Social Worker

The Social Worker will coordinate and provide recovery-oriented psychosocial support for mental health service users and their families across supported facility and community platforms. The role will contribute to the programme’s 95-95-95 mental health cascade by strengthening early identification and appropriate referral, timely access to counselling and social-work services, continuity of care, relapse prevention, functional recovery and economic reintegration. The Social Worker will provide psychosocial assessment, counselling, case management, family intervention, advocacy and closed-loop referral; supervise and strengthen designated psychosocial cadres; build the capacity of DoH personnel; and use programme data and client feedback to improve service quality.

Key duties and responsibilitie

Coordinate the community component of the mental health programme

• • Develop and implement community-support activities aligned with the approved Phase 2 workplan, assigned geographic targets, identified service gaps and the 95-95-95
  • Work with DoH Outreach Team Leaders and ward-based primary healthcare outreach teams to train, mentor and coordinate community health workers on mental health literacy, early identification, referral, adherence support, missed-appointment tracing, home visits and caregiver support.
  • Coordinate needs-based home and community follow-up for mental health service users, ensuring informed consent, confidentiality, appropriate documentation and escalation of clinical concerns.
  • Provide social-work assessment, counselling, case management, family intervention, crisis support and advocacy in community settings.
  • Map and maintain current service and referral directories covering health, social development, substance-use treatment, gender-based violence, child protection, disability, education, social protection, skills development, employment support and other relevant services.
  • Establish and monitor bidirectional referral and feedback arrangements with approved government, civil-society and community services, while retaining programme accountability for tracking whether referred clients receive the intended support.
  • Facilitate or support mental health promotion through community dialogues, campaigns, schools, workplaces, traditional and community leadership structures, radio and other approved platforms.
  • Coordinate and quality-assure support groups for mental health service users and caregivers, incorporating psychoeducation, adherence, relapse prevention, family support, problem-solving, functional recovery, work readiness and financial-literacy linkages where appropriate.
  • Support clinically stable clients to define recovery goals and access appropriate social reintegration, education, skills-development, employment, enterprise or social-protection
  • Use differentiated approaches to improve reach and continuity among men, adolescents and young people, older persons, people with disabilities, clients with complex needs and geographically underserved communities.
  • Maintain constructive relationships with DoH, Department of Social Development, municipalities, schools, workplaces, traditional structures and approved partners to strengthen coordinated support and avoid duplication.
  • Advocate for the rights, dignity and inclusion of mental health service users and promptly report suspected abuse, neglect, discrimination, and exploitation or rights violations.

Coordinate mental health support at facility level

• Coordinate facility-based psychosocial services so that screening, assessment, counselling, clinical care, referral, follow-up, recovery and reintegration function as a connected, person-centred pathway.
• Provide psychosocial assessment, brief and structured counselling, case management, family work, crisis support and referral to clients identified through screening or referred by authorised facility and programme personnel.
• Work with the Clinical Nurse Practitioner, Registered Counsellor, sessional psychiatrist and other authorised providers on multidisciplinary care plans and structured case reviews, particularly for high-risk, complex, poorly responding or disengaging clients.
• Ensure prompt escalation of suicide or self-harm risk, abuse, neglect, gender-based violence, child-protection concerns, acute deterioration and other safeguarding risks through approved clinical, statutory and organisational pathways.
• Provide professional supervision, daily support and capacity strengthening to Social Auxiliary Workers where assigned, and role-appropriate guidance to counsellors, ensuring compliance with approved tools, SOPs, professional boundaries and referral protocols.
• Participate in and support refresher training on mental health, adherence counselling, community detection, screening, safeguarding, referral and recovery-oriented practice.
• Train and mentor DoH counsellors and other relevant facility personnel on mental health literacy, approved screening tools, supportive communication, psychosocial first-line support, referral, follow-up and rights-based care.
• Review psychosocial files, registers, referral outcomes and follow-up records; identify gaps in quality or continuity; and implement or recommend corrective action.
• Promote respectful, non-stigmatising and culturally responsive services and ensure that clients and families participate meaningfully in care and recovery planning.

