Senior Social Worker - Community Care

Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position.

Major duties include, but are not limited to:

• Provides comprehensive psychosocial assessment, triage and case management services to Veterans currently referred to Specialty Care through Community Care.
• Coordinate with Veterans referred to Community Care, coordinating needed services for treatment, care, admission, discharge planning, and assessing Veteran and caregiver needs via telephone assessments.
• Provide clinical assessment and act as a liaison ensuring Community Care Veterans are able to connect with required services through the local VAMC if appropriate or desired.
• Maintain a caseload of high-risk Veterans, providing case management and enhanced care.
• Knowledge and experience in use of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures.
• Skill and expertise to establish and maintain effective therapeutic relationships with Veterans and caregivers assigned to specialty care through Community Care.
• Independently work with Veterans and their families who are experiencing a wide range of complicated medical, psychiatric, emotional, behavioral and psychosocial problems.
• Complete thorough initial assessments to determine the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and/or their families.
• Actively participate as a member of a multidisciplinary team by collaborating with other healthcare professionals.
• Provide support and care coordination working with Community Care clinical teams.
• Provide consultation to other treatment team and staff members as well as sponsors/vendors regarding psychosocial needs of Veterans and/or their families and the impact of the identified psychosocial problems on the Veteran's health care planning, compliance with treatment, discharge planning and ongoing adjustment following Community Care specialty clinic treatment.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on complex mental health community care consults such as Residential Rehab Treatment Program and/or Intensive Outpatient Program consults, collaborating with VA specialty services and community providers to facilitate.
• Knowledge of Veteran's benefits and services, community resources and process for making appropriate referrals to community and other governmental programs or agencies.
• Provide case management services to Veterans and their families throughout the continuum of care.
• Provides support, assessment, and appropriate interventions (case management) for Veterans that require continued case management due to limited supports and resources.
• Plan, coordinate, monitor, and evaluate the delivery of services within the Community Care program.
• Monitors the efficiency, effectiveness, timeliness, and quality of services offered within this program.
• Responsible for continuously improving the efficiency, effectiveness (in terms of cost and program interventions) and the quality of services.
• Identifies areas for improvement, gather relevant data, assess the data, develop and implement ideas for improvement, and evaluate efficacy of improvements.
• Prepares the goals for each new fiscal year and reports on outcome at the end of the fiscal year.
• Developing a systematic plan for reviewing and appraising the effectiveness of the Community Care programs in accordance with VA, VISN, VACO and local facility policy and procedures.
• Develops and maintains a standardized process for reviewing questions regarding claims and authorizations.
• Develops and maintains communication with relevant line and supervisory staff in other services/programs that serve the same group of clients.
• Provides timely and accurate information both verbally and written for reports to their supervisor, Chief of Community Care, and others as indicated in the program requirements. The incumbent keeps the Community Care Chief apprised of problems and recommended solutions to problems encountered in the incumbent's area of responsibility.
• Writes program specific guidelines and policies as required and sees that these policies are implemented.
• Keeps staff fully informed of eligibility criteria, relevant services, and changes as they occur within their program.
• Identifies problems in service delivery within their assigned program and takes corrective action with the concurrence of their supervisor.
• Maintain records on assigned cases/consults. These files will also include data from VISN or VACO when appropriate.
• Maintains a calendar of when annual reviews are due and coordinates and schedules reviews and completes final report.
• Participate in regular meetings with the VISN, Optum, Social Work, DOD, Community Care, and other VA specialty services.
• Participate in program development and other special duties and projects as assigned by the Community Care Chief or designee.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00am - 4:30pm
Telework: Available. AD-HOC only.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

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.
• English Language Proficiency. You must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).
• Education and/or Experience Combination. You must possess 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. Note: A doctoral degree in Social Work may NOT be substituted for the master's degree in Social Work.
• License or Certification. You must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level.
• Grandfather Provision. A Social Worker employed in VHA on the effective date of the qualification standard (9/10/2019) who did not meet all the basic requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply:

1. Employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level or changed to lower grade within the occupation but may not be promoted beyond the journeyman level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
2. Employees in an occupation that requires a licensure/certification/ registration only at higher grade levels must meet the licensure/ certification/registration requirement before they can be promoted to those higher grade levels.
3. Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
4. Employees who are converted to title 38 hybrid status under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.
5. Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.

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: Senior Social Worker, GS-12

Licensure Requirement: You 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 must be able to provide supervision for licensure.

Experience Requirement: You must possess 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. Examples of specialized experience include, but are not limited to: assessing and documenting identified behaviors or symptoms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and/or intimate partner violence; use of clinical social work skills; maintaining patient privacy and confidentiality per policies, handbooks or directives; acting as an advocate with appropriate community service providers and agencies when it serves the best interest of the patient and family members/caregiver; independently assessing the psychosocial functioning and needs of patients and their family members, identifying the patient's strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and psychosocial acuity. Applicable experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment.

In addition to the experience above, you must demonstrate the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• 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:

• Community Care experience.
• Experience working with care coordination for patients with complex medical co-morbidities, especially as they transition from inpatient care to the next level of care which may include acute inpatient rehabilitation or Long-Term Acute Care.

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. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-12.

Physical Requirements: As determined by VA Handbook 5019. In addition this position may require prolonged sitting, standing, walking, rounding with team, charting, light lifting, pulling, and pushing.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• License
• Long-form resume/Curriculum vitae (CV)
• Transcript

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (VA)
• License
• Long-form resume/Curriculum vitae (CV)
• Professional References: Please provide contact information for one current/former supervisor and two professional reference who can speak to your qualifications and work performance
• Other (2)
• PCS Orders
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Veterans' Preference: When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form. Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit Feds Hire Vets - Veterans - Job Seekers - Veterans' Preference.

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