West Palm Beach VA Medical Center is looking for Senior Social Worker Home Based Primary Care (HBPC). They provide veterans in the Home Based-Primary Care (HBPC) Program with high quality case management, clinical treatment, advocacy, and to coordinate linkage with appropriate VA and community service providers / agencies as needed by the client. This is accomplished in collaboration with other members of the HBPC Team or other interdisciplinary treatment teams as appropriate.

Duties

The Senior Social Worker will develop an assessment of the veteran in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team, the veteran, family members and significant others, whenever possible. The goal of the assessment is to highlight the veteran's strengths, limitations, and internal/external supports and service needs in order to optimize the veteran's functional status and safely maintain the veteran in his/her home. The assessment will include a home visit. It is the responsibility of the social worker, working within the interdisciplinary treatment team to develop a treatment plan with the veteran based on this assessment. The initial assessment will be completed within required timeframes. Additional duties include but not limited to: Responsible for developing the treatment plan and setting achievable treatment goals with the veteran/family in collaboration with the HBPC interdisciplinary treatment team members. Will include psychosocial problems onto the interdisciplinary treatment plan. Attend weekly interdisciplinary care planning meetings. Ongoing assessments and updating treatment plans are done when necessary or on a quarterly basis given the changing needs as health status changes. Social workers will address the unique needs of homebound, frail, disabling/chronic and/or dying veteran. Is the subject matter expert on VA and/or community resources. Will collaborate with other service providers in reassessing the veteran's needs for non-institutional, institutional services/programs and entitlements. Responsible for educating the veteran and/or caregiver of the available services and assisting them in establishing the appropriate referrals based on the veteran's preference or that of his surrogate decision-maker. Responsible for developing a resource file of VA and community social service programs and will refer the veteran to needed services. Understands the intimidation of bureaucracy and will act as an advocate when it serves the best interest of the veteran/family. Will educate and encourage the veteran/family to advocate on their own behalf, thus fostering a sense of independence and empowerment. Experienced in making rapid assessments and developing crisis management plans to maintain patient in the home, for admission to acute, short term and/or long-term placements. Has access to multiple resource directories in addition to previously developed resources to meet the demands of a crisis. In the event of a medical or psychiatric emergency, staff will follow the protocol of the HBPC Program. Provide education related to VA and community resources, entitlements, Advance Directives/Living Will and will refer veterans/families to the appropriate interdisciplinary team member for identified health education needs. Responsible for the coordination of the referrals of non-institutional services such as HBPC, ADHC/CADHC, home hospice, skilled and non-skilled homecare services in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team members. Responsible for the coordination of the referrals of institutional placements in Adult Homes, Assisted Living Programs, CNH or VA Community Living Centers (CLC). Reviewing the progress notes from the other providers to accurately determine the strengths and limitations of each veteran being referred for non-institutional and institutional alternatives. Educate the veteran, their families and the team of all the options available to them and will collaborate with the veteran and family on the preferred option. Provide the veterans and their caregivers with ongoing supportive counseling. Will enter all veteran/family contacts in the electronic record using appropriate formats and templates. Will be entered in a complete, confidential, and professional manner to insure information on the patient is shared with other VA staff. Establish and maintain positive working relationships with employees, volunteers, consumers and stakeholders within the VA and outside community agencies. Attend all meetings (weekly interdisciplinary treatment team meetings, Social Work staff/unit meetings, or other assigned committees, etc.) and perform other duties as required Geriatric and Extended Care Service, or HBPC Program Director. Will collaborate in the performance improvement processes and comply with performance measures as required by the VA for their specific population and/or program. Participate in activities that obtain feedback from clients and work to enhance services as needed. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, with rotating tours of duty as needed. Telework: Yes - as determined by the agency policy. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: Senior Social Worker: FS #41027F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

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. English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. ? 7403(f). 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/. May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Grade Determinations: In addition to meeting the basic requirements stated above, the following qualifications criteria must be met in determining the appropriate grade assignment of candidates. GS-12 Senior Social Workercandidates must have the following: Experience/Education: The candidate must have at least two (2) years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one (1) year must be equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Senior social workers have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. Senior social workers are experts in their specialized area of practice. Senior social workers may have certification or other post-masters training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship or equivalent supervised professional experience in a specialty. Licensure/Certification: Senior social workers must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level which included an advanced generalist or clinical examination, unless they are grandfathered by the state in which they are licensed to practice at the advanced practice level (except for licenses issued in California, which administers its own clinical examination for advanced practice) and they must be able to provide supervision for licensure. While we no longer require essay-style responses to our Knowledge's Skills, Abilities, and Other Characteristics (KSAOs), you must be able to demonstrate that you possess the (below) competencies which are necessary to perform the work of the position. Please ensure your resume/CV/application contains sufficient information to support the level of experience/education/training; otherwise, we will not be able to award you credit for the experience/education/training you claim. These are the KSA's for this subject position: Skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in specialty treatment programs or with special patient populations. This includes individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. Knowledge in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the specialty area, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services and to design system changes. Ability to provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients in the service delivery area, as well as role modeling effective social work practice skills. Ability to expand clinical knowledge in the social work profession, and to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service delivery area. References: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, Social Worker Qualification Standard. Physical Requirements: The physical demands of the work requires use of fingers; moderate walking and standing; near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4; far vision correctable in on eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other; hearing aid permitted; clear speech; emotional stability; moderate duty.

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.

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 West Palm Beach VA Medical Center 7305 North Military Trail West Palm Beach, FL 33410 US
• Name: Kathryn Miller
• Phone: 407-793-6273
• Email: [email protected]