Accepts and supports the guiding principles of the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and Social Work and Community Based Services (SW&CBS) programming. Performs under the SW&CBS service line and interfaces with all programs and staff within the department. The Social Work Associate (SWA) assists in the clinical and administrative operation of the SW&CBS department. The SWA is often the initial contact for Veterans, family members, caregivers, and staff within the department.

Duties

Direct Clinical Interface Initial point of contact for Veterans/families/providers/stakeholders within the SW&CBS office. Assess needs and identify appropriate avenue within the department, facility, community or otherwise. Educates Veterans on modality for contact with service requested and sets expectations regarding delivery timeframe. Provides direct referral to internal or external resources such as Voluntary Services, food resources, lodging resources, Patient Advocate, Veteran Service Officer, public transportation, and other immediate needs. Ensures fair and equitable treatment and delivery of services to all Veterans while appreciating eligibility for various resources. Educates Veterans and family members on the Advanced Directive: Durable Power of Attorney and Living will completion process. Educates regarding abilities and limitations of such document and refers to outside legal resources if needed/able. Guides Veteran and family through completion of Advance Directive and ensures accurate completion, assists with witness or notary identification for document if needed, and documents in electronic health record. Enters and maintains guardianship documentation received by the healthcare system into the electronic health record. Ensures appropriate flag system is initiated to ensure patient safety and quality care. Maintains record of expiring guardianship letters and must contact guardian or probate personnel to reaffirm or cancel guardianship status. Alert leadership within SW&CBS of identified gaps or areas for development regarding front office operations. Enter appropriate documentation (JPSR, DBRS) if needed related to interface with Veteran, family, or staff of concern. Maintain privacy and safety standards at all times. Office Management Answers telephone for SW&CBS department to triage calls, questions, concerns and determine appropriate action based on contact. Determination of urgency and delegation to the appropriate personnel is pertinent for quality expedited care delivery. Receives, reviews, and assigns incoming consults to SW&CBS programming for Ann Arbor and 6 CBOC sites including, but not limited to: Inpatient Med/Surg, PACT, M2VA, Caregiver Support, Advance Directive, Digital Divide, VIST/BROS. Coordinates with lead timekeeper and supervisors of each area to assure accurate knowledge of staffing and coverage daily; to address department service delivery and flow. Incumbent serves as backup timekeeper for the service. Point of contact for volunteers assigned to SW&CBS; ensures all tools necessary to complete volunteer work are in place, orients volunteer to department, ensures adequate safe and nurturing environment and workspace is available, and coordinates tasks for volunteers. Manages incoming and outgoing mail for SW&CBS. Ensures all materials necessary for interoffice and USPS mail is available for department use. Alerts staff to urgent mail if received. Maintains supply and orders all resource documents and pamphlets for SW&CBS related to current programming, facility brochures, Advance Directive forms and educational materials, community resources, and VBA or other benefits programming as indicated. Orders and maintains all office supplies for SW&CBS department. Documentation and Tracking Tracks incoming consults to SW&CBS programming for Ann Arbor and 6 CBOC sites including, but not limited to: Inpatient Med/Surg, PACT, M2VA, Caregiver Support, Advance Directive, Digital Divide, VIST/BROS. Captures timeliness of completion and ensures reassignment or supervisor alert if consult is falling out or otherwise needing attention. Receives Advance Directive documents done within or outside of the VA from mail or via Veteran/family provision. Reviews document for completion and accuracy and sends copy to medical records after documenting in electronic health record. Returns document to Social Worker assigned to the patient if document is deemed incomplete or with errors. Enters and maintains guardianship documentation received by the healthcare system into the electronic health record. Ensures appropriate flag system is initiated to ensure patient safety and quality care. Maintains record of expiring guardianship letters and contacts guardians or probate personnel to reaffirm or cancel guardianship status. Tracks and trends walk in triage needs for onsite programming and provides daily results to leadership for assurance of staffing model preparedness and quality service delivery. Performs other duties or special assignments as requested. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Social Worker Associate/PD93029A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/12/2024. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-8 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. This position has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): Education: Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in major fields of study such as: social welfare, sociology, psychology, public administration, philosophy, education, anthropology, history, economics and/or English. Specialized Experience: Two years of experience as a social welfare worker or social work assistant in a voluntary, public, social, or health agency . At least one year of this experience must have been in a medical setting. Examples of specialized experience would typically include: providing assistance and service support as prescribed by social workers in conjunction with patients' treatment plans; interviewing patients; handling referrals to social and health facilities; obtaining and compiling data; organizing mental health and medical treatment needs; and assisting with local, state or federal benefits and referrals for food, shelter, transportation, etc. NOTE: Your experience must be fully documented in your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: InterventionOral CommunicationPatient CarePsychologyTeamwork Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work activity is primarily sedentary in nature: personal interviews, consultation with other staff, telephone calls, desk work, etc. Some walking to other areas of the medical center is require to facilitate patient contact or pursue planned activities. The pace of work is fast paced with competing demands. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

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 Ann Arbor VA Medical Center 2215 Fuller Road Ann Arbor, MI 48105 US
• Name: Jessica Kidd
• Phone: 734-596-3177
• Email: [email protected]