Education Debt Reduction Program Authorized: You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your application within four months of your start date. Approval award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services office after review of the application. Former EDRP Participants are ineligible to apply. Contact [email protected] assistance.

Duties

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Conducts work activity using his/her educational training, clinical experience, VA policies, and the Joint Commission standards in administering direct services. Establish and maintain effective therapeutic relationships with Veterans in the Primary Care Clinic and/or their families. Works independently with Veterans and their families who are experiencing a wide range of complicated medical, psychiatric, emotional, behavioral, and psychosocial problems. Complete thorough psychosocial assessments to determine the psychosocial functioning and needs. Participate as a member of the interdisciplinary treatment team and actively participate through collaboration with Veterans and family as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members in the development and implementation of treatment goals and interventions. Must obtain a working knowledge and experience in use of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures, including acute, chronic, and traumatic illnesses, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology. Must facilitate action for community placements through collaboration with Veterans and their families as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members to ensure that appropriate community placements are completed in a timely manner. Serves as a liaison between Veterans and/or their families and VA and community resources to ensure thorough delivery of services. Demonstrate the developing ability and knowledge to implement treatment modalities, provide educational classes, and/or supportive groups for Veterans and families. Provides consultation and education to Veterans and their families regarding community resources, VA benefits and specialty programs, and advance directives. Provides consultation to other treatment team and staff members regarding psychosocial needs of Veterans and/or their families and the impact of the identified psychosocial problems on the Veteran's health care planning and compliance with treatment. Maintain knowledge of Veteran's benefits and services, community resources, and process for making appropriate referrals to community and other governmental programs or agencies. Demonstrate developing skills and knowledge to provide case management services to Veterans and their families throughout the continuum of care. Utilize principles of human growth and development over the life span and will be able to assist Veterans in coping with the loss and grief experiences from disability and terminal illness. Possess and demonstrate ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing with people from varied backgrounds. Maintain a level of productivity and quality consistent with the complexity of the assignment. Collaborate in the performance improvement processes and comply with performance measures as required by the VA for their specific population and/or program. Participates in activities that obtain feedback from Veterans/Residents and work to enhance services as needed. Demonstrate knowledge and skill in the use of software applications for drafting documents and data management as well as other computer systems in use by the VHA. Will enter all Veteran/family contacts in the electronic record using appropriate formats and templates. Work Schedule: Monday to Friday - 08:00am - 04:30pm Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) Authorized:This position is eligible for EDRP, a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of your start date. Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP Participants are ineligible to apply for the program. Contact [email protected] for questions/assistance. ?

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. All applicants are required to be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified candidates in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g.) Education. 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 4 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. Physical Requirements. Physical demands of the work are generally minor and are generally sedentary in nature but may require occasional travel. Physical activity involves sitting, standing, walking, bending, stooping, climbing stairs, and carrying light items such as papers, books, or other supplies. The incumbent uses a computer and standard office equipment to complete tasks. The emotional demands can be stressful in working with the Veteran/Patient population and their families/caregivers. A level of self-awareness is essential. English Language Proficiency. All applicants must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d). GRADE DETERMINATIONS. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Social Worker, GS-9 (1) Experience, Education, and Licensure. None beyond the basic requirements. (2) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) Ability to work with Veterans and family members from various socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds utilizing counseling skills. (b) Ability to assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members, and to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the Veterans problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and assistance needed. (c) Ability to implement treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups to achieve treatment goals. This requires judgment and skill in utilizing supportive, problem solving, or crisis intervention techniques. (d) Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies. (e) Fundamental knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures. Social Worker, GS-11 (1) Experience and Licensure. Appointment requires completion of a minimum of one year of post-MSW experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the field of health care or other social work-related settings, (VA or nonVA experience) and licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level. NOTE: For appointment licensure or certification at this level please refer to paragraph 3c. OR (2) Education. In addition to basic requirements, a doctoral degree in social work from a school of social work may be substituted for the required one year of professional social work experience in a clinical setting. (3) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services. (b) Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational and other diversified backgrounds. (c) Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures (i.e. acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology) to formulate a treatment plan. (d) Skill in independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, 8 medical, and social problems to achieve treatment goals. (e) Ability to provide consultation services to new social workers, social work graduate students, and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment. 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). Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11.

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 Washington VA Medical Center 50 Irving Street, Northwest Washington, DC 20422 US
• Name: Trudy Wachala
• Phone: 4106057000 X51841
• Email: [email protected]