Summary

HUD-VASH is an intensive case management program for chronically homeless veterans aimed at providing psychosocial services to veterans while residing in stable housing through HUD's Section 8 voucher system. The incumbent is a professional social worker and functions as a Case Manager for the Eastern Colorado Health Care System's HUD-VASH Program. The incumbent is a professional social worker and functions as a Case Manager for the Eastern Colorado Health Care System's HUD-VASH Program.

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
• 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: 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
• Assignments
• For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time
• Program coordinators at the GS 12 grade level are administratively responsible for a clinical program providing treatment to Veterans in a major specialty area, such as but not limited to: Spinal Cord Injury, Homeless Continuum Veteran Program, Hospice and Palliative Care Program, Suicide Prevention Program, Veterans Justice Outreach, Caregiver Support Program and Community Nursing Home Program
• The program coordinator may be the sole practitioner in this specialty at the facility and typically provide direct patient care services in the program area
• The program coordinator oversees the daily operation of the program, develop policies and procedures for program operation, and prepare reports and statistics for facility, VISN, and national use
• They may be responsible for the program's budget, developing and monitoring staff compliance with practice, standards and guidelines on documentation, workload, data entry, ethical practice and service delivery
• The program coordinator provides analysis and evaluation of clinical program data and computerized programs to identify system-wide trends and needs to enhance the quality of service
• They may be responsible for, or contribute to, the program's resource and fiscal management, monitoring control points developing the annual budget, operating within that budget, and accounting for appropriated funds
• The program coordinator is administratively responsible for the clinical programming and prepares reports and statistics for facility, VISN, and national use
• They provide leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned staff
• They initiate and conduct a variety of program or service audits and complete designated clinical practice audits and reports, including productivity assessments
• They oversee program operations and evaluations, identifying areas for improvement, gathering relevant data, assessing the data, developing and implementing ideas for improvement and evaluating efficacy of improvement efforts
• References: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• The full performance level of this position is a GS-12
• Physical Requirements: See VA Handbook 5019

Duties

• The incumbent will work within the HUD-VASH program as a HUD-VASH social work Senior Social Worker
• The incumbent will act as a consultant for HUD-VASH social workers who serve Veterans with complex mental health, medical, co-morbid disorders or who display increased risk for mild to moderate disruptive behavior
• The incumbent is also responsible for providing case management for a caseload of veterans in the HUDVASH program, some of whom may be at elevated risk for suicidal thoughts or behavior
• The incumbent will be expected to remain informed of best practices within the fields of mental health and recovery
• The incumbent may be asked to provide trainings to staff related to coding, CPRS documentation and best practices within the field
• The incumbent may accompany GS-9 and GS-11 social workers on home or community visits when Veteran has a complex presentation
• The incumbent will model the advanced level of practice and provide consultation to less experienced social workers
• The incumbent performs home visits as a regular part of their day to day work in the HUD-VASH Program
• These visits include the following: Conduct psychosocial assessments to determine needs of veterans and family members
• The incumbent is an active participant in the treatment planning process with other disciplines
• Provide appropriate services based on Veterans' needs, acuity level, and preferences for care
• Veterans will be reassessed on a regular basis, no less than quarterly and in accordance with local policy, for changes in their needs, acuity level, and preferences for care
• The incumbent will utilize Housing First, Harm Reduction and other evidence-based and recovery practice models to promote Veteran engagement and self-efficacy
• Participate in discharge planning with other disciplines as appropriate and will be responsible for ensuring that discharge plans are executed in a manner that is timely and appropriate
• Provide individual, family and group counseling as appropriate
• Provide consultation/education to veterans and families on community resources, advance directives and VA benefits
• Act as a consultant to other team/staff members
• Act as liaison between VA and community resources, to include marketing and public relation duties as needed
• Provide case management to veterans and families, as needed, throughout the continuum of care
• Provide a full range of social work services within commonly accepted standards of social work practice and with clinical supervision, which includes case work, individual, family and group counseling, discharge planning, case management and other services as appropriate
• Address Advance Directives and Organ Donation in accordance with the standards of their work area
• Provide wellness/prevention education and facilitate Patient/family support groups as appropriate
• Coordinate treatment and communicate with the care lines to facilitate continuity of care for veterans
• Participate in committee assignments, as deemed necessary by the service manager
• Maintain data and statistical compilations to comply with JC, CARF, VA and medical center policy and procedures
• With clinical supervision, the incumbent will assist patients and their significant others with coping and dealing with the loss and grief experiences in disability, terminal illness and death
• Document social work interventions and activities in patient's clinical record utilizing CPRS and ensure appropriate hand off when transferring of patient care
• Participate in a rotation of on-call social workers, including modification of tour of duty to accommodate patient care needs on weekends
• Maintain familiarity and responsibility for all performance measures relating to the HUDVASH Program
• Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00AM-4:30PM Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 554-57895-A Financial Disclosure Report: Not required