
  • Excellent knowledge of early childhood development, sound understanding of the DSM 5 and disorders of early childhood
  • Ability to physically handle acting out children and provide therapeutic physical interventions
  • Strong team leadership, organization, and communication skills.
  • Knowledge of CPS, community services, and basic understanding of local neighborhoods, cultures, and demographics. Skills: The ability to identify with or vicariously experience another person’s situation Maintain the capacity to set boundaries and accept the limits of what can be accomplished during a specified period of time The ability to listen carefully, ask pertinent questions and retain verbally transmitted information is vital to the counseling aspect of social work The ability to coordinate communication and action among multiple parties, in connecting clients with services Education: Graduate degree from accredited university/college in Social Work Required License/ Registration/ Certification: New York State LMSW or LCSW NYS School Social Worker certification Physical Requirements: Physical actions may include, but are not limited to; bending, kneeling, standing, squatting, reaching, printing, crawling, and running. Vision, speech, tactical and hearing senses adequate to perform job requirements. Frequent sitting/ standing and when appropriate, floor sitting with pediatric patients.

Qualifications

Key Responsibilities

The School Social Worker provides behavioral and clinical support to preschool students with special needs as part of a multi-disciplinary team. Responsibilities include conducting assessments, facilitating social skills groups, and providing ongoing counseling and support to both students and their families.

Requirements

Candidates must hold a graduate degree in Social Work and possess a New York State LMSW or LCSW along with NYS School Social Worker certification. The role requires 1-2 years of experience working with preschool children and a strong understanding of early childhood development and the DSM-5.

Qualifications

Education
Master's degree (postgraduate degree)

Key Skills

Case managementCrisis interventionBehavioral interventionClinical assessmentMandated reportingSocial skills facilitationAdvocacy

Work-Life Balance Analysis

WeekdayDoc's proprietary algorithm rates School Social Worker (34787) at Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center a 8.0 out of 10 for work-life balance — classified as excellent. This places the position in the top 5% in Social Work — ranked against 6,344 active Social Work listings on WeekdayDoc.

Social Worker Career Context

Of the 50 active Social Work listings this role was benchmarked against, 42% are remote, 32% have no call, 64% require no weekends.

The cost-of-living index for New York is 107.9 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$63k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $58k in an average-cost state. 64.6% of New York clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Social Work by the numbers
MeasureThis jobMarket
Work-life score8.0 / 10 · top 5% in social workranked against 6,344 Social Work listingslisting-based score, 0–10
Listed pay$55k–$70kSocial Work median $74k (middle half $70k–$84k)36 comparable listings, Nov 2026
Cost-of-living adjusted pay~$58k in purchasing powerNew York index 107.9 (US = 100)BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)
Social Work listings in New York604 active6,386 nationallylive on WeekdayDoc, Nov 2026
Work settingon-sitepeers: 42% remote · 32% no call · 64% no weekends50 benchmarked listings
Sign-on & loan repaymentnot statedNew York social worker listings (all specialties): 4% state a sign-on bonus (median $4k) · 6% offer loan repayment658 active listings, Nov 2026
New Social Work listings2,591 in the last 30 days1,395 the 30 days before (+86%)U.S., first seen on WeekdayDoc, Nov 2026
Sources: WeekdayDoc live listing index (6,344 Social Work listings), BEA Regional Price Parities (2024); as of Nov 2026. Same values as the Weekday Verdict and Market Insights on this page.

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Work-life snapshot

median 5.1this job 8.0
Among the best 10% of Social Work listings for work-life

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 6,344 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center logo

About Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center

Education Administration Programs
Buffalo, New York
201-500 employees

Benefits & Perks

Paid School Breaks