This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

Duties

This Senior Social Worker functions as the Tribal Case Manager for the Alaska Veterans Affairs Healthcare System - Housing and Urban Development, assigned to the Cook Inlet Housing Authority in the Tribal HUD-VASH Demonstration Project. The incumbent has experience that demonstrates possession of advanced independent practice skills and judgment, with specialized knowledge and expertise in intervention with tribal relations/customs, families, Veterans, and substance issues. The HUD-VASH program is an intensive case management program for chronically homeless Veterans aimed at providing psychosocial services to Veterans while residing in stable housing through HUD's Section 8 voucher system. The current position expands the HUD-VASH role to include case management for enrolled tribal member Veterans' family members and to include Veterans and families who are not yet homeless but are deemed at risk for homelessness. In addition, the Senior Social Worker must have skills and knowledge in areas of substance abuse assessment and treatment. The Senior Social Worker is responsible for independent coordination of case management services for Veterans receiving housing provided through tribal housing vouchers and case management of family members of housed Veterans, which involves specialized knowledge and experience in family intervention as well as extensive collaboration with community partners who provide services to families. The Senior Social Worker must have extensive knowledge of area providers and systems that provide treatment and resources through the Alaska Tribal Healthcare Consortium, as well as tribal culture and customs. Senior Social Worker will develop independent relationships with these providers to fill gaps in services that are not available through the VA in local communities. The Tribal Case Manager has increased responsibility due to the distant relationship with the support hospital. They must make independent decisions and design policy and procedures that allow them to develop a system of care delivery in a resource scarce environment. In addition, they must work closely with community resources to help the Veterans obtain care and services in the area in which they choose to live. This will require an increased level of knowledge in information systems such as telehealth and electronic record keeping. The Senior Social Worker will coordinate specialized provision of services not only for Veterans, but also for Veterans' spouses, children, and family systems. This role differs from traditional HUD-VASH case management in that Veteran family cases are complex, involve multiple causes of impairment at different levels, involve multiple systems in the community (legal, medical, occupational, social, educational, etc.), and require extensive knowledge of and collaboration with tribal resources-both those that serve Veterans and those that serve women, children, and families. Intervention is often clinically and ethically complex. For example, while making all indicated resources services available to Veterans and family members, incumbent may be also called upon to engage the school system, non-VA employment resources for a Veteran's spouse, law enforcement's domestic violence unit, child protective services, etc. The Senior Social Worker is responsible for the following duties/responsibilities:

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. BASIC REQUIREMENTS. 1. United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. 2. 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. 3. 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/. GRADE DETERMINATIONS. Senior Social Worker GS-12 1. Experience/Education. The candidate must have at least two years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one 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. 2. 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. 3. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: 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. Note:Clearly describe how you meet these KSAs in your resume; we cannot make assumptions regarding your experience. Preferred Experience: Working with Tribal populations; working with homeless populations; VA experience. References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, September 10, 2019. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: The position requires light lifting (under 15 pounds); moderate carrying (15-44 pounds); use of fingers; walking (up to 2 hours); standing (up to 2 hours); operation of crane, truck, tractor, or motor vehicle; near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4; far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other; both eyes required; hearing (aid may be permitted); emotional and mental stability. Environmental Factors: Work may be outside and inside; there may be exposure to dry atmospheric conditions; must be able to work alone and work closely with others.

Education

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP). If selected for this position, you are encouraged to apply for EDRP within four (4) months of appointment and must meet specific individual eligibility criteria in accordance with VHA Policy 1021. Final award amount and program start date is determined after review of a complete EDRP application, supporting documentation, and final approval by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services office. Please contact the EDRP Coordinators @ [email protected]

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 Anchorage VA Medical Center 1201 North Muldoon Road Anchorage, AK 99504 US
• Name: Joe Julkowski
• Phone: 509-434-7382
• Email: [email protected]