The Muskogee Oklahoma Veteran Affairs Medical Center is recruiting for one Senior Social Worker locally titled Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC Clinical Assessor). The PCAFC Clinical Assessor, develops and implements the Caregiver Support Program specific to his/her area of assignment and ensures compliance and collaboration with local facility and the VA Central Office Caregiver Support Program initiatives.

Duties

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU General list of duties but does not include all duties of the position. The incumbent must be a skilled communicator capable of developing effective partnerships with local, state, and federal agencies as well as non - governmental organizations. The incumbent administers information and analytical systems to evaluate and enhance the quality of service provided to caregivers, families, and Veterans. Develops and implements information systems to track service activities including visits, referrals, caregiver demographics, equipment utilization and caregiver and Veteran satisfaction. Develops implements and evaluates clinical guidelines and protocols to establish appropriate utilization of services. The incumbent participates in direct caregiver and Veteran contacts to identify and assess caregiver stress/burden and the development and application of directed clinical treatment interventions. Advises and collaborates with interdisciplinary teams throughout the medical center on caregiver issues. Creates educational tools, develops programs, and implements training focused on specific caregiver needs/issues. Provides education and in-service training to VAMC employees, Veterans, families, and caregivers. Provides ongoing consultation and support to colleagues regarding caregiver support. Develops and facilitates caregiver support groups (face-to face or VANTS telephone line) and educational programs. Distributes educational materials provided by VA, local, state, and national caregiver organizations. The incumbent conducts caregiver and family clinical interventions to facilitate the identification of caregiver stress, psychiatric illness, emotional distress, and social needs as treatment issues. Uses professional judgment, including the knowledge of normal and abnormal behavior, is an inherent competency applied in daily interactions with caregivers and the Veterans they care for. The incumbent provides referral to VA medical and mental health treatment and to other VA services including VA benefits, as well as community-based social services and other non-VA entitlement programs. If appropriate, the incumbent provides referrals or consults, or in some cases direct admission of a Veteran to other VA programs including but not limited to the Community Residential Care Program, Respite Program, Community Health Care Coordination Program, Hospice, Home Based Primary Care, Telehealth and Community Nursing Home Program. The incumbent serves as the major consultant for information on negotiating the complex processes caregivers, Veterans and families encounter when interacting with government and community agencies. The incumbent stays abreast of current federal and state legislation directed at assisting caregivers to continue to provide caregiving in an environment that is safe for both themselves and the Veteran. The incumbent will maintain a knowledge base of current theory and treatment modalities by reading professional journals, attending conferences, clinic seminars and teleconferences, and materials distributed through VA and private sector sources. The incumbent will collaborate with the patient aligned care team, mental health and geriatric primary care clinicians to provide Veteran and staff education on caregiver issues. Coordination will include hands-on support group work involvement, and training of patient aligned care team clinical social work staff in the development and facilitation of such groups. The incumbent will develop a library of caregiver support information material for distribution through the various inpatient/outpatient and specialty clinic settings. The incumbent serves as a liaison between the VA and community agencies. Provides outreach presentations to community social service agencies, military Guard and Reserve units, Veteran Service organizations and other groups on VA caregiver benefits, programs, and services. Provides consultation, guidance, and expertise to community organizations regarding Veteran caregiver specific issues and needs. Maintains basic knowledge of local VA medical center programs, community services and VA Central Office caregiver support initiatives. Maintains knowledge of current federal and state legislation related to caregiver initiatives. The incumbent in collaboration with the with other clinical staff and program managers will establish a caregiver support protocol (resources, education, and training) sensitive to the issues of the caregivers who are providing care to our youngest returning Veterans. Work Schedule: Monday- Friday 8:00 A.M. - 4:30 P.M Compressed/Flexible:compressed tour available Telework: Available; at supervisors discretion Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 623-60135-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Experience/Education: Education. Must 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/Certification. 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. English Language Proficiency. Senior Social Workers must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d). 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 Determination GS-12: 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. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: 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: Caregiver support experience as a clinical assessor is preferred. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is 12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: Incumbent must protect printed and electronic files containing sensitive data in accordance with the provision of the Privacy Act of 1974 and other applicable laws, federal regulations, VA statutes and policy; protect the data from unauthorized release or from loss; alteration, or unauthorized deletion; follow applicable regulations and instructions regarding access to computerized files, release of access codes, etc., as set out in the computer access agreement signed by the incumbent.

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 VA Eastern Oklahoma Health Care System 1011 Honor Heights Drive Muskogee, OK 74401 US
• Name: VISN 19 HR Contact Center
• Phone: 719-227-4600
• Email: [email protected]