Full-Time

Associate Social Worker/Associate Marriage and Family Therapist

Youth Crisis Stabilization Unit

Kaweah Health

Kaweah Health

1,001-5,000 employees

Non-profit hospital system delivering trauma care

Compensation Overview

$38.92 - $58.38/hr

Visalia, CA, USA

In Person

Category
Medical, Clinical & Veterinary (1)
Required Skills
Patient Education

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Requirements
  • Registration with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences as an Associate Social Worker or Associate Marriage and Family Therapist is required.
  • Completion of Kaweah Health-approved crisis intervention training within 60 days of hire or transfer is required.
  • Licensure must be obtained within six years of hire or transfer; failure to obtain licensure within this period results in termination.
  • The employee must demonstrate knowledge and skills necessary to provide care and services appropriate to the population served on the assigned unit or work area.
  • The employee must understand growth and development and patient and family cultural, linguistic, spiritual, gender, and age-specific needs.
  • The employee must effectively communicate and care for patients and families as reflected in the Plan for Provision of Care.
Responsibilities
  • Provide comprehensive psychosocial and clinical assessments to meet patients' care needs.
  • Provide education, referrals, and psychosocial support to individuals, families, and groups.
  • Intervene in crisis situations by providing assessment, counseling, and information to patients and their families.
  • Provide discharge planning, including coordinating equipment or home care, placing patients in appropriate facilities, arranging transportation, providing patient-family training, addressing financial needs, and coordinating necessary follow-up.
  • Document activities in the medical record according to policy.
  • Gather information about patients' social, psychological, cultural, environmental, and financial situations for psychosocial assessments and treatment plans.
  • Counsel individuals and families regarding psychosocial needs and problems related to medical conditions.
  • Make rounds and respond to physician and staff referrals by providing guidance regarding necessary social services.
  • Provide consultation to physicians, hospital staff, and the community regarding patient care needs.
  • Chart necessary patient information accurately and according to procedure.
  • Arrange transportation for patients transferring to other levels of care or returning home without transportation resources.
  • Gather information about community resources and link patients, families, and staff to appropriate services.
  • Assist with financial counseling and connect patients and families to appropriate resources.
  • Provide education to department staff, hospital staff, and the community on psychosocial aspects of illness.
  • Provide support and knowledge on medical-social issues through structured community outreach programs.
  • Provide oversight and consultation to Medical Counselors.
  • Provide field supervision to master's-prepared students when applicable.
  • Supervise and delegate duties to Social Work Assistants as appropriate within the scope of practice.
  • Attend team conferences and rounds and respond to referrals in skilled nursing facilities.
  • Coordinate social services in skilled nursing facilities with non-licensed staff.
  • Provide psychosocial services to skilled nursing facility clients and families, including assessment, treatment planning, family education and support, and discharge planning.
  • Provide effective therapeutic groups addressing clients' treatment-plan needs and goals in psychiatric services.
  • Perform thorough psychosocial assessments within specified timeframes.
  • Formulate discharge plans as soon as possible after admission in collaboration with other disciplines.
  • Facilitate the treatment-planning process and ensure thorough documentation of treatment-team functions.
  • Conduct family or significant-other education and support meetings as needed to support patients after discharge.
  • Provide clients and families with information about legal proceedings, including involuntary detention, 14-day certification, conservatorship, Adult Protective Services reporting, and Child Welfare Services reporting.
  • Support physicians and treatment teams in addressing clients' psychosocial and recovery needs and potential.
  • Complete neonatal intensive care unit assessments within two days by interviewing at least one parent.
  • Develop a neonatal intensive care unit case plan with a parent within five days of admission covering family stress, environmental health, and psychosocial factors.
  • Complete weekly neonatal intensive care unit progress notes.
  • Respond to referrals from physicians, staff, families, and patients in maternal-child health settings.
  • Identify high-risk pediatric psychosocial issues and create case plans addressing family stress, reactions to hospitalization, available support, and needed services.
  • Document weekly pediatric progress reports.
  • Provide psychosocial assessments to inpatients under age 21 who remain hospitalized for three or more days, and assess neonatal intensive care unit families within two days.
  • Provide assessment and safety planning for patients in mental health crisis, including writing 5150 and 5585 holds.
  • Manage or facilitate oncology support groups.
  • Provide supportive literature and maintain current cancer resources with the American Cancer Society.
  • Act as a community-events liaison between Kaweah Health, the cancer center, and organizations sponsoring cancer-patient activities.
  • Represent Kaweah Health at community cancer-patient events and participate in their planning.
  • Provide communication between outpatient services and inpatient oncology care.
  • Identify high-risk oncology psychosocial issues and create case plans addressing family stress, reactions to medical status, available support, and needed services.
  • Coordinate oncology discharge planning and link patients to appropriate resources, including the American Cancer Society, support groups, and financial resources.
  • Collaborate with oncologists regarding services, discharge planning, and links to outpatient services.
  • Follow up with patients and outpatient treatment providers after patients resume outpatient care.
  • Provide psychosocial assessments and treatment plans for every patient encounter at the cancer center in Visalia and Hanford.
  • Provide oncology services and support, including transportation, financial assistance, emotional support, cancer-specific resources, and community linkages.
  • Coordinate equipment and continuity of care.
  • Collaborate with the interdisciplinary team regarding education about the biopsychosocial aspects of oncology treatments.
  • Perform other duties as assigned.

