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

The Eastern Market TeleGEM Social Work Coordinator practices under Medicine/Geratric Services and serves elderly Veterans in the VISN 4 Eastern Market (Coatesville, Lebanon, Philadelphia, Wilkes-Barre and Wilmington VAMCs) who do not have access to Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) at their local VA Medical Center. The Geriatric Evaluation Model of care (VHA Directive 1140.04) requires use of an Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) of clinicians, to include this social work role, to assess elderly Veterans with complex medical histories. Telehealth modalities (Clinical Video Telehealth (CVT), VA Video Connect (VVC), E-consult, and telephone visits will be used in many cases to minimize travel for Veterans and caregivers. The TeleGem Social Work Coordinator requires strong organizational skills, the ability to perform gap analyses, and knowledge of program evaluation. The Social Worker demonstrates an ability to expand clinical knowledge in the profession, provide consultation and guidance to colleagues, role model effective social work practice skills, teach or provide orientation to less experienced Social Workers, develop innovations in practice interventions, and provide clinical supervision for social work licensure or certification. As a Coordinator, the incumbent demonstrates innovation, creativity, expertise and skill in an expeditious and efficient manner. The TeleGEM Coordinator may have the responsibility for coordinating of TeleGEM activities and has administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. As TeleGEM Coordinator, incumbent collaborates with on-site and community resources to provide, improve and expand the range of psychosocial services.Functions or scope of assigned duties include and are not limited to the following: The social worker is administratively responsible for the GEM clinical program, providing treatment to Veterans referred from various specialties including primary care, geriatrics, neurology, PM&R, BH and areas such as, but not limited to: Spinal Cord Injury, Homeless Continuum Veteran Program, Hospice and Palliative Care Program, Suicide Prevention Program, Veterans Justice Outreach, Caregiver Support Program and Community Nursing Home Program. The social worker serves as the program point of contact for all inquiries for veterans and caregiver seeking GEM evaluation. Explores and refers to community-based resources allowing veteran and family to provide veteran care in the home. The social worker works closely with all VISN facility care teams sending referrals to Tele GEM including nurse and social worker case managers, primary and specialty care providers. Independently perform comprehensive initial and follow-up clinical assessments of the psychosocial needs and functioning of the patient, caregiver, and their support systems. Identify psychosocial issues impacting the patient/caregiver's ability to achieve optimal outcomes; implement interventions and provide social work case-management to address psychosocial needs and support patient driven goals of care. Develop an individualized psychosocial plan of care in collaboration with the Veteran/family & IDT team during the TeleGEM team meeting for each Veteran. Participate in the TeleGEM family conference for each Veteran. Educating the patient and caregiver(s) regarding findings and recommendations from the CGA. Patient care visit types include but are not limited to:- Telephone visits- Telehealth Visits (CVT, CCHT, VVC), MyHealtheVet (MHV), Secure Messaging (SM)- Face-to-face visits, if needed. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: Available EDRP Authorized: Contact, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more 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: 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 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/. 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.] 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). 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. GRADE DETERMINATIONS: Social Worker (Program Coordinator), GS-12 Experience/Education. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency. Candidate may have certification or other post-master's degree training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship, or equivalent supervised professional experience. Licensure/Certification. Individuals assigned as social worker program coordinator must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and 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: (a) Knowledge of program coordination and administration which includes consultation, negotiation, and monitoring. (b) Knowledge and ability to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines for the program. (c) Ability to supervise multidisciplinary staff assigned to the program. (d) Skill in organizing work, setting priorities, meeting multiple deadlines, and evaluating assigned program area(s). (e) Ability to provide training, orientation, and guidance within clinical practice. References: September 10, 2019 VA HANDBOOK 5005/120 PART II APPENDIX G39 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: The incumbent requires an abundance of physical and psychological energy because of the large number of self initiated activities and personal contacts that are required. The work may also involve driving an automobile and going in and out of a variety of settings in the community.

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 Corporal Michael J Crescenz Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 3900 Woodland Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19104 US
• Name: Natasha Sudler
• Phone: 302-290-6874
• Email: [email protected]