This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply.

Duties

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf The Social Worker independently provides clinical psychosocial and case management services at an advanced practice level to eligible Veterans and their families. Duties include, but are not limited to: Assessing the patient's understanding of his/her diagnosis and proposed treatments; Helping the Veteran cope with end-of-life or complex chronic illness diagnoses and emotions that arise; Education/instruction regarding self-relaxation and other coping strategies; Assessing treatment options when considering work, family and the Veteran's other obligations; Interagency collaboration when the Veteran's care involves multiple entities; Providing education related to the patient's VA, Social Security and disability benefits; Counseling individuals, couples and families regarding referrals to specialized mental health providers; Linkage to appropriate support groups and educational programs; Facilitating communication between the treatment team, Veteran and family, including advocacy; Facilitating family discussions regarding illness, healthcare and life changes. Supporting end-of-life planning/care preferences through assistance with Advanced Directives for Healthcare as well as discussions about patient values and preferences related to Life Sustaining Treatments; Develops and implements methods for evaluating and measuring effectiveness of social work practice across the Palliative and Hospice Continuum of Care Specialty area. Discharge planning; inpatient and outpatient placements into residential care facilities, subacute skilled nursing facilities and adult day healthcare programs; Provides ongoing outpatient case management and interventions and provide access to individual, group and family psychotherapy when necessary; Addressing the impact of end-of-life and/or chronic illness on life issues (intimacy, body image, living with chronic illness with the uncertainty of life expectancy, etc.); Referral to and coordination of hospice care services including facilitation with Non-VA Care Coordination; Coordinating bereavement support services with VA Providence chaplain services and/of community hospice agencies; Provides leadership, direction, education, and orientation to other social workers and/or trainees/students on variety of topics related to psychosocial issues in palliative medicine and end of life care; Serves on committees, work groups and task forces at the facility, VISN and national level or in the community as deemed appropriate by the Supervisor or Chief of Geriatrics & Extended Care (GEC); And other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm. Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized. Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: As determined by the agency policy (Ad-Hoc) Functional Statement #: 650-F04394 Due to a critical staffing shortage, 38 U.S.C. § 7412 waives the requirement to apply Veterans' preference for this job announcement. Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees. This is a temporary, not to exceed one year position which may be extended or converted to a permanent position without further competitive procedures. Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. This position is eligible for coverage by a Bargaining Unit, but is not currently represented. This position is covered by a special rate. Narrative responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) may be required from the selectee in order to proceed with the appointment.

Requirements

Qualifications

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. Licensure. Must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work (LICSW) Education. Possess a master's degree in social work from a school of social work fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Grade Determinations In addition to meeting the basic requirements, candidates must also meet the below grade requirements. GS-12 Grade Level. Experience. 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. Demonstrated 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: Case management, geriatrics, palliative care, hospice, hospital setting, outpatient, inpatient, and acute care for the elderly. 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-12. Physical Requirements: Please see VA Handbook and Directive 5019, Employee Occupational Health.

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 Providence Healthcare System 830 Chalkstone Avenue Providence, RI 02908 US
• Name: Hannah Farrar
• Phone: 401-273-7100 X13489
• Email: [email protected]