The Senior Social Worker is the Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Specialist for Homeless Programs. This position provides SUD case management and intervention support to Veterans in the HUD VASH program in a team oriented, recovery-based program.

Duties

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU The (SUD) Specialist supports the HUD VASH Program by providing continuity of care between Homeless Programs through services to Veterans with SUDs as they transition from programs such as HCHV Outreach or Contract Residential Housing, Residential Rehabilitation and Treatment Programs (RRTPs), and Grant Per Diem Programs (GPD) to permanent housing through the Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supported Housing (HUD-VASH) Program or other forms of housing in the community. The HUD-VASH Program requires continuous coordination with the community's homeless providers and coalitions as well as with other local, state, and federal agencies. The Senior Social Worker develops, coordinates and maintains theses linkages as appropriate and needed for the homeless veteran population. The Senior Social Worker provides on-going substance use case management and early treatment interventions to promote sustained stability and abstinence in homeless and at-risk Veterans receiving VA homeless services. The primary focus is on Veterans who reside in rural areas and face various psychosocial barriers to obtaining SUD treatment such as limited access and insufficient transportation. Substance use can be a contributing factor to homelessness, so providing SUD treatment support and early intervention can promote recovery, improved quality of life and successful permanent housing. Homeless Veterans are frequently also diagnosed with co-occurring mental health, physical health and social problems that require particular skill in early engagement, motivational interviewing, and crisis management. The Senior Social Worker must be able to develop appropriate professional relationships with the Veterans and meet the Veteran where he or she is ready to engage in treatment. The Senior Social Worker also will need to develop liaison relationships with more acute treatment providers/ programs, such as an Intensive Outpatient Program. The Senior Social Worker will provide appropriate group and individual case management and treatment intervention in the Veteran's home, at local VA CBOC, and possibly at Non-VA community agencies in order to increase access. Travel will be required throughout the Wilmington Catchment area which includes Delaware and Southern New Jersey. A flexible schedule is also required to participate in outreach events that occur on weekends/evenings. The location of this position has some flexibility and will be split between Kent and Sussex County Community Outpatient Based Clinics. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: Authorized Functional Statement #: Social Worker (HUDVASH) Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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. 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. 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/. Driver's License: Must possess a valid unrestricted Driver's License 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 (HUDVASH), 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. Assignments: For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level. Senior social workers typically practice in a major program area such as but not limited to: Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site; a Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center, or a national VHA referral center, such as a national Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or a national Transplant Center, or other program areas of equivalent scope and complexity. The senior social worker may be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics. The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans, ensures equity of access, service, and benefits to this population, ensures the care provided is of the highest quality. The senior social worker provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff. They serve on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, VISN and national level, or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor, Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services. This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management. This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation. Preferred 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 (SUD/HUDVASH) 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. References: Hybrid Title 38 Qualifications can be located at the following link: https://www.va.gov/OHRM/QualificationStandards/ The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services

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 Wilmington VA Medical Center 1601 Kirkwood Highway Wilmington, DE 19805 US
• Name: Sierra Custodio
• Phone: 412-822-2222
• Email: [email protected]