The primary responsibilities of this position are to provide intensive case management services, continuous quality improvement activities, evaluation/consultation, psychosocial assessments, patient groups, individual therapy, placement services, and referrals to various community agencies and hospital services to Enhanced Rural Access Network for Growth Enhancement (ERANGE) patients.

Duties

The incumbent is an independently licensed master level clinical social worker assigned to the Mental Health Service functioning as a ERANGE MHICM Team Lead for the Oscar G. Johnson VA Hospital. The clinical and program activities subsumed under this position are conducted as part of the Enhanced Rural Access Network for Growth Enhancement (ERANGE) Mental Health Intensive Case Management (MHICM) Program. The goal of the ERANGE MHICM Program is to develop, implement, and assess the benefit of a behaviorally oriented program of psychosocial rehabilitation, intensive case management, and community-based treatment for chronic mentally ill veterans. Specialized treatment services are provided in various community settings, including residential care homes, contracting homes, and various other community locations. Work is done in the context of an interdisciplinary treatment team, and extensive liaison activities with other interdisciplinary teams are required to provide continuity of care for assigned veterans in outpatient settings. In this capacity, the incumbent, will be responsible for the coordination of a professional interdisciplinary mental health team, managing and providing clinical supervision, as appropriate direct clinical participation, program development, and administrative duties necessary to the operation as deemed appropriate by Chief, Mental Health Service. Social worker responsibilities are directed toward (a) helping patients and families cope with the crisis of illness; (b) maximizing social and interpersonal functioning of patients; (c) promoting vocational and social rehabilitation; (d) providing education to patients and interdisciplinary team members on the psychosocial impact of illness and disease progression; (e) facilitating the patient's return to the community at the highest level of functioning possible; (f) working with terminally ill patients and bereaved families; (g) developing special approaches to provide solutions to unique social problems; (h) coordinating discharge planning, including providing information and referral services and accessing and coordinating community resources/services; (i) providing case management services. Clinical social workers conduct behavioral health/mental health assessments, make DSM-5 diagnoses, create behavioral health/mental health treatment plan, and offer psychotherapeutic services. Major Duties: Independently performs case finding functions and outreach, identifies and screens patients for psychosocial needs and implements treatment modalities, provides counseling or psychotherapy for individuals, families and groups. Independently conducts psychosocial assessments and develops treatment plans in collaboration with the veteran/family and with the interdisciplinary treatment team. Makes referrals as appropriate to groups, individual therapies and other complementary services for specialty care (e.g., PCT, SUD, MST, etc.). Coordinates community-based services, including information and referral for additional services from other VA programs, other government programs and community agency programs. Independently identifies high-risk patients and provides case management services. Independently provides consultation services to other staff regarding the psychosocial needs of veterans and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and adherence to treatment plan. General knowledge of veterans' benefits and services relating to special programs, service connected compensation, non-service connected pension. Facilitates referrals based upon veterans needs and eligibility. Provides same day access to Veterans requesting care, as needed and appropriate. Provides "on-call" duties. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Requirements

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENTS: The basic requirements for employment as a VHA social worker are prescribed by statute in 38 U.S.C. § 7402(b)(9), as amended by section 205 of Public Law 106-419, enacted November 1, 2000. To qualify for appointment as a social worker in VHA, all applicants must meet the following: 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). 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/. For the GS-11 grade level and above, the candidate must be licensed or certified . Social Worker (Program Coordinator), GS-12 Experience and Education. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency. Candidate may have certification or other post-master's degree training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship, or equivalent supervised professional experience. 2. Licensure/Certification. Individuals assigned as social worker program coordinator must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure. 3. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) Knowledge of program coordination and administration which includes consultation, negotiation, and monitoring. (b) Knowledge and ability to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines for the program. (c) Ability to supervise multidisciplinary staff assigned to the program. (d) Skill in organizing work, setting priorities, meeting multiple deadlines, and evaluating assigned program area(s). (e) Ability to provide training, orientation, and guidance within clinical practice. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/120 PART II APPENDIX G39 Physical Requirements: Work is mostly sedentary and primarily performed in an office setting. Typical office work involves active listening, reading, observing, and evaluating verbal and nonverbal behavior, writing reports and clinical notes. The position requires the use of office equipment such as computers, keyboards, telephones, fax machines, and photocopy machines. The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. If required as a condition of employment, the incumbent must complete annual Employee Health requirements, such as annual TB screening or testing, employee physicals, etc.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application .

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 Oscar G Johnson Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Facility 325 East H Street Iron Mountain, MI 49801 US
• Name: Kevin Estrada
• Phone: 319-338-0581 X636728
• Email: [email protected]