The VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System (TXVCBHCS) is recruiting for a medical social worker to provide for the needs of the Post 9/11 Military-to-VA (M2VA) Case Management program by providing an array of social work interventions.

Duties

This position is for a professional social worker whose duties and responsibilities relate to the care management of severely ill and injured M2VA CM service members and Veterans treated at the facility. The incumbent must use a high level of skill in assessing and treating the complicated psychosocial problems of M2VA CM service members and Veterans as they transition to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) care. Care management responsibilities also include providing supportive services to families. In addition, the incumbent assists M2VA CM service members and Veterans in coping with acute illness, chronic illness, combat stress, the residuals of traumatic brain injury (TBI), community adjustment, addictions, and other health and mental health problems. The social worker case manager addresses home care needs, homelessness, and transition across levels and sites of care. Social work care management practice, which includes psychosocial assessment, diagnosis, and treatment, is focused on helping M2VA CM service members, Veterans and their families maximize rehabilitation and treatment potential and achieve more adequate, satisfying, and productive emotional and social functioning. The incumbent: (1) Must have a high level of skill and expertise to work with M2VA CM service members, Veterans and families who are experiencing a wide range of complicated mental, emotional, behavioral, physical, psychosocial, and environmental problems. (2) Uses the social work process (psychosocial assessment, diagnosis, and treatment) in collaboration with interdisciplinary team members to develop a care management plan and psychosocial interventions. (3) Evaluates the need for mental health services and makes appropriate referrals for individual, group, marital and family treatment services. (4) Must be sensitive to the ethnic and cultural diversity and age-specific challenges of the M2VA CM population and adjusts intervention and treatment plans as appropriate. (5) As a member of the health care team, participates fully in developing, planning, implementing, and evaluating the interdisciplinary treatment plan, including provision of care management services. (6) Coordinates care with interdisciplinary team to promote continuity for M2VA CM service members, Veterans, and their families. (7) Develops and uses appropriate community resources. (8) Serves as an advocate for M2VA CM service members, Veterans, and their families, helping them access needed services at the facility, at other VA facilities, and in the community. (9) Assists M2VA CM service members and Veterans and their families with advance directives, guardianships, and applications for home care and extended care services. (10) Travels, as may be required, as part of providing social work care management services to M2VA CM service members, Veterans, and their families. Such travel requires the incumbent to function without immediate supervision or consultation. (11) Participates in the orientation, training, and teaching of social work graduate students and other trainees and staff. (12) Conducts and participates in research and program evaluation as appropriate. (13) Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: Available. Regularly teleworks 3+ days per pay period. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 00000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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 (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): 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. 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. 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). Grade Determinations: 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. *A social worker at the GS-11 level has: (a) Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services. (b) 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. (c) 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. (d) 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. (e) 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. (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: 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. 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. Preferred Experience: Two years of Medical Social Work/Case Management experience including experience in working with Veterans/Families and caregivers. Certification in Advance Case Management or Certified Case Manager (CCM) preferred/if available. Must be familiar with local community agencies and resources. Counseling experience including individual and group. References: VA Handbook 5005/120, 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: This position is mostly sedentary and requires walking, kneeling, bending, standing, and light lifting.

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address VA TX Valley Coastal Bend HCS 2601 Veterans Drive Harlingen, TX 78550 US
• Name: Taylor Obley
• Phone: 9714716633
• Email: [email protected]