The incumbent functions as the Senior Social Worker for the Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) program at the Loveland, CO Outpatient clinic within the Cheyenne Veterans Affairs Health Care System (CVAHCS) . The incumbent has primary responsibility for providing and coordinating services for eligible Veterans who are involved in the criminal justice system and assists the VJO Coordinator with managing the administrative and operational needs of the VJO Program.

Duties

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Establishing eligibility of justice-involved Veterans for VA services. Initiates and supports Veterans Treatment Courts in Northern Colorado. Develops a network of community-based contacts and resources to assist and support the Veterans through the legal system, and back into society. Collaborates with VA providers and coordinates appropriate services through the VA medical and Mental Health programs. Provides education and training to law enforcement personnel (including the VA Police Force) regarding issues pertinent to Veterans. Conducts outreach to jails and incarcerated Veterans to educate justice personnel and Veterans about VJO services. Identifies, assists, and enrolls eligible Veterans into the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) system. Provides direct service, compliance feedback, assessments, and case management for justice involved Veterans who are involved in treatment programs. Functions as a member of the court treatment teams to provide appropriate interventions for Veterans by linking clients to VA and non-VA services. Participates in VJO training, communication groups, and other VA programs to enhance skills and understanding of the VJO functions. Independently assesses the psychosocial functioning and needs of justice-involved Veterans, identifying their strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and psychosocial acuity. Provides interventions independently with Veterans and their families/caregivers who are experiencing a wide range of complicated medical, behavioral health, financial, legal, and psychosocial problems. Provides a range of interventions and treatment modalities which may include individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy. Provides crisis intervention when indicated, including timely assessment of at-risk Veterans in crisis to identify immediate needs, evaluate risk, and initiate safety plan as appropriate. Provides ongoing documentation of Veteran's treatment progress using a psychosocial and behavioral framework. Provides clinical case management and care coordination to facilitate appropriate delivery of health care services, incorporating complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of Veterans. Establishes and sustains collaborative relationship with MHSL providers and nurses, attending Interdisciplinary Treatment Team meetings. The incumbent participates in the orientation/teaching of graduate social work students, students of other disciplines, and VHA personnel on the biopsychosocial aspects of justice involvement. Is required to maintain current BLS and/or First Aid certification and remain current on all licensures. Attends Mental Health Staff meetings, Social Work Discipline meetings, and any other mandatory meetings regularly. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8am-4:30pm Compressed/Flexible:Negotiable Telework: Regular Telework 3 days per pay period Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 442-56467-0 Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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. English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f) 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. 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. Grandfathering Provision. The following is the standard grandfathering policy for all title 38 hybrid qualification standards. Please carefully review the qualification standard to determine the specific education and/or licensure/certification/registration requirements that apply to this occupation. All persons employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure or certification that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all of the basic requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply: Such employees in an occupation that requires a licensure or certification, may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions. Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all of the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation. If an employee who was retained in an occupation listed in 38 U.S.C. § 7401(3) under this provision leaves that occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation Grade Determinations: 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. 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, 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. Preferred Experience: Prior VA Justice Program experience and/or working knowledge and experience of the Justice system. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/120, Part II Appendix G39 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11. Physical Requirements: Typically, the employee sits comfortably indoors to do the work. This position requires potentially long periods of continued walking; standing; sitting, bending; carrying of light items such as papers, books, small parts; or driving an automobile; etc. Use of fingers, both hands required, ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously, near vision correctable at 13" to 16", hearing (aid permitted), clear distinctive speech.

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 Cheyenne VA Medical Center 2360 East Pershing Boulevard Cheyenne, WY 82001 US
• Name: Elise Hunt
• Email: [email protected]