This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

Duties

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU The Senior Social Worker: develops an assessment of the veteran in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team, the veteran, and family members/significant others, whenever possible. The goal of the assessment is to highlight the veteran's strengths, limitations, and internal/external supports and service needs in order to optimize the veteran's functional status and safely maintain the veteran in his/her home. The assessment will include a home visit. completes the Suicide Risk Assessment shared template in the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) on all patients with suicidal ideation and on any patient whose record is flagged "High Risk for Suicide." contributes to the development of the treatment plan and setting achievable treatment goals with the veteran, family members/significant others and other HBPC clinical staff. is the subject matter expert on VA and/or community resources. collaborates with other service providers in reassessing the veteran's needs for non-institutional, institutional services/programs and entitlements. educates the veteran and families/significant others of the available services and assisting them in establishing the appropriate referrals based on the veteran's preference or that of his surrogate decision-maker. utilizes the current Social Work resource file of VA and community social service programs and enhancing the content to the benefit of veterans. refers veterans to needed services. understands the intimidation of bureaucracy and will act as an advocate when it serves the best interest of the veteran and family members/significant others. (when appropriate and feasible) educates and encourages the veteran to advocate on his/her own behalf, thus fostering a sense of independence and empowerment. makes rapid assessments and developing crisis management plans. has access to multiple resource directories in addition to previously developed resources to meet the demands of a crisis. In the event of a medical or psychiatric emergency, the Social Worker will follow the established protocol for the HBPC Program and TVCBHCS. provides education related to VA and community resources, entitlements, Advance Directives/Living Will and will refer veterans and families/significant others to the appropriate interdisciplinary team member for identified health education needs. coordinates referrals for non-institutional services such as Respite, ADHC/CADHC, home hospice and skilled and non-skilled homecare services in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team members. coordinates referrals of institutional placements in Adult Homes, Assisted Living Programs, CNH or VA-NHCU. This includes reviewing the progress notes from the other providers to accurately determine the strengths and limitations of each veteran being referred for non-institutional and institutional alternatives. educates veterans, their family members/significant others and the team of all the options available to them and collaborates with the veteran and family members/significant others on the preferred option. provides veterans and their caregivers with ongoing supportive counseling. The purpose of such counseling is to deal with the psychosocial impact of coping with chronic/disabling illness (es), onset of a catastrophic illness and need for non-institutional or institutional services, as needed, during the course of the veteran's enrollment in the HBPC Program. enters all veteran/family contacts in the electronic record using appropriate formats and templates. This information will be entered in a complete, confidential, and professional manner to insure information on the veteran is shared with other VA staff. This information will be reviewed on a regular basis. establishes and maintains positive working relationships with employees, volunteers, consumers and stakeholders within the VA and outside community agencies. attends all appropriate staff meetings (i.e. team meetings, Social Work staff meetings, Social Work supervision meetings, committee meetings, workgroups, etc., as appropriate). Work Schedule: Monday thru Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: 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 #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required This is a Bargaining Unit Position

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 tohttp://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/. 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. 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). Grade Determinations: Senior Social Worker GS-12 Experience and Education. The candidate must have two (2) years of experience post advanced practice licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which one (1) 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. 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, the candidate 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. Advanced Practice Level: For all assignments above the full performance (journey) 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. Advanced Practice Level is defined as the ability to provide independent and expert clinical psychosocial and case management services in a specialized area of practice to Veterans who tend to have serious and severe crises, may lack any familial and community support, may be poor self-monitors, may frequently fail to comply with instructions and treatment, or may have major deficits in coping skills and require continuing professional psychological support. The advanced practice or senior social worker has an increased depth and breadth of practice skills; has expertise in participating in the professional development of colleagues through mentorship and teaching; demonstrates leadership in developing and expanding professional intervention strategies; demonstrates leadership in defining and attending to professional practice issues; and has the ability to expand the conceptual knowledge of the profession. The advanced practice or senior social worker will make independent professional decisions and recommendations for agency action; the consequences to the Veteran of these decisions and actions may be quite serious. Work involves intensive social work services requiring the exercise of mature professional judgment and the flexible use of a wide range of complex social work practice skills not typically required in routine social work interventions. The advanced practice or senior social worker has mastered a range of specialized interventions and provides consultation to colleagues, renders professional opinions based on experience and expertise, develops new models of psychosocial assessment or intervention, and incorporates complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment. The advanced practice or senior social worker utilizes outcome evaluations to further treatment and designs system changes based on empirical findings. 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 Social Worker Qualification Standard GS-0185 Veterans Health Administration September 10, 2019. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds.

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.

Must 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.

NOTE: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

NOTE: If your school was accredited by CSWE at the time of graduation, but is no longer listed on the CSWE website, you must provide documentation of accreditation with your application packet.

Contacts

• Address VA TX Valley Coastal Bend HCS 2601 Veterans Drive Harlingen, TX 78550 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]