Job opening: Social Worker - HUD VASH
Salary: $66 757 - 104 996 per year
Published at: Jul 10 2023
Employment Type: Full-time
Positions available are located at the NY Harbor VAMC Manhattan and Brooklyn Campuses. The incumbent is responsible for, serving as one of the primary contacts with local Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) and providing case management-based services (directly or through referral) necessary to ensure that veteran care is coordinated with the VA medical center, community health or mental health providers, and agencies that serve homeless populations.
Duties
-The incumbent is responsible for data collection, clinical record keeping, and monitoring patient or clinical indicators and thresholds and collectively meeting performance measures.
-The incumbent completes referral forms for potential HUD-VASH veterans at the inception of the program.
-The incumbent participates in the review of agreements between Landlords, NYC Housing Authority, NYC Department of Homeless Services and the VA to establish appropriate referral sites for placements.
-The incumbent regularly conducts and participates in outreach activities including field interviews, assessments and referrals for homeless veterans contacted in the community, shelters, and "on the streets," as well as those who are referred by VA residential programs, medical centers or outpatient clinics.
-The incumbent assesses at-risk factors and develops a preliminary plan, involving the veteran and family or significant others, and performs an insightful assessment of serious and complicated cases involving psychiatric illness which may also include, catastrophic medical condition, dementia, traumatic brain injuries, and other high risks diagnoses.
-The incumbent provides referral to VA medical and mental health inpatient and outpatient treatment and to other VA services including VA benefits, as well as community-based social services and other non-VA entitlement programs such as: coordinating with Department of Homeless Services (DHS) in arranging Section 8 packages to be screened for review and requesting apartments to be inspected prior to a veteran moving in.
-The incumbent develops psychosocial treatment plans, actively involving the veteran and their family or significant others, in coordination with interdisciplinary team members when deemed necessary, based on the psychosocial assessments, including goals for clinical treatment.
-The incumbent may provide training to students, residents, interns and fellows from other disciplines and when appropriate conducts formal workshops and classes for staff under the supervision of the HUD-VASH Coordinator and the Community Support Service Manager.
Work Schedule: Monday Through Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Qualifications
Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.
Basic Requirements:
United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
Education: Have a master's degree in social work from a school of social work fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Graduates of schools of social work that are in candidacy status do not meet this requirement until the School of Social Work is fully accredited. A doctoral degree in social work may not be substituted for the master's degree in social work. Verification of the degree can be made by going to http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of social work.
Licensure: Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-0185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/.
Exception: VHA may waive the licensure or certification requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified, pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure/certification examinations. This exception only applies at the GS-9 grade level. For the GS-11 grade level and above, the candidate must be licensed or certified.
For appointments at the GS-9 grade level, VHA social workers who are not licensed or certified at the time of appointment must become licensed or certified at the independent, master's level within three years of their appointment as a social worker.
Failure to Obtain License or Certification: In all cases, social workers must actively pursue meeting state prerequisites for licensure or certification starting from the date of their appointment. Failure to become licensed or certified within the prescribed amount of time will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment.
English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. ? 7403(f).
Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must meet the following grade requirements.
Social Worker, GS-9:
Experience, Education, and Licensure: None beyond the basic requirements.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs.
Ability to work with Veterans and family members from various socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds utilizing counseling skills;
Ability to assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members, and to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the Veterans problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and assistance needed;
Ability to implement treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups to achieve treatment goals. This requires judgment and skill in utilizing supportive, problem solving, or crisis intervention techniques;
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies; and
Fundamental knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures. This includes acute, chronic, and traumatic illnesses/injuries; common medications and their effects/side effects; and medical terminology.
Social Worker, GS-11:
Experience and Licensure: Appointment to the GS-11 grade level requires completion of a minimum of one year of post-MSW experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the field of health care or other social work-related settings, (VA or non-VA experience) and licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level; OR Education: In addition to meeting basic requirements, a doctoral degree in social work from a school of social work may be substituted for the required one year of professional social work experience in a clinical setting.
Demonstrated KSAs: In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs.
Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services;
Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational and other diversified backgrounds;
Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures (i.e. acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology) to formulate a treatment plan;
Skill in independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social problems to achieve treatment goals; and
Ability to provide consultation services to new social workers, social work graduate students, and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment.
References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39.
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-9 to GS-11.
Physical Requirements: Physical requirements vary depending on the actual position selected for.
Education
IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here:
http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit:
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.
Contacts
- Address VA NY Harbor Healthcare System
423 East 23rd Street
New York, NY 10010
US
- Name: James Raczynski
- Phone: 929-317-0069
- Email: [email protected]