Department of Public Health

Local 509 members at the Department of Public Health perform a variety of tasks in for the department, and are primarily Licensed Social Workers or Human Services Coordinators. Due to the expertise and dedication of our members, we continue to make significant progress considering the ever-present challenges that we encounter daily.

About 60% of Licensed Social Workers provide clinical and social support in hospital settings while others work in the communities. Many provide services such as discharge planning for those clients who are hospitalized, assist clients to obtain health insurance coverage, assist with placement issues, immigrations issues, legal issues, family issues, and many other tasks.

Human Services Coordinators work in various institutions like prisons and hospitals or may primarily work in the communities of our state. When needed, a consortium of services providers are assigned to a task, some of which are:

• In a hospital settings with high risk populations – They function as Milieu Therapists. They provide services to clients with behavior problems that other hospitals are unable to manage by doing therapeutic groups and interventions. They are expected to respond to all DPH behavioral emergencies including code greens.
• With substance abuse clients, they provide rehabilitation education, as well as assisting them to locate a proper programs that fit their well-being needs.
• In the prison settings they provide pastoral and spiritual care as well as moral support.
• Many function as community outreach workers to provide support for homeless populations.
• Others function in more clerical roles including admitting, billing, and assisting with insurance paperwork.