This HUD/VASH Senior Social Worker Case manager position is in Mental Health services and reports to the HUD/VASH Program Manager at the VA Maine Healthcare System, located at the Togus, ME location. This position is a Full-time at 40 hours per week. Due to a critical staffing shortage, 38 U.S.C. § 7412 waives the requirement to apply Veterans' preference for this job announcement.

Duties

The HUD/VASH Senior Social Worker Case manager is responsible for lead for HUD-VASH in their catchment area and maintains an active HUD/VASH caseload of up to 30 Veterans, under the VA Maine Healthcare for Homeless Veterans Program. Duties of this position include, but are not limited to: Provides clinical supervision to social workers who hold a conditional license and for application of administrative processes of the HUD-VASH program. Responsible for reviewing agreements between Section 8, landlords, Public Housing Authorities and the VA in establishing appropriate referral sites for HUD-VASH placements. Act as lead case manager that will facilitate daily team huddles and support with coverage, networking of the VASH teams across catchment areas Performs site visits of HUD-VASH apartments to ensure that veterans reside in safe environments in compliance with local housing codes. Verifies the veteran's status, eligibility for VA medical care, and eligibility of program participation. Responsible for collecting and submitting HUD-VASH Program participant data as outlined by NEPEC evaluation procedures. Responsible for providing HUD-VASH case management. Case management is defined as the provision of services by VA clinical staff to homeless veterans and includes all activities to provide appropriate treatment and maintain veterans in HUD approved stable housing. 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 HUD-VASH Case Manager. Actively participates in the HUD-VASH Program conference calls and attends training offered by the HUD-VASH. Responsible for following local policy and SOP for the HUD- VASH Program. This includes following policies and documentation requirements as required for CARF and JC accreditation. Actively participates in program planning and development, advising the HUD-VASH program manager of shifting trends with caseloads and identifying the need for and making recommendations on program procedure or policy changes based upon work experiences. Responsible for improving professional skills, participating in planning and executing specific staff development projects, attending seminars and institutes, and participating in training programs of other disciplines as requested. Performs accountability functions: 1) document all contacts with patients/families in the medical charts; 2) 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 veterans. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 07:30am-4:00pm Telework: Authorized for Telework Ad-Hoc work. Can be performed on an as needed basis anywhere other than a VA facility or using VA-leased space (example: home). This position is authorized for telework but has not been authorized as virtual or remote (i.e., the must be able to work at the location the position is being announced for). VA supports the use of telework to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. Telework eligibility may be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 402-F05312 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required NOTIFICATIONS: This position is an AFGE Bargaining Unit position. This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Selectee may be required to work at any VA Maine Healthcare System campus, as needed. May be required to attend conference at other facilities or other VA sites on occasion. The incumbent may be required to travel to other VA campuses and CBOC's. Narrative responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) will be required from the selectee in order to proceed with the appointment. Veterans' preference does not apply for other current permanent Federal agency employees. Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held.

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). Senior Social Worker GS-12 Experience: 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 and 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: See VA Handbook 5019.

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 Togus VA Medical Center 1 VA Center Augusta, ME 04330 US
• Name: Melissa Kumar
• Phone: 802-295-9363 X6509
• Email: [email protected]