The Senior Social Worker is the Coordinated Entry (CE) Specialist for Homeless Programs. This position enables VA homeless programs to fully collaborate with the community, including the Continuum of Care (CoC) and community partners, in the coordinated entry efforts in that community. This position enables VA homeless programs to fully collaborate with the community, including the Continuum of Care (CoC) and community partners, in the coordinated entry efforts in that community

Duties

Major Duties: Participate in CoC meetings and planning efforts which may include leadership roles within the CoC group. Provide direct linkage from community services to VHA homeless program series through regular and consistent outreach and communication with community providers. Participate in case conferencing process within the CoC's coordinated entry system to help inform and facilitate referrals to VA programs such as HUDVASH,SSVF, HCHV CRS, and GPD. Ensures efficient sharing of Veteran data and program information, as allowable under VA Privacy and Information Security policies and Directives. Participate and contribute to a CoC level resource-and-demand analysis, including periodic review of the gaps to determine inflows/outflows, and make recommendations to VHA homeless program leadership on adjustments to resource allocations within coordinated entry based on this analysis. Provide support to the VA homeless program teams as a functional member of the team, to include participation in outreach activities and subject matter consultation on community involved interventions for homeless Veterans. Serve as a member of a multidisciplinary homeless program treatment team to link treatment team discussions to the community's case conferencing discussions, ensuring continuity of care for Veterans experiencing homelessness in addition to complex physical and mental illnesses, including those at risk for suicide. Provide all necessary assessment functions in the service provision for homeless Veterans, e.g. interviewing, psychosocial histories and assessments to aid in the development of treatment plans as well as case conferencing discussions and planning. Develop partnerships with community agencies with regular contact and communication. Participate in policy formulation with federal partners, including VA, HUD, and USICH who have active initiatives to promote CES and community planning. Provide appropriate clinical documentation for all contacts with or about Veterans who are engaged through outreach services. Provide clinical services and appropriate clinical documentation for homeless Veterans encountered through the community's coordinated entry system or other service access points. Ensure timely and accurate entry into VA data systems such as HOMES and the review the data to improve performance and delivery of services to homeless Veterans and ensuring that this information is shared (in a manner consistent with VA information sharing directives) so that community Master or By-Name Lists are up-to-date and complete. Provide recovery-oriented and housing first services, with the goal of establishing the Veteran independently in the community at the Veteran's highest level of functioning. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized 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: 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 Master 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/. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. 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, candidates must demonstrate the following knowledge, skills, and abilities (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 Reference: September 10, 2019, VA HANDBOOK 5005/120 PART II APPENDIX G39The full performance level of this vacancy is a GS-12. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services. 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).

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 Jesse Brown Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 820 South Damen Avenue Chicago, IL 60612 US
• Name: Antonio Olgin
• Email: [email protected]