In classic Brooklyn community-minded style, everyone from neighborhood advocacy groups to legislators are crafting solutions to the big challenges that have come with gentrification and the fact that many household incomes here simply can’t keep up with the rising cost of living. And on the front lines of it all, you’ll find social workers putting those initiatives to work.
Initiatives like Vital Brooklyn, a program aimed at creating affordable housing, jobs, and access to healthcare… the Brooklyn Anti-Gentrification Network, a grassroots, community-based coalition that works to limit gentrification… and, most recently, the Housing and Homelessness Plan created in June 2022 by Mayor Eric Adams to create housing in low-income communities are just some of the programs in play to address pressing issues related to poverty.
At the heart of Brooklyn’s efforts, you’ll find social workers — in community centers, hospitals, schools, and out there leading every kind of outreach effort and social program under the sun. Social workers are always there for communities in need, counseling people and connecting them with vital services and resources that address the issues of poverty.
They’re working for the NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS), helping those experiencing homelessness find temporary shelter and suitable housing. They’re providing case management, advocacy, and referral services to supportive housing and other community-based organizations like Kianga House in North Crown Heights, a transitional family shelter for young or pregnant mothers. And they’re part of interdisciplinary teams of healthcare professionals and case workers within programs like Brooklyn Community Services, which provides a wide range of services related to homelessness, mental illness, and disabilities to more than 20,000 Brooklyn residents annually.
Did you know? For more than 150 years, Brooklyn Community Services has been providing vital resources and services to Brooklyn’s at-risk populations. What began as a program to provide care for disabled Civil War Veterans and homeless children in 1866 has now transformed into one of the largest nonprofits in Brooklyn that encompasses programs tackling issues like housing stability, unemployment, and social justice.
Social work is not for the faint of heart. But for those with a passion for helping others and a calling to make positive, lasting changes for communities and the people in them, a career in social work can prove to be an extraordinary pursuit.
Social Worker Jobs: What Does a Social Worker Do in Brooklyn?
On any given day, Brooklyn’s social workers are helping people and communities make profound and lasting changes. Their staunch, unwavering advocacy for underserved and underrepresented communities and the people within them is felt in organizations and institutions throughout Brooklyn. From Brownsville to Borough Park to Ocean Hill, social worker jobs in Brooklyn are focused on gaining ground on some of society’s most pressing issues like housing discrimination, mental illness, education and healthcare access, and the many challenges that come with childhood poverty.
School Social Worker Jobs in BrooklynÂ
Of the 1,870 public schools located throughout NYC, Brooklyn is home to 925 —nearly half. According to NYC Public Schools, about 2,000 social workers are employed within the system.
Brooklyn is also where you’ll find 90 charter schools that serve more than 50,000 students. In fact, 16 percent of all public school students in Brooklyn attend a charter school. One such school is the Brooklyn Laboratory Charter School, where social workers provide student evaluations, conduct diagnostic assessments, and provide mandated counseling services. School social workers are also called upon to collaborate with school and network team members and implement curricula that address student needs and identify barriers to learning.
In addition, seven new public schools are set to open in Brooklyn by Fall 2024, including the city’s first public Montessori school.
Healthcare Social Worker Jobs in Brooklyn
Healthcare social workers in Brooklyn are on hand at hospitals and other healthcare centers to help at-risk and high-risk patients connect with care and resources. For example, at Mount Sinai Brooklyn, healthcare social workers are responsible for ensuring that patients receive the maximum allowable healthcare benefits while also providing emotional support for them and their families. They work closely with doctors, case managers, and nurses to identify patient needs and connect them with appropriate interventions, including transition of care services.
Child Welfare Social Worker Jobs in Brooklyn
Many of Brooklyn’s social workers are called upon to protect and preserve the health and well-being of children. For example, child welfare social workers are an important part of the Children’s Law Center, a Brooklyn nonprofit that represents children in the Family Courts and in the Integrated Domestic Violence Parts of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. These agencies represent more than 5,000 children annually throughout the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. Social workers here work with staff attorneys, caseworkers, paralegals, and client services staff to give children a voice in legal proceedings.
