The MEDVAMC multi-site system includes a major medical facility in Houston Texas; outpatient and residential facilities; eleven Community Based Outpatient Clinics; Community Resource and Referral Center and Mental Health Residential Rehab Treatment Center. In addition, the facility is a certified transplant for kidney, liver, and heart. MEDVAMC is an academic medical facility with significant teaching and research programs including multiple Centers of Excellence and special emphasis programs.

Duties

Duties include but are not limited to: Performs a wide variety of duties in support of professional social workers Providing assistance and services as prescribed for individual cases by social workers in conjunction with their professional treatment. Assignments include interviewing patients and others for informational or service purposes; handling selected referrals to social and health facilities; obtaining and compiling data and similar types of work. Provides supportive counseling during emotional crisis to homeless Veterans and family members. Participates in program planning and development, making recommendations for program policies and procedures. Demonstrates the ability to be innovative and creative within program parameters. Participates in team huddles, treatment planning and patient care related meetings. Engages in survey readiness planning for Joint Commission and CARF. Participates in programs and meetings conducted or sponsored by the HVCP program. Reviews documents, reports for completeness and ensures data entry is complete and accurate. Incumbent is responsible for tracking patients who have applied for HVCP programs. Maintains and manages databases which contain Veteran specific information; ensures all information is up to date. Required to enter data into HOMES, HVEST, HMIS and others. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm; Subject to change based on the needs of the facility. Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Social Work Associate/PD04077-A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/26/2024. 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. You may qualify based on your education and experience as described below: Education Requirement: Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in major fields of study such as social work, social welfare, sociology, psychology, public administration, philosophy, education, anthropology, history, economics, and/or English In addition to meeting the Education Requirement above, applicants must have the specialized experience below: Specialized Experience: You must have two (2) years of specialized experience including one year in a medical setting equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Home and community visits with clients and providers, presentations/trainings, supportive groups, networking in the community, filling out forms, gathering documents, and entering data. Knowledge about housing and community Resources. Experience transporting people in a vehicle You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)Information ManagementInterpersonal Skills 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 incumbents work requires walking throughout the MEDVAMC, offsite homeless locations, standing, bending, stooping and carrying items such as books, papers, and files. The incumbent must possess a current and unrestricted driver's license. S/He has the ability to drive in the community on freeways, highways, and surface streets in moderate to heavy traffic for several hours a day from moderate to high distances as needed. Incumbent shall adhere to all VHA/MEDVAMC directives and training requirements when operating a government vehicle to carry out official duties when deemed necessary. Physically being able to lift and carry objects up to 40 pounds. Working in the community in extreme heat or cold. Walking a moderate to high distance to complete required tasks 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 Michael E DeBakey VA Medical Center 2002 Holcombe Boulevard Houston, TX 77030 US
• Name: Kaitlyn Wall
• Phone: 319-333-6474
• Email: [email protected]