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

Duties include, but are not limited to: Consult with inpatient and outpatient medical staff to coordinate care including discharge planning, accessing medical and related services and dealing with a wide range of medical issues for geriatric clients. Assess the patient's understanding of his/her diagnosis and proposed treatments. Help the Veteran cope with end of life or complex chronic illness diagnoses and the many emotions that arise. Educate/instruct regarding resources and coping strategies. Assess treatment options when factoring in obligations of Veteran, family and caregivers. Collaborate within agencies when Veteran's care involves multiple entities. Provide education related to benefits and services to include VA, Social Security, and disability. Provide referrals and linkage to community agencies with specialized benefits. Counsel individuals, couples, and families and/or refer to specialized mental health providers. Provide or link to appropriate support groups and educational programs. Facilitate communication between the treatment team, Veteran, family and others. Facilitate family discussions about illness, healthcare, and life changes. End of life planning/preference of care with the use of tools including Advance Directive for Healthcare. Assist with placements into residential care facilities, sub-acute skilled nursing facilities, and adult day healthcare programs from a variety of settings including home and community hospitals. Address the impact of end of life and/or chronic illness on life issues (intimacy, body image, living with chronic illness with the uncertainty of life expectancy, etc.) Provide education on or referrals for needs such as transportation to/from appointments using either resources at the VA or in the community. Apply knowledge around safety by making recommendations such as for assistive devices and home care to improve/secure ambulation and continued home safety. Referral to and coordination of care services including facilitation with Non VA Care when needed. Advocate for services such as home health or hospice care when appropriate. Serve as trainer on geriatric related topics. Develop and co-facilitate educational, support and other related groups. Provide individual, group, and family psychotherapy and advanced level case management interventions used in the treatment of Veterans with serious medical and psychiatric disorders. Assist Veterans access services involving the continuum of care. Share and apply specialized knowledge of issues including long term care, disability, end of life diagnoses, impacts/treatments, care needs of elderly Veterans and their caregivers, other biopsychosocial issues, and related community resources and specialized benefits/services including for those needing geriatric care. Provide services on an outpatient basis and consult with inpatients and/or inpatient staff as needed. Assist with discharge processes to ensure Veterans are placed at appropriate facilities, at appropriate level of care and with appropriate follow-up. Develop and implement methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services including in the geriatric care specialty areas, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services. Design changed based on empirical findings. Offer consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in specialty areas, rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills. Teach and mentor staff and students on the special area of practice. Train to students, residents, interns and fellows in social work and from other disciplines and conduct formal workshops and classes for staff. Perform other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Available Telework: Available (Ad-Hoc) Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Contact the VISN 20 EDRP Coordinators @ [email protected] for questions/assistance. Learn more Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g this part). 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. (COPY OF TRANSCRIPT WITH CONFERRED DATE REQUIRED) 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. (COPY OF ADVANCE PRACTICE LICENSE REQUIRED FOR GS-12) 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: Senior Social Worker, GS-12 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. 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. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) 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. (b) Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. (c) 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. (d) 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. (e) 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 Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, September 10, 2019 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: Heavy lifting (45 pounds and over), straight pulling (6 hours), pushing (2 hours), use of fingers, walking (6 hours), standing (2 hours), repeated bending (6 hours), ability to distinguish basic colors, and hearing (aid permitted). Environmental factors include working with hands in water and working 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 VA Puget Sound Health Care System 1660 South Columbian Way Seattle, WA 98108 US
• Name: Randi Tran
• Phone: 509-434-7000 X6680
• Email: [email protected]