The position serves as Spinal Cord Injury Program Coordinator responsible for a clinic program providing treatment to patients in the Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Program. The professional Social Work may be the sole practitioner in this specialty at the facility and typically provide direct patient care services in the program area. The incumbent manage the daily operation of the program, direct patient care services in the program area.

Duties

This professional Social Worker is responsible to provide a variety of services for Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Veterans including psychosocial assessments, treatment planning, and short-term solution focused counseling with individuals and families, education and referral for resources and benefits, case management, and care coordination. Responsibilities will also include consultation and education to Medical Center staff and service providers, the collection and maintenance of statistical data, program planning evaluation and modification, and the supervision of students as assigned. Incumbent has working knowledge and experience in use 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. Incumbent interfaces with community agencies, Veterans, and families, to coordinate care, mediate conflicts, and address care needs. The incumbent administers information and analytical systems to evaluate and enhance the quality of service provided to patients. Develops and implements information systems to track service activities including visits, referrals, inpatient days, patient demographics, equipment utilization and patient satisfaction. Develops implements and evaluates clinical guidelines and protocols to establish appropriate utilization of services. Directs/coordinates clinical and psychosocial services and is accountable for the overall effectiveness of the services provided. Modifies services to best meet the treatment needs of veterans and to promote efficient practice. Coordinates social work services with other services offered in the treatment program, assuring such services are complementary and comprehensive. Directs activities to maximize effectiveness, efficiency and continuity of care for veterans. Provides case management services to those veterans at high social, psychiatric, or medical risk, serving as the liaison to other treatment programs. Represents the program in contacts with other agencies and the public. The incumbent develops working relationships and agreements with other organizations having responsibilities for the same patient population. Maintains a current and productive network of referral resources. The incumbent interviews veterans and their family members/significant others to establish facts about the veteran's situation, presenting problems and their causes, and the impact of such problems on the veteran's functioning and health as part of a comprehensive psychosocial assessment. Interprets and explains VA's treatment and benefit programs. The incumbent has the ability to serve veterans who tend to have serious frequent and severe crises, lack family or an adequate community support network, poor self-monitoring, frequently fail to comply with instructions and treatment, have significant deficits in coping skills and require continuing professional psychological support. The incumbent independently evaluates the client's situation, including the veteran's reaction to it and ability to deal with it, and arrives at a reasoned conclusion. Based on the psychosocial assessment, uses professional judgment and advanced practice skills to make a psychosocial diagnosis. Assesses at-risk factors and develops a preliminary disposition plan, involving the veteran and family or significant others. Performs insightful assessment of serious and complicated cases involving psychiatric illness, catastrophic medical conditions, dementia and other high-risk diagnoses. Makes independent professional decisions and recommendations for agency action. Consequences to the veteran may be serious and the results are often unpredictable. Promote individualized education regarding spinal cord injury for patients, family, caretakers, and staff via pertinent verbal, written or audiovisual materials. Coordinate annual health assessments and indicated follow-up evaluation to monitor disease progression. Work Schedule: Monday thru Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Telework: Available On an Ad hoc basis Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 92156 Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

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/Certification. Individuals assigned as social worker program coordinator must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure. Grade Determinations: At the GS-12 grade, you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency. Candidate may have certification or other post-master's degree 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 addition, the candidate must demonstrate the professional KSAs below: Knowledge of program coordination and administration which includes consultation, negotiation, and monitoring. Knowledge and ability to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines for the program. Ability to supervise multidisciplinary staff assigned to the program. Skill in organizing work, setting priorities, meeting multiple deadlines, and evaluating assigned program area(s). Ability to provide training, orientation, and guidance within clinical practice. References: VA Handbook, Part II, Appendix G39The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is the GS-12 Preferred Experience: Hospital experience/ working with complex medical patients Physical Requirements: The social work duties include sedentary and ambulation (walking) throughout the medical center and in the community according to the demands of daily tasks. Light carrying, less than 15 pounds-may be required as part of duties related to storing or moving files. Working around moving objects or vehicles-required as part of daily ambulating within the medical center around patients who use motorized scooters and wheelchairs. Working along-duties require working along at intervals during the day (i.e., documenting progress notes, completing phone call, etc.). Reaching above shoulder- may be required during daily task to access files located in overhead cabinets. Walking- required approximately 3-4 hours daily associated with walking from assigned office to outpatient clinics and other medical center departments as needed to complete duties of the position. Standing required approximately 3-4 hours daily associated with walking from assigned office to outpatient clinics and other departments within the medical center as needed to complete duties of the position and filing patient records as needed.

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 John D Dingell Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 4646 John R Street Detroit, MI 48201 US
• Name: Janice Uselton
• Phone: 313 942 5488
• Email: [email protected]