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 VA Careers - Licensed Clinical Social Worker: https://youtube.com/embed/U_xC25QsN0w Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf The Justice Outreach Social Worker is a Senior Social Worker whose primary responsibilities are to provide psychosocial assessments, case management services, continuous quality improvement activities, evaluation/consultation, placement services, and referral and linkage to various community agencies for Veterans who are within 6 months of release from correctional institutions and/or are being monitored by the courts, including treatment or problem solving courts. The Justice Outreach Social Worker is administratively responsible for clinical programming and daily operation of the program, as well as the management of program data. Justice outreach activity will focus upon justice-involved Veterans in one of three circumstances: 1) at the front end of the justice system (jails or courts) (VJO), 2) upon prison reentry (HCRV), or 3) a hybrid model encompassing jail, court and prison outreach (hybrid VJO/HCRV). The Senior Social Worker in this position requires an advanced level of knowledge and understanding of the services and benefits available from community, State and Federal agencies. The Senior Social Worker must have skill in diplomacy, patient advocacy, and negotiation in spanning boundaries of multiple large institutions, including VA, the courts, and/or corrections. The position requires knowledge of correctional cultures and their impact upon Veteran, institutional, and community perceptions and behavior, as well as skill in assisting Veterans to adopt behaviors adaptive to community living. The Justice Outreach Social Worker works in conjunction with the Homeless Program Coordinator to coordinate administrative, patient, and personnel activities for this program and with VA and non-VA employment providers to assure access and ongoing employment services as needed. Duties are continued in the Education Section of this announcement. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 4:45 PM Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized Recruitment Incentives. Recruitment incentives may be authorized to full-time, part time[,] or intermittent individuals in their first appointment as a Federal employee or to a newly appointed former Federal employee with at least a 90-day break in service

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/. Physical Requirements. Moderate lifting/carrying (15-44 lbs), Use of fingers, Walking 5 hours, Standing 3 hours, Operation of a crane, truck, tractor, or motor vehicle, Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously, Near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4, Far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, Both eyes required, Depth Perception, Ability to distinguish basic colors, Hearing (aid permitted) 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 meet this requirement through the Grandfathering Provision Preferred Experience: Experience providing evidence based therapies experience with crisis intervention and risk management clinical proficiencies and suicide risk assessment two years experience working with Veteran and/or military population Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade level. Senior Social Worker, GS-12 Experience and 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. Licensure/Certification. Individuals assigned Senior Social Worker 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, 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 Physical Requirements: There are no set physical requirements for this position. Use of eyes, hands, walking/standing and hearing may be needed to perform some functions. Mental, emotional, and cognitive stability are required. References: VA Handbook 5005/120 Part II Appendix G39, September 10, 2019 The grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12.

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.

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 the Council on Social Work Education (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. 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.

Duties Continued

The Justice Outreach Social Worker is required to conduct active outreach to Veterans involved with the justice system, including those who may be participants, or candidates for participation, in treatment court programs, including Veterans Courts. This outreach may also include field interviews, assessments and referrals for Veterans contacted in community settings, courts and/or prior to release in jails or prisons, as well as those referred by VA residential programs, medical centers or outpatient clinics.

Advanced clinical training, insight and experience is utilized to interpret data and identify viable treatment options. The Justice Outreach Social Worker assesses high risk factors, acuity, and the need for services. This Justice Outreach Social Worker has the ability to serve Veterans who tend to have frequent and severe crises, lack family or an adequate community support network, be poor at self-monitoring, frequently fail to comply with instructions and treatment, or have significant deficits in coping skills and require continuing professional psychosocial support.
The Justice Outreach Social Worker functions as an ongoing case manager for justice-involved Veterans who are being monitored by treatment courts (and as needed for Veterans released from correctional institutions) by performing duties to facilitate independent community living by coordinating mental health and community care.

The Justice Outreach Social Worker:

• As appropriate, completes release of information, and assists with completion, submission and follow-up regarding VA eligibility (DD214) and enrollment (10-10EZ) and other VA Forms or application for benefits through VBA.
• Serves as a consultant on the complex processes Veterans encounter when interacting with government and community agencies.
• Provides referral and linkage to VA medical and mental health treatment and to other VA services including VA benefits, as well as community-based social services and other non-VA entitlement programs. If appropriate, the Senior Social Worker provides referrals or consults to other VA programs, including Grant and Per Diem programs, Health Care for Homeless Veterans contract residential treatment, Domiciliary or Psychiatric Residential Rehabilitation Programs, or Compensated Work Therapy or Supported Employment programs.
• Participates as an active member of the court treatment team, providing or coordinating the provision of clinical treatment using evidence-based models appropriate to the justice-involved Veteran population, including, for example, Motivational Interviewing, Seeking Safety, or other evidence based interventions.
• Maintains working relationships with a network of referral resources.
• Assists Veterans in maintaining appointments at VA medical centers and other community agencies for medical, psychiatric, substance abuse, vocational and other services consistent with Veteran's goals associated with healthful independent living.
• Assists Veterans who encounter problems obtaining services from the VA and other service delivery agencies by providing patient advocacy, linkage to resources, and/or by assisting with Veterans' problem solving/social interaction skills.
• Completes all required program reporting to local, VISN, and national databases.
• Participates in development of a treatment plan for each Veteran contacted through outreach. The treatment plan includes individualized goals and measurable objectives based on relevant psychological, medical, and psychiatric information.
• Responsible for the assessment, identification, facilitation, referral and linkage to appropriate medical and psychiatric services for Veterans identified as eligible for services.
• Conducts individual and family clinical interventions to facilitate the identification of substance abuse, psychiatric illness, and social needs as treatment issues. Professional judgment, including the knowledge of normal and abnormal behavior, is a competency applied in daily interactions with Veterans.
• Participates in the assignment of Veterans to VA and non-VA treatment teams and programs, including by consulting with relevant program clinical staff in planning treatment for Veterans with co-morbidities.

Contacts

• Address El Paso VA Clinic 5001 North Piedras Street El Paso, TX 79930 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]