The Senior Social Worker for the Office of Community Care (OCC) is responsible for the management, coordination and provision of social work services to Veterans and their families approved for community care in the Veteran Health Care System of the Ozarks (VHSO) service area.

Duties

If you are not a current, permanent VA employee or Federal employee from another agency, you should apply under, CBST-12167827-24-AB. The duties of the Senior Social Worker - OCC include, but are not limited to: Conducts chart reviews to determine eligibility and needs of Veterans and family members. Participants in the discharge planning process with office of community care and other disciplines. Assists case managers in office of community care and community hospitals, execute discharge plans in a manner that is timely and appropriate. Provides individual, and family counseling as appropriate. Provides consultation/education to Veterans and families on community resources, advance directives and VA benefits. Acts as a consultant to other team/staff members. Acts as liaison between VHSO and community hospitals, to include outreach, marketing and public relation duties as needed. Provides case management to Veterans and families, as needed, throughout the continuum of care. Provides a full range of social work services within commonly accepted standards of social work practice which includes case work, individual, family counseling, discharge planning, case management, end of life care, and other services as appropriate. Provides wellness/prevention education as appropriate. Coordinates treatment and communicates with the care lines to facilitate continuity of care for Veterans. Participates in committee assignments, as deemed necessary by the service manager. Maintains data and statistical compilations to comply with Joint Commission, VA and medical center policy and procedures. Assists patients and their significant others with coping and dealing with the loss and grief experiences in disability, terminal illness and death. Documents social work interventions and activities in patient's clinical record utilizing CPRS and ensure appropriate hand off when transferring of patient care. Participates in a rotation of on-call social workers, including modification of tour of duty to accommodate patient care needs on weekends. Provides consultation/education to medical residents on social work practice and VA policy and procedure. Supervise the practice of social work students, or a less experienced social worker, as appropriate. Provides services both in the VA medical center, CBOCs and in community hospitals. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm (may be required to work irregular hours and weekends, including on-call) Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 564-00787-F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized 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. 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. 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. 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. Examples of creditable experience include but not limited to independently assess psychosocial functioning, facilitate treatment plan with interdisciplinary team, provide case management and care coordination, links patient with services, resources, and opportunities, conducts assessment of at-risk patient to identify immediate needs, provides interventions independently for patient and families/care giver, provide range of interventions and treatment modalities, and provide consultation to staff about psychosocial needs of patients. 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: (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. 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). Preferred Experience: Experience participating in the discharge planning process with other disciplines. Experience communicating effectively with people from diverse backgrounds. Experience using advance practice skill and judgement. Experience providing full range of social work services. References: A Handbook 5005/120, Part II Appendix G39, Social Worker Qualification Standard. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office. The position is above full performance level, GS-12. Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation. May require standing, lifiting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, pulling, and pushing. This position also requires close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; and repetitive motions of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers.

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 Fayetteville AR VA Medical Center 1100 North College Avenue Fayetteville, AR 72703 US
• Name: April Bookout
• Phone: 315-800-7297
• Email: [email protected]