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

The position is for a Senior Social Worker assigned to the Hospice and Palliative Care program at the VA Pacific Islands HealthCare System functions as a member of the interdisciplinary Palliative Care Team servicing Veterans who require palliative and end of life care with highly complex health and mental health problems. Major duties include but not limited to: Serves on multidisciplinary teams working with patients dealing with end-of-life issues, terminal or chronic illness and diagnoses; provides services in an outpatient clinic, inpatient hospital settings; provides a consultative service to other areas of the hospital seeking input from palliative care specialists; assesses patient and family needs, and completes biopsychosocial assessments; case-manages patients with ongoing needs; provides referrals and coordination of services and resources; counsels patients and families; provides inpatient discharge planning; provides counseling and assistance with advance care planning including completion of Advanced Directives for Healthcare. Completes a comprehensive psychosocial assessment for identification of psychosocial concerns which impact the quality of life for Veterans and their families facing problems associated with a life-limiting illness. Involves the Palliative Care Team, the referring interdisciplinary team, and the Veteran and caregivers to develop a treatment plan. Makes recommendations to the referral and treating team regarding social work, end of life, and bereavement issues. Provides education, consultation, and training for VA staff about hospice and palliative care services and interventions. Provides consultation and education to Veterans, their caregivers, and staff on community resources and VA benefits related to end of life issues. Interviews Veterans and their families and conducts biopsychosocial assessments; reviews all data and makes a clinical assessment identifying needs and strengths. Assesses high risk factors, acuity and need for services on the acute care Palliative Care Team and via consultation and provides services on an inpatient and/or outpatient basis. Assesses Veteran's understanding of his/her diagnosis and proposed treatments. Able to provide individual, group, and family psychotherapy and advanced level, longitudinal case management interventions used in the treatment of Veterans with complex health and mental health problems. Develops treatment plans in collaboration with the Veteran/family and the interdisciplinary Palliative Care Team. Provides social work services to Veterans identified by the Palliative Care Team as high risk and in need of post-hospitalization continuity of care. Identifies high risk factors, treatment needs, treatment options, and assists in helping Veterans find solutions to problems. Assesses the impact of psychosocial problems on the ability of the Veteran to function independently in the community. Provides crisis intervention, seeking to address the cause as well as the presenting complaint, coordinates family conferences and serves as a liaison to family members. Provides bereavement services and counseling. Acts as a consultant to both inpatient and outpatient social workers. Receives and completes consult requests from other services. Coordinates patient care with other healthcare professionals both within and outside the VA. Coordinates and collaborates with community-based services, including information and referral for additional services, other VA programs and other government and community agency programs. Utilizes and refers Veterans and families to a full range of community, VA and non-VA resources. Makes decisions regarding use of available resources at the VA and in the community, non-VA, based on knowledge regarding the Veterans' potential for accepting of identified resources. Able to interpret and explain the social work component of the treatment as well as VA benefits to Veterans and family members. Responsible for clinical Social Work practice in the Palliative Care program, including promotion of social work services as a key component of treatment. Evaluates his/her practice as a Senior Social Worker on an on-going basis through participation in professional peer review, case conferences, research studies or other organized means. Active in and accepts responsibility for the development and maintenance of professional standards of treatment. 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: Not Authorized. 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. References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G39 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12. 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).

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]