The Social Worker provides a vast array of professional services to the veteran population enrolled in the Wilmington VA Medical Center. Incumbent is a professional social worker whose duties and responsibilities center on the care management of Veterans on the acute medical floor/ICU and in the Community Living Center.

Duties

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Duties may include, but are not limited to : The incumbent is a member of an interdisciplinary team and is primarily responsible for assessment and completion of the psychosocial assessment as well as completion of the psychosocial portion of the interdisciplinary care plan and minimum data set (MOS). The incumbent is responsible for coordinating admissions screening with an interdisciplinary team as well as coordinating all aspects of discharge planning. Incumbent is responsible for coordinating admission referrals to the respite program. Incumbent is also responsible for active participation in interdisciplinary treatment team meetings, cultural transformation, and resident centered care planning. The incumbent is responsible for completing the following duties and responsibilities: a) Must have a high level of skill and expertise to establish and maintain effective therapeutic relationships with Veterans in the Community Living Center and/or their families. The incumbent is able to independently work with Veterans and their families who are experiencing a wide range of complicated medical, psychiatric, emotional, behavioral, and psychosocial problems. b) Must independently complete thorough psychosocial assessments to determine the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and/or their 1 families. The incumbent must be able to utilize this assessment in facilitating the independence that is possible and practicable. Must actively participate as a member of the interdisciplinary treatment team and actively participate through collaboration with Veterans and family as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members in the development and implementation of a resident centered treatment plan. Completes the social service sections of the Minimum Data Set (MDS) in a timely manner. Must facilitate discharge planning through collaboration with Veterans and their families as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members to ensure that appropriate discharge plans are executed in a timely manner. Must serve as a liaison between Veterans and/or their families and VA and community resources in order to ensure thorough delivery of services. This involves coordination of Veteran and family involvement in the development of treatment plans, coordination of Veteran involvement in monthly Resident Council meetings, and coordination of family involvement in monthly Family Council meetings. Must possess knowledge and ability to independently implement treatment modalities, provide counseling and/or supportive groups for Veterans and families. Must provide consultation and education to Veterans and their families regarding community resources, VA benefits and specialty programs, and advance directives. Assists Veterans and their families with financial matters such as initiating and assisting with completing the 1010-EC as appropriate or with establishing a fiduciary when appropriate. This includes the incumbent's knowledge of the process for accessing and/or coordinating community-based services, including information and referral for additional services from other VA programs, other government programs, and community programs. Must be available to provide consultation to other treatment team and staff members regarding psychosocial needs of Veterans and/or their families and the impact of the identified psychosocial problems on the Veteran's health care planning, compliance with treatment, and discharge planning. Must be willing to serve on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility as deemed appropriate by the supervisor and Chief of Social Work Services. Must maintain knowledge of Veteran's benefits and services, community resources, and process for making appropriate referrals to community and other 2 governmental programs or agencies. Incumbent is responsible for pre-screening referrals, conferencing with referring providers regarding eligibility bed status, and obtaining referrals to the screening committee to review. Must assist Veterans and their families with obtaining legal guardianship for those who are deemed legally incompetent. Must possess and demonstrate ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing with people from varied backgrounds. Candidate will participate in a rotation of on-call Social Workers covering off-tour social work needs for Veterans on a 24 hour, 7 day a week basis.

Requirements

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational, or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. 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/. Exception: VHA may waive the licensure or certification requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified, pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure/certification examinations. This exception only applies at the GS-9 grade level. For the GS-11 grade level and above, the candidate must be licensed or certified. At the time of appointment, the supervisor, chief social work or social work executive will provide the unlicensed/uncertified social worker with the written requirements for licensure or certification, including the time by which the license or certification must be obtained and the consequences for not becoming licensed or certified by the deadline. English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). Grade Determinations: Social Worker, GS-9 Experience, Education and Licensure: None beyond the basic requirements. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Ability to work with Veterans and family members from various socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds utilizing counseling skills. Ability to assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members, and to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the Veterans problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and assistance needed. Ability to implement treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups to achieve treatment goals. This requires judgment and skill in utilizing supportive, problem solving, or crisis intervention techniques. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies. Fundamental knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures. This includes acute, chronic, and traumatic illnesses/injuries; common medications and their effects/side effects; and medical terminology. Social Worker, GS-11 Experience and Licensure: Appointment to the GS-11 grade level requires completion of a minimum of one year of post-MSW experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the field of health care or other social work-related settings, (VA or non-VA experience) and licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level. OR, Education: In addition to meeting basic requirements, a doctoral degree in social work from a school of social work may be substituted for the required one year of professional social work experience in a clinical setting. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services. Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational and other diversified backgrounds. Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures (i.e., acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology) to formulate a treatment plan. Skill in independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social problems to achieve treatment goals. Ability to provide consultation services to new social workers, social work graduate students, and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment. 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. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005, PART II, APPENDIX G39The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-9 to GS-11. Physical Requirements: Must be able to walk/stand for at least 8 hours a day; ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously; far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other; ability to distinguish basic colors; hearing (aid permitted); clear speech; will be outside and inside; possible excessive noise, intermittent; work closely with others.

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 Wilmington VA Medical Center 1601 Kirkwood Highway Wilmington, DE 19805 US
• Name: Heather Shipp
• Phone: (302) 333-6713
• Email: [email protected]