Kaweah Health is a public, not-for-profit health system based in Visalia, California, serving the Central Valley since 1963. It operates a 581-bed medical center, a large outpatient clinic, and several facilities, offering emergency care, cancer treatment, cardiovascular services, rehabilitation, and other medical services. It is the largest hospital system in Tulare County and a certified trauma center. As a not-for-profit, it reinvests earnings back into the community to fund new services, facilities, and programs, with a strategic focus on accessible, high-quality healthcare. The organization has launched an financial recovery plan, “Operation Back in Black,” to improve finances through revenue enhancement and cost reduction, and partners with Medline to enhance supply chain and operational efficiency. Its goal is to provide broad, high-quality healthcare to its community while strengthening financial sustainability and expanding services as needed.

Company Size

1,001-5,000

Company Stage

Grant

Total Funding

$8.7M

Headquarters

Visalia, California

Founded

1963

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • May 28, 2026 groundbreaking starts a $13 million adolescent mental-health wing, opening in 2028.
  • Kaweah says fiscal 2026 hit break-even after staffing cuts and service pruning.
  • The May 3, 2026 nursing program and 2024 Medline deal support lower labor and supply costs.

What critics are saying

  • Gary Herbst retires June 30, 2026, creating leadership risk during a fragile turnaround.
  • Kaweah faces a 2026 wrongful-death trial over Erick Burger's 2023 emergency-department death.
  • Debt covenant stress never vanished; 2023 reserve-fund penalties still constrain cash through 2045.

What makes Kaweah Health unique

  • Kaweah Health anchors Tulare County as the region's essential trauma and inpatient hub.
  • May 3, 2026 student nursing pipeline trains employees for Kaweah Health's own vacancies.
  • Medline's October 15, 2024 primary-vendor deal strengthens Kaweah Health's supply-chain leverage and purchasing power.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

Paid Vacation

Paid Sick Leave

Paid Holidays

Flexible Work Hours

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

8%

1 year growth

8%

2 year growth

8%
The Valley Voice, LLC
Mar 6th, 2026
Kaweah Health board appoints Jonna Schengel as Zone 2 representative.

