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

The Home Based Primary Care Social Worker position reports to Social Work Service and is located within the HBPC program based in Lyons, NJ. The incumbent is a part of and works in collaboration with the extended Interdisciplinary HBPC patient aligned care team. As a Social Worker in HBPC, the incumbent is administratively responsible for the delivery of care referrals for treatment services, and case management services for assigned Veterans in the HBPC program. The incumbent is assigned to work with a variety of patients with complex medical and or psychiatric issues in their homes. They will have a full caseload and his/her functions are to identify through psychosocial and family assessment, the social, emotional, interpersonal, and environmental needs of the Veteran that may interfere with his/her health, and/or impede the Veteran from obtaining treatment goals. The HBPC Social Worker can exercise appropriate judgement and decision making when formulating a diagnosis and a recommendation. The Social Worker provides ongoing assessment of the patient's progress and treatment. He/she must also demonstrate knowledge of and skills in utilizing VA and community resources. Clinical Duties The incumbent maintains a caseload and is responsible for the assessment of psychosocial problems often at a time when the Veteran is experiencing crisis and include the provision of short-term, solution focused counseling with Veterans and/or their families. Referrals typically originate from members of the HBPC interdisciplinary team, from Veterans and/or their families requesting assistance and from community professionals. The incumbent must complete thorough assessments to determine the presenting problem, to determine social determinants of health impacting the problem, and to determine obstacles to treatment and/or follow through with recommended treatments. Case management with members of the interdisciplinary team is provided in order to coordinate a collaborative effort to meet the agreed upon goals for a Veteran's treatment needs and include liaison with community professionals regarding needed services for Veterans and/or their families. Services include but are not limited to hospice services, nursing home care, home health, financial resources, VA benefits, and transportation services. The HBPC Social Worker is the primary discharge coordinator and is responsible for linking the Veteran to services both in and outside of the VA. The social worker will collaborate with other service providers in reassessing the Veteran's needs, readiness for discharge from HBPC or, placement at alternate levels (nursing home placement or hospice referrals). The social worker has a basic knowledge of Veteran benefits. The incumbent will provide Veterans and their caregiver with ongoing supportive counseling to deal with the impact of chronic/disabling illness or onset of terminal illness. The incumbent attends all HBPC and Social Work staff meetings and other administrative meetings in Extended Care. The social worker will collaborate in the performance improvement processes, serve on interdisciplinary performance improvement teams and comply with performance as required by the VA for their specific population. Medical Foster Home Program The HBPC Social worker will be assigned to cover Veterans placed into Medical Foster Homes as an HBPC Social Worker, along with other team members. Medical Foster Home Program provides an alternative to institutionalization for dependent Veterans with chronic diseases or terminal disease through care in a therapeutic personal home setting. Psychosocial Assessments The HBPC Social Worker interviews the Veteran, family member and/or significant other to establish facts about the Veteran's current situation. In collaboration with the interdisciplinary team members, the Veteran, family member and/or significant others, the Social Worker completes an accurate biopsychosocial assessment. The assessment will reflect the Veteran's strengths as well as primary concerns and/or challenge/s. In addition, the assessment outlines any hindrances for the Veteran obtaining optimal physical and mental health as well as internal/external supports and needs for Veteran to achieve success. Treatment planning/goal setting The HBPC Social Worker has the 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 work in collaboration with the Veteran and the HBPC Interdisciplinary team will develop a treatment plan or goals. Additional Duties as Assigned Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 21T28A EDRP Authorized: Contact [email protected], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more 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: 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/. Loss of Licensure or Certification. Once licensed or certified, social workers must maintain a full, valid, and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment. Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services. English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). 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). Creditable Experience. The candidate must have knowledge of current professional social work practices. To be creditable, the experience must have required the use of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics associated with current professional social work practice. The experience or education must be post-Master of Social Work (MSW) degree. Experience and education satisfying this requirement must be active professional practice, which is paid/non-paid employment as a professional social worker, as defined by the appropriate state licensing board. Quality of Experience. Experience is only creditable if it is obtained following graduation with a master's degree in social work and if it includes work as a professional social worker directly related to the position to be filled. Qualifying experience must also be at a level comparable to social work experience at the next lower level. Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time work week. For example, one week of full-time credit is equivalent to two weeks of part-time work. Fellowships or Post-Graduate Training. Fellowship and post-graduate training programs are typically in a specialized area of clinical practice, i.e., group or family practice. Training as a fellow or post-graduate may be substituted for creditable experience on a year-for-year basis. Practicum in a VA Setting. A VHA practicum experience may not be substituted for experience, as the practicum (field placement) is completed prior to graduation with a master's degree in social work. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. 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 Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:. (a) Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services. (b) 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. (c) 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. (d) 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. (e) 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. Preferred Experience: Working with medically complex elderly homebound population. Applicants with a drivers license are preferred. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/120 PART II APPENDIX G39 September 10, 2019 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11, which is the actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy.

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 New Jersey Health Care System 385 Tremont Avenue East Orange, NJ 07018 US
• Name: Kelli Bencic
• Phone: 716-458-6982
• Email: [email protected]