The Military2VA (M2VA) Senior Social Worker is assigned as a point of contact for returning combat veterans from the Gulf War era within the Durham VA Health Care System (DVAHCS) M2VA Program and Transition Clinic as well as non-combat veterans from Military Treatment Facilities (MTF) or other VA facilities. The incumbent may be assigned to any site across DVAHCS, including virtual locations.

Duties

A Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU FUNCTIONS OR SCOPE OF ASSIGNED DUTIES: Plans Effective Treatment: The incumbent will work in close collaboration with staff within the Post 9/11 umbrella, M2VA program within VHA and in the community to assist with the coordination of services, access to care, and education for returning combat veterans and non-combat veterans. The incumbent will provide a full range of services within commonly accepted standards of practice and prioritize care coordination activities as the primary job function, [e.g., biopsychosocial and needs assessments, walk-in/crisis services, chart reviews, discharge planning, facilitating follow-up and outreach, etc.] and other services as appropriate. The incumbent will provide care coordination (including care management and/or case management) to Veterans and families, as needed throughout the continuum of care. The incumbent carries full responsibility for assigned cases presenting a wide range of social, emotional, and environmental problems and will provide services according to the assessment of veteran's needs, encompassing even the most difficult cases. This includes communication within and across care lines to facilitate continuity of care for Veterans. The incumbent will be an active participant in the treatment planning process with other disciplines. Additionally, the incumbent will participate in discharge planning with other disciplines and will be responsible for ensuring that the discharge plans are executed in a manner that is timely and appropriate to promote care continuity. The incumbent will ensure that veterans receive efficient services and quality care in a setting commensurate with their assessed needs. Difficult professional services to veterans with serious problems are not an incidental part of the workload but are regularly performed on a continuing basis. The incumbent provides case appropriate professional social work interventions for veterans and families/significant others in compliance with VHA, VISN, DVAHCS, and Social Work Service policies and memorandums. The incumbent will collaborate with Post 9/11 interdisciplinary teams and provide leadership support to develop/coordinate social work efforts concerning patient care issues for returning veterans and ensures that standards for quality are maintained. The incumbent develops, plans, and facilitates in-service trainings to M2VA staff that will provide education related to the care needs of returning combat veterans and non-combat veterans. Incumbent provides education and training to staff from other disciplines, students, and volunteers as assigned. Develops, provides, and participates in interdisciplinary staff education programs and team-building activities. The incumbent makes decisions regarding individual caseload priorities and workload activities in collaboration with treatment teams, M2VA program manager and based on the patient's needs, goals, and objectives of the team and DVAHCS. The incumbent assesses and determines the extent and intensity of social work treatment required for individuals and their families. The incumbent makes recommendations to treatment teams based on the psychosocial assessment, focusing on providing the veteran the needed internal and external resources/supports in the least restrictive environment. The incumbent maintains effective management of their assignment, including special assignments in keeping with M2VA program, VHA, VISN, and Social Work service priorities and customer service goals. Outreach Activities: The incumbent facilitates efficient and appropriate delivery of care across episodes of care within DVAHCS and associated DVAHCS outpatient facilities. The incumbent coordinates, plans, implements, monitors, and evaluates the delivery of services for returning combat and non-combat veterans who are recently transitioning off active duty. This includes providing community education and outreach to area military units, service members, and families. Independent outreach and case finding functions are a significant part of the incumbent's position. The incumbent provides information about VA services to active-duty service members, veterans and network with points of contacts at the local Department of Defense (DoD), Military Reserve, and National Guard units. Incumbent is responsible for the development and implementation of a comprehensive outreach approach and community-based education program for active duty, reserve, and national guard military members to inform them of readjustment, medical, mental health, and community services available for returning combat veterans and non-combat veterans. Incumbent performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: 8:00AM - 4:30PM - Monday - Friday Telework: Ad-Hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. 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: a. 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). b. 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 Master of Social Work. c. 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.] Preferred Experience: Case Management, Care Coordination and Outreach References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/120 September 10, 2019 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 GRADE DETERMINATIONS. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Senior Social Worker, GS-12 (1) 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. (2) 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. (3) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) 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. (b) Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. (c) 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. (d) 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. (e) 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. (4) Assignments. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level. Senior social workers typically practice in a major program area such as but not limited to: Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site; a Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center, or a national VHA referral center, such as a national Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or a national Transplant Center, or other program areas of equivalent scope and complexity. The senior social worker may be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics. The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans, ensures equity of access, service, and benefits to this population, ensures the care provided is of the highest quality. The senior social worker provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff. They serve on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, VISN and national level, or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor, Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services. This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management. This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services. 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

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 Durham VA Medical Center 508 Fulton Street Durham, NC 27705 US
• Name: Gary Byles
• Phone: 919-286-0411 X4949
• Email: [email protected]