Description

Jewish Family & Children’s Service is seeking a Synagogue & Jewish Community Social Worker to provide mental health support, consultation, resource navigation, and short-term case management within synagogues and other Jewish communal settings.

This role will be embedded in partner synagogues while also supporting broader Jewish communal needs. The social worker will help clergy, staff, lay leaders, congregants, and families respond to mental health and social service concerns with compassion, clarity, and appropriate referrals.

This is a high-impact, highly relational position for a social worker and/or mental health professional who is skilled at building trust, partnering with clergy and communal leaders, and helping individuals and families access support through JF&CS and the larger community.

About the Role

The Synagogue & Jewish Community Social Worker will partner with selected synagogues to support the mental health and social service needs of the whole community — including clergy, staff, lay leaders, congregants, and families. This role brings the work of JF&CS directly into synagogue communities, where people often turn first when they are struggling.

Key Responsibilities

Community-Based Support and Consultation

• Serve as a resource to clergy, synagogue staff, and lay leaders as they respond to community members facing mental health, caregiving, grief, family, aging, or basic-needs concerns.
• Provide professional consultation, guidance, and training to clergy, synagogue staff, and lay leaders around community needs and challenges.
• Help clergy and staff think through next steps and identify appropriate resources for individuals and families.
• Provide supportive consultation, information and referral, short-term case management, and basic needs assistance to synagogue community members, as appropriate.

Resource Navigation and Referrals

• Connect individuals and families to JF&CS programs and external community providers.
• Help community members access appropriate services, including mental health care, public benefits, housing resources, support groups, specialized case management, and other community supports.
• Build and maintain relationships with local service providers and community resources.

Programming, Support Groups, and Community Engagement

• Help strengthen each synagogue’s capacity to care for its community.
• Organize and facilitate support groups in different locations throughout the community.
• Plan and facilitate workshops, trainings, and community conversations based on the needs of partner synagogues and the broader Jewish community.
• Attend synagogue programs, meetings, and community events as appropriate.
• Represent JF&CS in synagogue and Jewish communal settings.

Program Development and Community Needs

• Identify emerging needs and service gaps within synagogue and Jewish communal settings.
• Share insights with the JF&CS team to help inform possible programs, partnerships, or additional resources.
• Collaborate with colleagues across JF&CS to strengthen support for synagogues and Jewish communal partners.
   

Work Environment and Schedule

This is a hybrid position with a flexible schedule. JF&CS is open to structuring the role as either one full-time position or two part-time positions that split the role. The Synagogue & Jewish Community Social Worker will report to the Director of the Betty Ann Greenbaum Miller Center for Jewish Healing, with additional support and consultation from the Director of Community Resources and Mental Health Supports. JF&CS is committed to providing strong supervision for both the clinical and communal aspects of this role, helping the social worker feel supported, grow professionally, and succeed in this developing program.

The role will include:

• Weekly on-site work at partner congregations located in the Greater Boston area.
• Regular work at JF&CS headquarters in Waltham.
• Travel to partner communities, reimbursed according to JF&CS policy.
• Occasional evening and weekend availability for synagogue programs, meetings, support groups, and community events.

Because this work depends on trust and sustained relationship-building with partner synagogues, our strong preference is for a candidate who is prepared to remain in the role for at least two years, aligning with the length of our current synagogue partnerships. Candidates interested in growing with the program beyond that period are especially welcome.

Requirements

Qualifications

• Strong relationship building, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Clinical understanding of mental health, aging, grief, caregiving, family systems, and social determinants of health.
• Experience with case management, consultation, resource navigation, information and referral.
• Training and experience facilitating support groups.
• Working knowledge of mental health and social service resources.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Comfort using Microsoft 365, Zoom, and electronic case management systems.
• Ability to travel to and work from locations that may not be accessible from public transportation. This may be via having a valid driver’s license and access to a reliable, insured vehicle or other means.

Preferred Background

• Three or more years of experience in the mental health or social service field.
• Advanced degree in social work, counseling, psychology, or a related field; candidates with significant relevant experience will also be considered.
• Experience working in a synagogue or Jewish communal setting.
• Comfort partnering with rabbis, synagogue staff, lay leaders, and community members.
• Curiosity, respect, and genuine interest in Jewish religious, cultural, and communal life. Training and support will be provided.