"Whole Health is an approach to health care that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their life to the fullest. The VA is committed to Whole Health and values Veteran and Employee health and wellbeing. As a VA employee, you will practice Whole Health in an environment that supports personalized and proactive care."

Duties

The Social Worker Associate helps to enable patients and their families to function at their fullest potential, and to enhance their quality of life through the development of personal, familial, social, medical, economic resources and facilitates linkage between patient and family with VA and community support systems which allows patients to remain in their homes. The major duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to: Identifies appropriate community and VA resources, and facilitate utilization of these resources by the Veteran, families, and non-patients; Assists Veteran patients with use of video technology; Triages mental health crises; Assists patients and families by providing counseling and/or appropriate referrals, with problems that are tangible and overt in nature i.e., inability to meet mortgage payments, to difficulties, and employment problems; Assist patients and families by counseling and/or making appropriate referrals, with problems that are intangible in nature i.e., marital conflict, family dysfunction, chronic mental illness and substance use disorders; Provides on-going supportive counseling to patients to maximize their coping and adjustment, to illness, injury, treatment, living demands, one by-product of which is to avoid or forestall readmission to the medical center; Assists our Veteran patients in understanding medical protocol and VA benefits; Identifies unmet needs within the community and assist in developing these needed resources; Represents Service assigned and the Medical Continuum (as assigned) on committees/task forces which address program development and program maintenance, direct service, education, or matters of an administrative nature; Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Social Worker Associate/PD085820 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required.

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/01/2023. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-7: To qualify for this position, applicant(s) must possess all of the following qualifications: ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position. BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT: Bachelor's or higher degree from an accredited college or university in major fields of study such as: social welfare, sociology, psychology, public administration, philosophy, education, anthropology, history, economics and/or English. NOTE: You must submit a copy of your transcript with your application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. -OR- SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: At least one year of experience as a social welfare worker or social work assistant in a voluntary, public, social, or health agency that is equivalent to the next lower grade in the Federal service. Examples of specialized experience would typically include: providing assistance and service support as prescribed by social workers in conjunction with patients' treatment plans; interviewing patients; handling referrals to social and health facilities; obtaining and compiling data; organizing mental health and medical treatment needs; and assisting with local, state or federal benefits and referrals for food, shelter, transportation, etc. NOTE: Your experience must be fully documented in your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. DRIVER'S LICENSE REQUIREMENT: A driver's license in the State or Territory in which assigned is required. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Human FactorsOral CommunicationOrganizational AwarenessPatient Care Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: Must be physically and mentally able to efficiently perform the essential functions of the position without hazard to themselves or others. Requires usable vision, color vision, hearing, and speech. The loss or impairment of a specific function may be compensated for by the satisfactory use of a prosthesis or mechanical aid. Reasonable accommodation may also be considered in determining an applicant's ability to perform the duties of a position. Reasonable accommodation may include, but is not limited to: the use of assistive devices, job modification or restructuring, provision of readers and interpreters, or adjusted work schedules. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

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 Martinsburg VA Medical Center 510 Butler Avenue Martinsburg, WV 25405 US
• Name: Joseph Hannan
• Phone: 304-268-9384
• Email: [email protected]