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- Includes PDPM & Trauma-Informed Care updates
$400.00
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Social Services Designee in Long Term Care - Online Certification
Includes PDPM & Trauma-Informed Care updates
This self-paced online certificate program is designed to provide a comprehensive educational foundation for the role of Social Service Designee (SSD) in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) post-acute and rehabilitation environment.
Program Objectives Include:
Identify the role of the Social Service Designee in a skilled nursing/post-acute/rehabilitation environment.
Identify the regulations, policies, and best practices for social services in a skilled nursing post-acute/rehabilitation environment.
Create an individualized care plan and describe the social service components of the plan.
Learn to explain and complete the MDS 3.0 Assessment.
Understand the social service role and how to work with an interdisciplinary care team.
Understand the components of a Psychosocial Assessment and proper documentation of psychosocial needs.
Understand the Survey process of the agency enforcing laws and regulations and what Surveyors are looking for in the area of social services.
Provide outstanding psychosocial care to your residents and their families.
Overview
This program is developed and narrated by Tracy Greene Mintz, LCSW, a popular speaker and expert in nursing home social services and owner of Senior Care Training. Completion of this 6-module series provides the learner with a Social Service Designee Certification. This program can be taken entirely at a self-directed pace and includes learning checks, interactive case scenarios to apply the knowledge learned, and a final exam. Learners can stop and start the program at their convenience. Learners must pass the final exam with a score of 80% or higher in order to gain their certificate. The final exam may be retaken as often as needed.
The running time for this program is approximately 10 hours. However, the program is made up of 6 separate modules. Each section contains learning checks and case scenarios. Running time may vary per learner.
This program is approved for 6 Contact Hours (CE) for Nurses. CareerSmart® is an approved provider by the California Board of Registered Nurses (CA BRN) and the Florida Board of Nurses (FL BON). Many other states accept courses approved by these Boards, but we recommend checking with your individual state of licensure to be sure.
FAQs
No, not typically for facilities under 120 beds, but this can vary by state. This is a vocational certificate to show training in the delivery of medically-related social services in skilled nursing. Facilities with over 120 beds need to employ a degreed social worker on a full-time basis, but you do not need a degree to get the certificate.
This program meets the requirements in most states. Check your state laws and regulations for any additional state-specific requirements.
For a facility over 120 beds, the federal requirement is:
- A bachelor’s degree in social work or a bachelor’s degree in a human services field including but not limited to sociology, gerontology, special education, rehabilitation counseling, and psychology; and
- One year of supervised social work experience in a health care setting working directly with individuals.
The above are for federal requirements, please check your state laws as well. For facilities under 120 beds, this may not be applicable.
If the degree requirement is applicable (or facility size is greater than 120 beds), then experience cannot substitute per the law referenced above. For facilities under 120 beds, this is not applicable.
There are no federal rules on the length of the social service training, however, some states have program length requirements for the Activity Leader training and some SSD programs are modeled on that. Our class is a self-paced program modeled on the 36-hour program. Some students may move through the material in more or less time.
Most employers look for this training as evidence of proficiency and if an SSD applicant doesn’t have the training prior to employment, it is common to complete it after employment. Experienced SSD’s who have taken this training indicated they still learned new information, especially since the training includes regulation updates. Degreed social workers who are new to SNF social services appreciate the training. Although there is no federal requirement for this training, it is an industry best practice to obtain and can improve employability in this field.
Most other programs require attendance in a classroom and are less conducive to working schedules. Other programs are also taught by a nurse. Our online SSD class is developed and taught by a licensed clinical social worker with 18 years’ experience working in skilled nursing. Learners will gain knowledge about social services from a social worker with expertise in the field. Students are not tied to attending specific class dates and can participate at their own pace, including navigating through real-life scenarios that you may encounter as an SSD.
Ask Tracy
Submit your question(s) about the SSD certification program below:
CareerSmart® Learning offers this Social Services Designee (SSD) online certification program to people looking to start a social services career in long-term care or to people already working in a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF), long-term care environment wanting to enhance their social services credentials, skillsets, expertise, and knowledge as well as maintain compliance with federal regulations.
Our SSD Certificate program was developed by a subject matter expert with extensive experience in the field and in consulting social services designees in skilled nursing facilities and long-term care. This self-paced online certificate program is designed to provide a comprehensive educational foundation for someone to take on the role of Social Service Designee in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) post-acute and rehabilitation environment.
Our online SSD training or online SSD certificate program is reviewed and updated annually with the most recent update to include PDPM and trauma-informed care content required by laws and regulation. Social services designees working in long term care are required to demonstrate training and competency in the areas of dementia care, trauma-informed care, resident-rights and resident centered care, and most recently, PDPM training.
Social services designees, or SSDs, are the “social worker” for the SNF but may not generally be a “Licensed Clinical Social Worker” (LCSW); prerequisite requirements vary per state. The SSD professional is responsible for assessing the psychosocial, emotional, and behavioral needs of patients or residents living in a skilled nursing or long term care facility and arranging for their psychosocial needs to be met (i.e. hearing aids, dentures, etc. ) as well as working with their families.
If you are a professional looking to begin a social services career in long term care, or are currently working as an SSD but would like to achieve additional training and credentials, or if you’re an employer of multiple facilities with social service designees, and you’re searching for any of the following keywords, you’ve landed in the right place: social service designee certification, social service designee training, ssd training, ssd certification, ssd online training, online ssd program, online social service designee certification, online ssd certification, trauma-informed care training for SSD