The Social Work Associate accepts and supports the guiding principles of the Medical Center to enable patients and their families to function at their fullest potential and to enhance their quality of life through the development of personal, familial, social, medical and economic resources.

Duties

The Social Work Associate provides a full range of direct care services including developing psychosocial assessments of clients in order to identify emotional, social, physical, familial, economic and vocational needs and resources. S/he identifies appropriate VA and community resources and facilitates utilization of these resources by the Veteran and families. S/he makes initial and continuing eligibility determinations for VA and community services by gathering information through interviews, correspondence and home visits to support the HCHV/HUD-VASH program goals. The Social Work Associate provides ongoing supportive counseling to patients to maximize their coping and adjustment to illness, injury, treatment, living demands and emotional crisis to help work toward goals of independence. S/he helps the Veteran to complete applications for financial assistance, employment and housing (including but not limited to SSVF, social services and PHA applications). S/he handles details around discharge planning from HCHV/HUD-VASH, VA and Community placement. The Social Work Associate completes necessary HOMES, HMIS and CPRS paperwork on routine referrals and discharges, provides support to the family and the patient in order to establish and maintain community independent placement. Some of the principle duties and responsibilities of this position include HCHV/HUDVASH services, ACT Program referrals, social work support, and post-discharge follow-up Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Social Worker Associate/PD01925A 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, 08/28/2024. 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-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. 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: Basic Requirements: 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 AND Specialized Experience for GS-7: One year of experience as a social welfare worker or social work assistant in a voluntary, public, social, or health agency is required. Specialized experience is experience in a program of direct social welfare services that required the application of program policy and operations knowledge in providing social welfare services and/or assisting social workers. Preferred Experience: Experience with the homeless population preferred. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:CommunicationVeteran and Customer FocusExperience 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: Applicants must be physically and mentally able to efficiently perform the essential functions of the position without hazard to themselves or others. Depending on the essential duties of a specific position, usable vision, color vision, hearing, or speech may be required. However, in most cases, a specific physical condition or impairment will not automatically disqualify an applicant for appointment. The loss or impairment of a specific function may be compensated for by the satisfactory use of a prosthesis or mechanical aid. Reasonable accommodation may also be considered in determining an applicant's ability to perform the duties of a position. Reasonable accommodation may include, but is not limited to: the use of assistive devices, job modification or restructuring, provision of readers and interpreters, or adjusted work schedules. All positions involving Federal motor vehicle operation carry the additional medical requirements specified in 5 CFR, part 930, subpart A. 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address Columbia VA Health Care System 6439 Garners Ferry Road Columbia, SC 29209 US
• Name: Phoebe Holloway
• Phone: 6464134168
• Email: [email protected]