The Harm Reduction Coordinator is a Social Worker position located within the TVAMC Mental Health (MH) Service OP SUD Clinic (Comprehensive Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Program -COSAT). The SUD Program serves Veterans in various stages of readiness and recovery who frequently have mental health comorbidities and exhibit difficulty coping with psychosocial problems including frequent crises and lack of social support systems.

Duties

**OPEN TO CURRENT VHA EMPLOYEES ONLY** Program Management: The incumbent: 1. Develops, implements, expands, and evaluates outcomes of harm reduction initiatives: a) OEND b) Fentanyl test strip distribution system c) Community engagement and education 2. Identifies: a) Vendors and sources to obtain harm reduction supplies b) Harm reduction opportunities via clinical dashboards c) Community harm reduction organizations to refer veterans who decline or are unable to receive VA harm reduction services 3. Partners, collaborates, and consults with: a) Key facility services and programs, such as Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH), Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO), Infectious Disease (ID) Clinic, Liver Clinic, SUD Services, Mental Health Service, Pharmacy Service, Medicine Service, Nursing Service, Logistics Service, and the Pain Management, Opioid Safety, Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PMOP) Committee b) Local and national community harm reduction organizations for program improvement and partnership c) Office of General Counsel (OGC) District Counsel to determine if any SSP services/supplies are legally prohibited d) National VA offices, such as VA Hepatitis and Related Conditions (HRRC), Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention (OMHSP), Academic Detailing Service, Clinical Pharmacy Practice Office (CPPO), for collaboration and development of new harm reduction resources 4. Participates in relevant local, regional, and national workgroups: a) Leads the facility Opioid Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution) (OEND) Workgroup i. Developing and maintaining relevant facility policies ii. Expanding naloxone availability in VA parking garages, VA transportation vehicles, and veteran housing facilities iii. Monitoring outcomes to ensure compliance with VA naloxone distribution goals b) Participates in the National VA Harm Reduction Support and Development Workgroup c) Participates in the National VA Fentanyl Test Strip Workgroup 5. Advocates for policy and program changes to enhance harm reduction services for veterans. Clinical: The incumbent: 1. Provides direct patient care through direct outreach to veterans, staff referrals, and veteran self-referrals. Care may be provided: a) Virtually (e.g., telephone, clinical video telehealth, VA Video Connect) or in-person b) In shared medical appointments and group education clinics c) In team or interdisciplinary patient care rounds or meetings 2. Direct patient care includes, but is not limited to: a) Comprehensive Medication Management (CMM) focused on harm reduction, including provision of harm reduction education and supplies available as a prescription (e.g., naloxone, sterile syringes, alcohol swabs, condoms) and via non-prescription sources (e.g., fentanyl test strips) b) Referral for proper screening, testing, and treatment for drug-related infections, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) c) HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) d) Substance use disorder (SUD) screening and treatment, including low-barrier buprenorphine for opioid use disorder (OUD) e) Referrals to SUD, mental health, ID Clinic, Liver Clinic, and other clinical services 3. Indirect patient care includes, but is not limited to: a) Identifying patients who may benefit from CMM focused on harm reduction through population health management reports and team huddles b) Conducting electronic consult (e-consult) medical record reviews and communicating recommendations to the care team Non-Clinical Functions: The incumbent: - Supports the mission, policies, and procedures of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the appropriate Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN), and the facility. - Assists with the orientation and mentoring of newly hired social workers and, serves as a field instructor for social work students, if interested and qualified. - Has working knowledge and skill in the use of word processing, data management and other computer software and demonstrates the ability to learn and utilize software programs in use by VHA. - Maintains a level of productivity and quality consistent with the complexity of the assignment and consistent with Mental Health, Joint Commission, and facility standards. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Mon-Fri, 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. 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 (MSW) 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. Please note: A doctoral degree in social work may not be substituted for the master's degree in social work. Licensure. Licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. English Language Proficiency. Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Regulations. 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). Must pass a background check. Grade Requirements: GS-12 Senior Social Worker 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. 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. License. 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: 1. 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. 2. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. 3. 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. 4. 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. 5. 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 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, Social Worker Qualification Standard. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is a GS-12. Physical Requirements: Physical demands of the work are generally minor. The work is primarily sedentary. There is some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items such as papers, files, manuals and records. For additional information on Physical Standards please see VA Directive and Handbook 5019. http://www.va.gov/vapubs/

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 Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center 3701 Loop Road East Tuscaloosa, AL 35404 US
• Name: Jenna McCarthy
• Email: [email protected]