Kaweah Health board appoints Jonna Schengel as Zone 2 representative. The Kaweah Health Board of Directors has appointed Jonna Schengel, PT, MA, Ed.D., to serve as the Zone 2 representative, filling the seat vacated by the retirement of Lynn Havard Mirviss, RN, Ed.D. Schengel will serve out the remainder of the term through Dec. 4, 2026. Schengel is currently the Dean of Career Technical Education (CTE) and Workforce Development, Industry and Technology, Manufacturing, Nursing and Allied Health at College of the Sequoias (COS). Selected from a pool of highly qualified candidates, she brings extensive expertise in healthcare education and workforce development to the board. A Visalia resident since 1991, Schengel has deep roots in the local healthcare community. She worked as a physical therapist and founded Central California Physical Therapy Specialists before selling the practice in 2011. At COS, she developed the physical therapist assistant program and significantly expanded the nursing program, further demonstrating her commitment to building the regional healthcare workforce. "I understand how important Kaweah Health is to the vitality of the Central Valley, not just for the employees who work here, but also for the patients," Schengel said. "Ultimately, I want Kaweah Health to be the premier provider of healthcare in the Central Valley." With her strong background in health sciences and educational leadership, Schengel looks forward to contributing her experience, perspective, and commitment to supporting the mission and future of Kaweah Health. Kaweah Health is the community name for the Kaweah Delta Health Care District, a public hospital district serving the greater Visalia area. The district covers 183 square miles, encompassing all of Visalia and Goshen and parts of Ivanhoe and Farmersville. The district is divided into five equally populated zones, each represented on the board by a locally elected member. Board members serve four-year terms and may run for re-election without limit.

KVPR
Jan 29th, 2026
Kaweah Health graduates nursing staff as shortage plagues county

Kaweah Health graduates nursing staff as shortage plagues county. VISALIA, Calif. - Kaweah Health has graduated an inaugural class of nurses under a new partnership that seeks to address a shortage in Tulare County. In 2020, the hospital partnered with Unitek College, an institution that offers higher education in medicine and nursing throughout the country. It has physical campuses in California, Nevada, and New Mexico. Thirteen graduates received their Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees this month. The new nurses come at an opportune time, as there has been a decline in the number of people working in hospitals across the nation and the Central Valley. The COVID-19 pandemic left significant impacts in the medical field - like stress and excessive workloads - which made the nursing shortage worsen... Kaweah Health officials say the hospital faced a 25% nursing shortage in 2021. That figure sparked the urge to close the gap and improve nurse capacity in the county. The college proposed creating a program within Kaweah Health for prospective nurses who are interested in studying and working at the same time. Dianne Cox, chief human resources officer at Kaweah Health, says the nursing shortage at its hospital is now 7%. "We have 70 vacancies of registered nurses and about 1000 direct patient care registered nurses positions available. We're doing very well with recruitment and retention," Cox said. "We really believe that we will have solved our nursing shortage in Visalia and Tulare County." The program is primarily available to hospital employees, though there are some exceptions. To apply, employees must go through a testing process and provide references. Currently, 160 employees are enrolled. After the 13 graduates who completed the program this month, the hospital expects roughly 50 participants will graduate each year after. Interim Chief Nursing Officer Scott Baker says this program has great potential, especially since it could help fill vacancies by nursing staff who will soon retire. "As we grow this program, and as we hire more of these nurses, this is going to feed the hospital," Baker said. "Having this pool of nurses to pull in will refresh that, and as we grow them into clinical experts, it really balances out what we're going to be losing." Kaweah Health has also partnered in recent years with Porterville College and San Joaquin Valley College's radiologic technology program to boost training and medical staffing.

YourCentralValley.com
Feb 27th, 2025
WATCH: Kaweah Health and Award Winning Spine Surgery in the Central Valley

FRESNO, Calif. (KGPE) - Kaweah Health was recently recognized as being a top 100 hospital in the nation for spine surgery by Healthgrades.

The Valley Voice, LLC
Oct 6th, 2023
Kaweah Health named in employment discrimination case

Kaweah Health named in employment discrimination case.

Exeter Chamber
Sep 25th, 2023
Kaweah Health's Open House Journey to Care

You'll learn first-hand why so many have picked Kaweah Health to pursue their career in healthcare, and why Kaweah Health was named Healthgrades® America's 100 Best Hospitals™ for 2023.