Job opening: Senior Social Worker (HUD-VASH)
Salary: $92 329 - 120 028 per year
Published at: Dec 05 2023
Employment Type: Full-time
Serves as a team lead and works with an assigned team to track program data, ensure caseload balance among team members, educate on policies and procedures, provide clinical support and education when appropriate, and ensure data reported by local housing authorities and on the Homeless Operations Management and Evaluation System (HOMES) for each team is accurate.
Duties
FUNCTIONS OF THE POSITION
Expert and independent case management for a caseload of veterans in the HUD-VASH program in a remote location
Reviewing agreements between landlords, Public Housing Authorities and the VA in establishing appropriate referral sites for HUD-VASH placements
Performs site visits of Housing Authority approved apartments to ensure that veterans reside in safe environments in compliance with local housing codes
Collecting/submitting HUD-VASH Program participant data according to North East Program Evaluation Center and HOMES evaluation procedures and timelines
Providing HUD-VASH case management
Coordinates care including serving as an advocate on behalf of the veterans to ensure comprehensive service delivery, and linking and referring veterans to the VA Medical Center, VA Regional Offices and/or community agencies
Complies with criminal conflict of interest laws and Executive Branch Standards of conduct so as to avoid conflicts of interest while serving as the HUDVASH Case Manager
Participates in the HUD-VASH Program conference calls and attends training
Responsible to follow all other VA policies/procedures and other Federal Laws that pertain to VA operations and the performance of official duties
Acts as a team lead for a group of HUD/VASH staff designated by the Homeless Program Coordinator and supports the efforts of other members
Maintains data and statistical compilations that track current voucher utilization by members of the team reported by HOMES and local housing authorities and ensures members of the team reconcile data as appropriate
Reports any data discrepancies, number of Veteran visits performed by members of the team, wRVU's generated by the team, and caseload sizes for each team member to the Homeless Program Coordinator
Track other forms of data to ensure program efficiencies and effectiveness. Assess team member's clinical documentation and CPT utilization to determine if staff are documenting encounters appropriately
Training members of their team or other assigned staff on how to obtain effective treatment outcomes and document clinical work completed in a manner
Works closely with the Homeless Program Coordinator and community partners to promote an informed development and operation of a coordinated entry and case staffing process in assigned areas
Work with community partners and represent VA's interests in establishing collaborative relationships that will aid VA's efforts to effectively address and end Veteran homelessness
Participate in community planning meetings and ensure full participation in coordinated entry and case conferencing processes
Improving professional skills, participating in planning and executing specific staff development projects, attending seminars and institutes, and participating in training programs of other disciplines
Performs accountability functions:
document all contacts with patients/families in the medical record
completes statistical and other reports in accordance with VA Medical Center and respective professional discipline service policies
Works with VA Medical Center multi-disciplinary teams and community agencies to strive for developing more effective and efficient ways of delivering healthcare services to HUD-VASH Program
Participant in the treatment planning process with other disciplines
Discharge planning with other disciplines and will be responsible for ensuring that discharge plans and clinical documentation is executed in a manner
Provide consultation/education to veterans and families on community resources, advance directives and VA benefits
Act as a consultant to other team/staff members and between VA and community resources
Provide a full range of social work services within commonly accepted standards
Address Advance Directives in accordance with the standards of their work area
Provide wellness/prevention education and facilitate patient/family support groups as appropriate
Coordinate treatment and communicate with the care lines to facilitate continuity of care for veterans
Participate in committee assignments, as deemed necessary by the service manager
Document social work interventions and activities in the patient's clinical record
Completes suicide risk screens and documents these assessments as required
Completes comprehensive assessments and collaborative safety plans when clinically indicated
Assigned other duties, asked to work in other locations, and/or to further work other hours or days of the week as needed by the VAMC
Agrees to accept additional and/or special assignments that are necessary to meet VAMC/program goals and/or customer needs
Work Schedule: Mon-Fri 8am-4:30pm
Telework: AvailableVirtual: This is not a virtual position.
Compressed Schedule: May be authorized
Functional Statement #: 00000000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Qualifications
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.
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.
English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).
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: Senior social workers must be licensed or certified by a state at theadvanced 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.
Grade Determinations:
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.
AND
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 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, September 10, 2019.
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.
Preferred Experience: Experience working with populations experiencing serious mental illness and substance/alcohol addiction. Experience in discharge planning and or clinical social work preferred
Physical Requirements: use of fingers; both hands required; operation of crane, truck, or motor vehicle; specific visual requirement (see computer screen); hearing (aid permitted)
Environmental Factors: Outside and Inside; working around moving objects or vehicles; working closely with others; working alone
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 Jonathan M Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center
77 Wainwright Drive
Walla Walla, WA 99362
US
- Name: Melissa Quilter
- Phone: 360-696-4061 X38599
- Email: [email protected]
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