The incumbent serves as the Social Work Program Spinal Cord Injury & Disorders Case Manager. The Social Worker may provide services on an inpatient and outpatient basis as a member of a multidisciplinary treatment team. The mission of the VHA SCI/D System of Care is to support, promote, and maintain the health, independence, quality of life, and productivity of individuals with SCI/D throughout their lives.

Duties

Major Duties Include, but are not limited to: Serves as a subject matter expert and provides treatment in the Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders Program, rendering professional opinions based on expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills. Works independently with Veterans and their families who are experiencing a wide range of complicated medical, psychiatric, emotional, behavioral, financial, legal and psychosocial problems. Completes independently thorough psychosocial assessments to determine the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and/or their families. Participates 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. Possess a working knowledge and experience in use of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures, including acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses, substance abuse disorders, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology. Facilitates 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. Referrals to group and family care homes, assisted living facilities, adult day health care programs, contract nursing homes, Community Living Centers, residential care homes, inpatient and outpatient hospice services. Serves as a liaison between Veterans and/or their families and VA and community resources in order to ensure thorough delivery of services. Possess knowledge and ability to independently implement treatment modalities, provide educational classes, and/or supportive groups for Veterans and families, including shared medical appointments. Uses and teaches Veterans in the effective use of the My HealtheVet (MHV) system. Provides consultation and education to Veterans and their families regarding community resources, VA benefits and specialty programs, and advance directives. This includes the incumbent's knowledge of the process for accessing and/or coordinating community-based services, including information and referral for additional services from other VA programs, other government programs, and community programs. Knowledge of Veteran's benefits and services, community resources, and process for making appropriate referrals to community and other governmental programs or agencies. 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. Possess skills and knowledge to provide case management services to Veterans and their families throughout the continuum of care. Utilizes 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 demonstrates ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing with people from varied backgrounds. Provides comprehensive discharge planning services, offering care coordination to the team, and often leading or facilitating discharge planning rounds. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm. Telework: Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 554-51854-A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed. 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 Master of Social Work. Licensure. 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. 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. 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: Experience in medical Social Work Inpatient Case Management experience Ability to conduct comprehensive psychosocial assessments and treatment planning Complex discharge planning Experience working on an interdisciplinary team Prior work care coordination Complex discharge planning Preferred experience with spinal cord injuries, ALS, polytrauma Preferred experience in geriatric social work Physical Requirements: The work is moderately demanding physically. At times, the employee sits comfortably while working at a station. At other times, the employee may be intervening with VA and community stakeholders on Inpatient Units and in the community. The incumbent is required to have a valid driver's license, and must meet VA requirements to drive a government vehicle. Travel within Denver Metro area may be required. Ability to complete a Basic Life Support (BLS) course is a position requirement. References: VA Handbook 5005, Appendix G39. Social Worker Qualification Standard, GS-185.

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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System 1700 N Wheeling St Aurora, CO 80045 US
• Name: VISN 19 HR Contact Center
• Phone: 719-227-4600
• Email: [email protected]