The Social Worker serves as the Program Coordinator at the GS-12 grade and is administratively responsible for the Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team (HPACT). The incumbent also serves as the social worker for HPACT. The incumbent practices in the Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) Program and serves a patient population with highly complex health and mental health problems. The incumbent provides direct care services and manages the daily operation of the HPACT.

Duties

Total Rewards - Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf Specific Duties Include: The incumbent administers information and analytical systems to evaluate and enhance the quality of service provided to patients. The incumbent develops and implements information systems to track program activities including visits, referrals, admission/discharges, inpatient days, patient demographics, and patient satisfaction. The incumbent collects, analyzes and reports program data to local management, and to the VISN and Central Office as requested. The incumbent evaluates program progress and outcomes and utilizes data to continuously modify and improve the program and processes. In addition, the incumbent uses sound judgment in the interpretation of trends and patterns; the application of guidelines; and the recommendation of program enhancements. The incumbent demonstrates the ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the special are of practice and may provide supervisor for licensure or specialty certifications. The incumbent oversees the fund control point for HPACT. The incumbent provides both informal and formal education to HPACT staff on any changes in VA policy. The incumbent collaborates with members of the HCHV team, the GPO programs, the HPACT team, and other professional specialty clinics to provide comprehensive care to Veterans. The incumbent performs screening/assessments, treatment planning/goal setting, referrals to service providers, advocacy, community planning, education/health promotion and prevention and supportive counseling for Veterans enrolled in the HPACT. The incumbent conducts individual and family clinical interventions to facilitate the identification of substance abuse, psychiatric illness, and social needs as treatment issues. He/she is responsible for documenting patient and family contacts in the Veteran's medical record via CPRS. The incumbent participates in program planning, development and evaluation. He/she is responsible for advising the section supervisor of shifting trends with caseloads and identifying the need for and making recommendations on program procedure or policy changes. The incumbent will collaborate with VA staff and community agencies to strive to develop more effective and efficient ways of delivering healthcare services to homeless Veterans. The incumbent will participate and coordinate special homeless events including Stand Down, the Community Homelessness Assessment and Local Education and Networking Groups (CHALENG) meeting, and other VA and community based events as they pertain to the incumbent's role in the HCHV program. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:00 am to 3:30 pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Regularly teleworks 1-2 days per pay period. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Bargaining Unit: Yes

Requirements

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. 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/. 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 0185, GS-12 Experience: 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. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates 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, Preferred Experience: Experience providing outreach services to the Veteran population facing housing instability; Experience working in a medical setting. References: VA Handbook 5005/120, PART II, APPENDIX G39 dated September 10, 2019 This position is above the Full Performance Level for this series. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: This work is primarily sedentary but also requires some standing, walking, bending, lifting and carrying of items. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.

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 Diego VA Medical Center 3350 La Jolla Village Drive San Diego, CA 92161 US
• Name: Michael Kelly
• Email: [email protected]