Children welfare social workers also work for organizations like the Brooklyn Family Services Center, where they provide behavioral health services to schools and community health centers, as well as home-based services that help keep families together and ensure the safety and well-being of children after major events or crises.
Mental Health Social Worker Jobs in Brooklyn
Social workers in Brooklyn hospitals and healthcare clinics are often focused on providing care for patients experiencing mental health issues. For example, social workers at NYU Langone are responsible for providing behavioral health services such as screening, assessment, and transitional and discharge planning to patients and their families. These professionals manage inpatient referrals and provide psychosocial counseling and psychosocial discharge planning assessment and services.
Mental health social workers in Brooklyn also work at community-based programs like the After Hours Project, which has been providing patients with harm reduction programs that address the spread of HIV/AIDS since 2002. This organization provides participants, most of whom have no or limited access to service providers, with a variety of health and social services, including case management, HIV counseling and testing, and harm reduction strategies. Social workers often assess and treat patients with mental, emotional, and/or substance abuse problems and provide them with nonjudgmental counseling and psychotherapy services.
Substance Abuse Social Worker Jobs in Brooklyn
Drug addiction continues to wreak havoc in NYC. During 2022 alone, NYC recorded 3,026 overdose deaths. As of 2023, statistics reveal that one New Yorker dies of a drug overdose every three hours.
Social workers are often called upon to assess, counsel, and connect people to treatment services for substance use disorder. For example, social workers at the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center provide individual and group substance use disorder interventions and identify treatment services based on diagnoses and immediate needs.
They also work at community clinics like Housing Works Community Healthcare, which is part of the NYC Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS). This agency, which has two Brooklyn locations, is staffed with social workers who oversee harm reduction strategies like syringe exchange, provide individual and group health education, and deliver harm reduction techniques, resources, counseling, and education.
Homeless Outreach Social Worker Jobs in Brooklyn
CAMBA Family Shelters, which has been under contract with the NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS) for more than 20 years, provides emergency housing and shelter services for NYC’s homeless population. In Brooklyn, CAMBA Family Shelter operates two centers. Social workers are always on hand, providing case management and counseling services for CAMBA’s adult and family shelters.
They’re also valuable members of nonprofits like Brooklyn Community Services, one of the first social services agencies in the country. Social workers within the organization’s Health, Housing, and Homelessness Solutions Division ensure access to resources, healthcare, and housing through a variety of services and resources like the BCS Young Women’s Shelter, a 39-bed transitional shelter in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, and the Transitional Living Community, a 30-bed section of the Brooklyn Women’s Shelter.
Clarkson Estates: More Affordable Housing Emerges Along Brooklyn’s Skyline
In January 2024, CAMBA Housing Ventures, which has been providing permanent and supportive housing and emergency and transitional housing to NYC since 1991, announced the start of construction on a new $238 million affordable housing project in Brooklyn.
Called Clarkson Estates, this newest Brooklyn project will house a number of disenfranchised and at-risk populations, including youth who have aged out of the foster care system and formerly homeless and incarcerated individuals.
Clarkson Estates will include 328 units and feature a variety of on-site supportive services and attractive features like a rooftop terrace, community rooms, and courtyards.
This project is part of the $1.4 billion Vital Brooklyn initiative, a New York State Homes and Community Renewal (the state’s affordable housing agency) program that aims to eventually create some 4,000 affordable homes to address Central Brooklyn’s underserved communities.
Military Veteran Social Worker Jobs in Brooklyn
Brooklyn’s social workers often lend their efforts to specific groups of at-risk or underserved populations like military veterans. They provide counseling, case management, and referral services at the Brooklyn Vet Center on Chapel Street, which offers confidential help for veterans, service members, and their families at no cost. They often make referrals to the Brooklyn VA Medial Center, Margaret Cochran Corbin VA Campus, and St. Albans VA Medical Center where healthcare social workers provide services aimed at issues like depression, PTSD, and the healthcare needs of veterans.