Social Worker (HUD-VASH)

Full Job Description

The incumbent in this position functions as the Case Manager for Salem VAMC's Housing and Urban Development/ VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH).

The HUD-VASH Program falls within the Healthcare for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) Program of the Social Work Service.

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.

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/. Exception.

VHA may waive the licensure or certification requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified, pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure/certification examinations.

This exception only applies at the GS-9 grade level.

For appointments at the GS-9 grade level, VHA social workers who are not licensed or certified at the time of appointment must become licensed or certified at the independent, master's level within three years of their appointment date.

For the GS-11 grade level and above, the candidate must be licensed or certified.

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: GS9 (Entry Level): Experience, Education, and Licensure. None beyond the basic requirements Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.

In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) Ability to utilize a Veteran centric approach when providing interventions and counseling for Veterans, their family members, caregivers, and survivors.

(b) Ability to assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members, and to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the Veterans problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and assistance needed (c) Ability to implement treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups to achieve treatment goals.

This requires judgment and skill in utilizing supportive, problem solving, or crisis intervention techniques.

(d) Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies.

(e) Fundamental knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures.

This includes acute, chronic, and traumatic illnesses/injuries; common medications and their effects/side effects; and medical terminology. GS11: Experience and Licensure.

Appointment to the GS-11 grade level requires completion of a minimum of one year of post-MSW experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the field of health care or other social work-related settings, (VA or non-VA experience) and licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level.

NOTE: For appointment licensure or certification at this level please refer to licensure paragraph above OR; Education.

In addition to meeting basic requirements, a doctoral degree in social work from a school of social work may be substituted for the required one year of professional social work experience in a clinical setting.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.

In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:(a) Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services.

(b) Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, educational, and other backgrounds.

(c) