Works in Social Work Service in the Medicine/Surgery Section. Provides services to selected Veterans as referred and functions as a Community Resource Specialist (CRS). S/he supports the discharge process by providing triage assessment at bedside and working with interdisciplinary team by expediting VA/community resource referrals for transportation, ALF/Nursing Home Placement, and various benefits using the knowledge, skills, abilities, in which s/he has been trained.

Duties

Major Duties Include (but not limited to): Provides services to selected cases as referred by the appropriate team members and functions as a Community Resource Specialist (CRS). Helping Veterans fill out applications/paperwork. Handling details around case management/care coordination including Veterans benefits, Medicaid applications, assisted living facilities and contract community nursing home placement. Initiating and/or assisting the Veteran with VA and community resource referrals to include transportation, ALF/Nursing Home placements, and other various benefits. Reviews Veterans legal next of kin and emergency contacts and ensures electronic health record demographics reflects accurate information. Providing social services, social work support, and case management/care coordination follow-up to ensure seamless transition from inpatient to outpatient care. Acquiring or following up on the acquisition of documents, reports, or information needed for services provided through Social Work Service. Making telephone calls or personal contacts on behalf of social workers to providers, nurses, families, community nursing home personnel, community agencies, significant others. Interviews the Veteran or the Veteran's caregiver either face to face, by telephone or Video to triage/assess needs and develop a Veteran centered plan to meet the identified needs. Documents all Social Work Associate activities in the Veteran's electronic medical record in accordance with service and Medical Center policies. Participates in program planning and in the development of sound working relationships with Medical Center personnel, community agencies, and other governmental and community agencies. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Social Worker Associate/PD06000A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized 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, 11/13/2023. GS-08 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-08 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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. Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR): This position has an IOR which must be met to qualify for the position. EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENT: Do you possess a Bachelor's 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? OR SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-7) in the normal line of progression of the position and Two years of experience as a social welfare worker or social work assistant in a voluntary, public, social, or health agency, which must have included 1 year in a medical setting. Specialized experience is experience in a program of direct social welfare services that required the application of program policy and operations knowledge in providing social welfare services and/or assisting social workers. DRIVER'S LICENSE REQUIREMENT: A driver's license in the State or Territory in which assigned may be required. If required, candidates must pass a Federal service driving test. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: GS-08 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Interviewing patients and others for informational or service purposes. Handling selected referrals to social and health facilities. Obtaining and compiling data and similar types of work. Note: IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Verbiage displayed on your resume or application must contain your own words. You may refer to the specialized experience located within the vacancy announcement, to assist with describing work experiences; however, resumes or applications received that copied verbatim from the announcement will be evaluated and may be reviewed as falsifying your experience or application. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)Interpersonal SkillsOral CommunicationPartnering 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: The work involves sitting, standing, and walking and is carried out within the confines of the office/work space provided. Work Environment: Work will be done in Ambulatory Care/specialty care clinic locations and other areas of the medical center. Much of the work will be carried out in the integrated team work space. The incumbent works in proximity to Veterans and is therefore, occasionally exposed to communicable diseases. The incumbent may also be subjected to hostile behavior during an interview and defensive maneuvers to protect self may be necessary. Incumbent may be required to drive a government vehicle to other sites of care; community meetings; outreach events or other appropriate functions. 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.

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 Malcom Randall Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 1601 Southwest Archer Road Gainesville, FL 32608 US
• Name: Wendy York
• Phone: 785-817-2518
• Email: [email protected]