VA Caribbean Healthcare System is looking to fill two (2) Senior Social Worker positions through their facilities. One (1) Social Worker will report to the VA Caribbean Healthcare System (San Juan) and one (1) Social Worker will report to both Mayaguez OPC and Ponce OPC. The incumbents will be assigned to the Primary Care Patient Aligned Care team (PACT).

Duties

The incumbent is assigned to Primary Care Patient Aligned Care team (PACT) in the VA Caribbean Health Care System. PACT is a comprehensive team which delivers primary care to veterans with the focus of prevention, health promotion, coordination and chronic disease management. The incumbent must use his/her skills in assessing and treating the psychosocial problems of these Veterans identifying, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills and psychosocial acuity, to formulate a plan to meet those PACT teams under the VICTOR model "Veterans Integrated Care Treatment Optimizing Resilience", social workers are named as Behavioral Health Consultants. The BHC responsibilities includes the assessment of mental health and psychosocial problems and the provision of brief evidence based behavioral treatment interventions and counseling with veterans and/or their family members as they go through crisis events of life changing processes. The incumbent tasks include, but are not limited to: - Will conduct psychosocial/mental health assessment of Veterans of situations that cause distress, often impacting the health condition and creating barriers to care. Social worker must be knowledgeable of health conditions related to aging process, mental health and social environment. Home visits may be done, to assess housing conditions, physical limitations, source of family support, care needs, and other issues that affect their treatment, recovery and/or physical/emotional health. - Is responsible for assist in the development of a care plan and setting achievable goals oriented plans with the with the Veterans and family members/caregiver in collaboration with all PACT team providers. The incumbent is responsible for planning and organizing work, coordinating with interdisciplinary staff, review and coordinate all the phases of the continuity of care of veterans served. Also, will address the unique needs of homebound, frail, disabling/chronic and/or dying veterans. - The incumbent is the subject matter expert on VA and/or community resources. The social worker will collaborate with other service providers in reassessing the veteran's needs for non-institutional, institutional services/programs and entitlements. The incumbent is responsible for educating the veterans and/or caregiver of the available services and assisting them in establishing the appropriate referrals based on the veteran's preference or that of his surrogate decision-maker. - Responsible for developing, updating and using current social worker resources within VA and community social service programs. - Acts as an advocate when it serves the best interest of the veteran/family members and/or caregivers. - Will conduct crisis assessment and develop a crisis management plan. Also, will be able to identify safety issues for high-risk patients' populations establishing the appropriate clinical services and referrals. The Columbia Screening Tool will be used to asses veteran's suicidal ideas. If a Columbia is positive or in an event of a psychiatric emergency, social worker will complete the Comprehensive Suicide Risk Evaluation (CSRE) and will follow the protocol of his/her respective PACT clinic. - Serves as a preceptor for social work trainees as part of their clinical responsibility, collaborating in the formation of new professional. Incumbent also provides education related to VA and community resources, entitlements, Advance Directives/Living Will and will refer Veterans/families to the appropriate interdisciplinary team member for identified health education needs. - Will educate the veteran, their families and the team of all the options available to them and will collaborate with the veteran and family on the preferred options. - Will provide the veterans and their caregivers with ongoing supportive counseling. - Will enter all Veteran/family contact with the Veterans' written and verbal consent in the electronic records system (CPRS). Will establish and maintain positive, professional working relationships. Will collaborate in the performance improvement processes and comply with performance measures as required by the VA for their specific population and/or program. - Is responsible for his/her own professional growth through continued education for ensuring continued education. - Is responsible to maintain a level of productivity and quality consistent with the complexity of the assignment, clinic panels and consistent with Social Work Standards, Joint Commission and facility Standards. Work Schedule: 7:30am - 4:00pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position Functional Statement #: Senior Social Worker - PACT BHS Consultant 61014F

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. 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/. 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: In addition to meeting the basic requirements stated above, the following qualifications criteria must be met in determining the appropriate grade assignment of candidates. GS-12 Senior Social Workercandidates must have the following: Experience/Education: Must have at least two (2) years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one (1) 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. While we no longer require essay-style responses to our Knowledge's Skills, Abilities, and Other Characteristics (KSAOs), you must be able to demonstrate that you possess the (below) competencies which are necessary to perform the work of the position. Please ensure your resume/CV/application contains sufficient information to support the level of experience/education/training; otherwise, we will not be able to award you credit for the experience/education/training you claim. These are the KSA's for this subject position: 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. Preferred Experience: Experience working in a primary care setting and ability to work with minimum supervision. Selective Placement Factor (SPF): This position includes a skill, knowledge, ability or other worker characteristic basic to -and essential for- satisfactory performance of the job. Selective Placement Factors are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirements for a position. Applicants who do not meet it are ineligible for further consideration. Evidence of the Selective Placement Factor must be reflected in your resume. The SPF for this position is: In addition to the English Language Proficiency, you must also be proficient in basic written and spoken Spanish in order to perform the duties of this position. References: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, Social Worker Qualification Standard. Physical Requirements: The physical demands of the work requires use of fingers; moderate walking and standing; near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4; far vision correctable in on eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other; hearing aid permitted; clear speech; emotional stability; moderate duty.

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.

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 San Juan VA Medical Center 10 Calle Casia San Juan, PR 00921 US
• Name: Yolanda Ortiz-Davila
• Phone: (407) 631-7515
• Email: [email protected]