The Senior Social Worker works with a team of other Senior Social Workers and Nurses assigned to the Caregiver Support Program to ensure implementation of the program is consistent across the facility. The primary work site location is at either The Villages or Jacksonville. The Senior Social Worker reports administratively, clinical and professionally to the Caregiver Support Program Manager or designee.

Duties

The Senior Social Worker's primary responsibilities are to provide clinical evidence based case management services and interventions; application processing management; caregiver, Veteran and staff education on caregiver issues; community outreach; resource development; continuous quality improvement activities; and evaluation/consultation. Duties include but are not limited to: Participates in direct caregiver and Veteran contacts to meeting clinical contact requirements and 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 Veteran/caregiver needs. Serves as subject matter expert - responsible for monitoring and facilitating the implementation of assigned specialty program and tracking program growth. Creates educational tools, develops educational and outreach programs and implements training focused on specific caregiver needs/issues. Provides education and in service training to VAMC employees, Veterans, families and caregivers on various methods of clinical contact. Facilitates caregiver support groups (face-to-face, video technology, or telephone line). Provides the Veterans and their family members/caregiver with ongoing supportive counseling/psychotherapy, appropriate to level of licensure and situation. Provides case management, care coordination at the appropriate level to meet the Veteran and Caregiver needs. Skilled 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. Incumbent is responsible for managing a caseload of Veterans and Caregivers which include regular and routine telephone calls, telehealth visits and in-home visits. Responsible for receiving, processing and tracking applications to the program from receipt to determination, and following all processes and procedures outlined in guidance provided by VACO, VISN and local facility. 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. Telework may be available. If telework option is agreed upon by supervisor, the Senior Social Worker will come to the closest VA clinic/medical center and within the community. The Senior Social Worker will travel routinely and regularly within the patient service area of North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System (NF/SGVHS), to include conducting home visits on eligible Veterans and their caregivers as required by the program policy and pre-approved VA and community outreach events. The Senior Social Worker is required to travel on a regular basis to other locations of care within the NF/SGVHS to carry out job duties/assignments. The Senior Social Worker is required to drive and/or travel using personal vehicle or government vehicle to other sites of care within the NF/SGVHS, as well as, to community partners, as necessary to accomplish work assigned. Travel will be for long periods of time, up to three hours each way. Travel is expected at least 50% of work week. Work Schedule: Monday to Friday 730am-4pm Compressed/Flexible: Not available Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: #55416F - Senior Social Worker

Requirements

Qualifications

Applicants must meet the requirements by the closing date of this announcement.11/05/2024 Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Must be US Citizen. 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. AND 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. Advanced License must be submitted with application. 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. If selected, you may be required to submit narrative responses then. These are the KSA's for this subject position and grade level: 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: Prefer a minimum of 5 years post licensure working in medical/mental health case management, successfully working with Veterans with complex care and psychosocial needs, and working with family caregivers. References: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, Senior Social Worker Qualification Standard, dated 9/10/19. For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: Able to meet the physical demands of the position, reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. They must have good manual dexterity. Must be able to express or exchange ideas by means of spoken and written word. Must be able to view and read information on computer screens. The job entails walking, standing, bending, traveling among several different stories/floors, sitting, working on a computer, and carrying objects up to 25 pounds. The Senior Social Worker is required to travel on an occasional basis to other locations of care within the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System to carry out job duties/assignments, so a valid driver's license is required.

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.

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 Malcom Randall Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 1601 Southwest Archer Road Gainesville, FL 32608 US
• Name: Ashley Beaver
• Phone: (814) 943-8164
• Email: [email protected]