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

Major duties include but not limited to: The incumbent independently assesses the psychosocial functioning and needs of Home-Based Primary Care HBPC enrolled Veterans and their family members, identifying the Veteran's strengths, stressors, coping skills, and psychosocial acuity. Incumbent completes comprehensive initial assessments and follow-up assessments when clinically indicated (or at minimum annually) of the psychosocial needs and functioning of the patient, caregiver, and support systems. The incumbent is able to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment for the geriatric population. The incumbent utilizes a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in primarily geriatric populations and programs, including individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management.. The incumbent identifies psychosocial issues impacting the patient/ caregiver's ability to achieve optimal outcomes and implements interventions, including counseling, to address psychosocial needs and support patient driven goals of care. The incumbent develops a psychosocial plan of care for HBPC enrollees, which may include individual/family counseling, long-term and advance care planning, stress management, caregiver respite, psycho-educational programs, and grief and bereavement counseling. The incumbent reviews progress toward goals at regular intervals, at minimum on a quarterly basis or more frequently when there is a change in the patient's condition. The incumbent documents social work interventions and activities in the Veteran's clinical record according to professional and procedural standards and timelines. The incumbent manages consults according to the standards and requirements of the facility and regulatory bodies. The incumbent assists with discharge planning for HBPC and GREC patients as indicated, to promote wellness and safety at the highest level of independence. The incumbent facilitates access to VA and community resources and services to maximize Veterans DoH factors, such as concrete support services involving housing, in-home assistance and financial support. The incumbent keeps the HBPC team informed of available VHA and community resources and benefits for the patient and caregiver. The incumbent is a subject matter expert (SME) in matters of health care decision making, including decision-making capacity, Advance Care Planning, Advanced Directives, Durable Powers of Attorney for Health Care, State Authorized Portable Orders, and Organ Donation. The incumbent reviews existing Advanced Directives with the Veteran and family to ensure accuracy and concurrence with the Veteran's care wishes. The incumbent participates in the development and implementation of HBPC and GREC processes for continuous performance improvement. The incumbent provides mentorship and supervision to social work students, or less experienced social workers, as appropriate. The incumbent serves as a role model in the effective operation of an interdisciplinary team as well as social work professional practice. The incumbent provides specialized consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of geriatric Veterans, as well as role modeling effective social work practice skills. The incumbent acts as liaison between VA and community resources, fostering knowledge and collaboration between VA and community partners. The incumbent will actively participate in committee assignments, as the Supervisor deems necessary and as is advantageous to the organization. The incumbent uses sound judgment and critical thinking and has strong teamwork and communication skills. In unusual and/or complex administrative and clinical problems, the incumbent initiates consultation with the supervisor. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM. Telework: Not Available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: May be Authorized to highly qualified candidate. EDRP Authorized: Contact [email protected], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized. 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/. 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). Grandfathering Provision: The following is the standard grandfathering policy for all title 38 hybrid qualification standards. Please carefully review the qualification standard to determine the specific education and/or licensure/certification/registration requirements that apply to this occupation. All persons employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure or certification that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all of the basic requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply: Such employees in an occupation that requires a licensure or certification, may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions. Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all of the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation. If an employee who was retained in an occupation listed in 38 U.S.C. § 7401(3) under this provision leaves that occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation. NOTE: If social workers covered under the grandfathering provision of the 1991 Federal law regarding licensure or certification of VHA social workers leave the GS-0185 social work series, they lose the grandfathering protection. If they choose to return at a later date to the GS-0185 series, they must be licensed or certified to qualify for employment as a social worker. 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. 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. Preferred Experience: Minimum one year experience working with geriatric clients with background in common geriatric syndromes such as dementia, gait instability and frailty. Preferred: home care experience. References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G39 Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position involve primarily walking, sitting, talking, use of fingers, both hands required, 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, Hearing (aid permitted). Position requires driving.

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 Spark M Matsunaga Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 459 Patterson Road Honolulu, HI 96819 US
• Name: Omar Smith
• Phone: 9155647517
• Email: [email protected]