Project administration and support

• Prepare accurate and timely weekly activity inputs, monthly facility and community reports, technical-assistance records and other requested submissions in accordance with the reporting calendar.
• Maintain complete, organised and confidential social-work records, case notes, consent documentation, registers, referral records, supervision records and supporting evidence in approved systems and files.
• Work with the M&E Officer and Data Capturer to ensure that service, referral, follow-up, support-group, recovery and reintegration data are complete, accurate, timely and consistent with source documentation and REDCap records.
• Monitor assigned implementation activities against approved plans, targets and quality standards; identify gaps and provide practical recommendations or corrective actions to the line manager.
• Maintain ethical and rights-based practice in accordance with SACSSP requirements, POPIA, the National Health Act, the Mental Health Care Act, the Children’s Act and applicable safeguarding and organisational policies.
• Obtain and use feedback from clients, caregivers, facilities and stakeholders to assess service accessibility, quality, missing services, inefficiencies and improvement opportunities without compromising confidentiality.
• Identify advocacy and human-rights concerns, document them appropriately and report or refer them through approved organisational, professional and statutory processes.
• Prepare for and participate in file reviews, data-quality checks, monitoring visits, audits, programme evaluations and approved research or learning activities.
• Attend relevant training, workshops and professional-development activities and maintain current knowledge of mental health, social-work practice, referral systems and applicable
• Represent Anova and Ke Botlhokwa professionally in authorised facility, community and stakeholder engagements and maintain clear records of commitments and follow-up
• Perform other relevant duties, within the authorised scope and seniority of the role, as agreed with the line manager.

Minimum qualifications and experience

• Bachelor of Social Work degree from a recognised
• Current registration and good standing with the South African Council for Social Service Professions as a Social Worker.
• At least five years’ post-registration experience as a Social Worker, including at least two years’ experience in mental health, psychosocial support, public health or a related
• Demonstrated experience in psychosocial assessment, counselling, case management, family work, crisis intervention, safeguarding, advocacy and referral.
• Experience supervising or mentoring Social Auxiliary Workers, counsellors or other psychosocial personnel.
• Experience working with DoH facilities, community health workers, government departments and multidisciplinary or intersectoral teams.
• Experience in rural or resource-constrained settings and in coordinating community-based programme activities is an advantage.
• A valid driver’s licence and willingness to travel regularly across assigned facilities and

Knowledge, skills and competencies

• Strong knowledge of common mental health conditions, psychosocial determinants of mental health, person-centred recovery, case management and community-based
• Sound knowledge of relevant South African social-work, health, mental-health, child-protection, safeguarding, confidentiality and human-rights requirements.
• Strong counselling, assessment, crisis-response, advocacy, facilitation and group-work
• Effective professional supervision, mentorship, stakeholder engagement and multidisciplinary collaboration skills.
• Ability to plan and coordinate community and facility activities, manage competing priorities and follow through on referrals and agreed actions.
• Ability to interpret routine programme data and client feedback and translate findings into practical service improvements.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, report-writing, record-keeping and presentation skills.
• Computer literacy, including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, and willingness to use programme systems such as REDCap.
• High integrity, emotional maturity, cultural sensitivity, professional judgement and commitment to client dignity, confidentiality and ethical practice.
• Ability to communicate in English and at least one language commonly used in the assigned programme communities is an advantage.
• Resilience and willingness to work flexibly in response to programme and client

Organizational statement

Anova Health Institute is an equal-opportunity employer. In accordance with its Employment Equity goals and plan, preference will be given to suitably qualified applicants from designated groups, as defined in the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, as amended. Preference will also be given to suitably qualified residents of the John Taolo Gaetsewe and ZF Mgcawu districts in the Northern Cape.