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

This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until filled or September 30, 2024. The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications is 15 days from announcement open date. Eligible applications received after that date will be accepted on an ongoing basis and qualified candidates will be considered as vacancies become available. VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU The Senior Social Worker on the Renal Unit provides social work services at the San Francisco VA Medical Center to inpatients and outpatients in need of renal service. The Senior Social Worker is assigned to the Hemodialysis Unit, and responsible for providing both inpatient and outpatient social work services and assisting the Social Work Renal Program Coordinator, medical, and primary care team in setting up Renal services in the communities in which the veteran resides and making recommendations for needs upon discharge. Major duties include but are not limited to the following: Screening/Assessment: Develop an assessment in collaboration with the veteran, the interdisciplinary treatment team, and family members/significant others. Facilitating Discharge: Develop a working knowledge of pertinent VA and community social service programs and enhance working alliances with community partners to benefit the veterans with the discharge process. Treatment Planning/Goal Setting: Based on the psychosocial assessment that includes multidisciplinary consultation when indicated, develop the discharge plan and set realistic and achievable goals of care with the veteran/family. Adjustment to disability, illness, loss: Utilize communication and intervention strategies to engage patients, especially aging patients (including those with dementia) to facilitate assessment and intervention, to encourage coping with change, and to identify and address caregiver support needs. Crisis Intervention: Make rapid assessments of at-risk patients and in recognizing opportunities to intervene to avert further crisis response and to promote patient safety. Advance Directive Education: Knowledgeable of advance directive documentation requirements; utilize communication and intervention techniques to support discussion of this sensitive topic; identify concerns about the capacity to consent to the document; and seek consultation with medical providers to clarify capacity as needed. Advocacy: Understands the operational systems of large service bureaucracies and will act as an advocate when it serves the best interest of the veteran/family. Consultation to multidisciplinary staff: Assist the medical and surgical inpatient and outpatient health care team via consultation with or without direct patient contact about indications for social work referral; possible psychosocial aspects and intervention methods for coping with progressive, debilitating illness; psychosocial stressors and interventions related to non-compliance due to inadequate psychosocial support; health care and future placement planning; caregiver stress and support; and financial benefits. Clinical Expertise: Demonstrates an ability to expand clinical knowledge in the profession, provide consultation and guidance to colleagues, role model effective social work practice skills, develop innovations in practice interventions, and provide clinical supervision for social work licensure or certification. Continuity of care: Intervention includes activities to promote continuity of care within the VA health care system, in linkage to community agencies and resources. Administrative responsibilities: Enter all veteran/family contacts in the electronic record using appropriate formats and templates. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00am to 4:30pm. (Tour of Duty to be determined upon hire) Telework: Regular Telework 1-2 Days per Pay Period Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000/Social Worker Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Contact [email protected], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: 1. United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. 2. English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). 3. Education: Candidates 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. 4. 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/. Grandfathering Provision: 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 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. 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, 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. References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G39, Dated September 10, 2019. The full performance level of this vacancy is 12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position involve primarily walking, talking, use of the telephone, etc. Strenuous physical activity is not required although the incumbent is expected to withstand pressure and stress as part of their day-to-day activities. Work environment: The incumbent observes normal safety precautions while working primarily in an office type environment. The environment also includes home visits, visits to community agencies, visits to care giving facilities in the community etc., depending on the incumbent's specific assignment. Most of the time the incumbent operates in an environment that is well lighted, clean, and does not pose a hazard to personal safety.

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 San Francisco VA Medical Center 4150 Clement Street San Francisco, CA 94121 US
• Name: Rolane Jack
• Phone: 808-835-9634
• Email: [email protected]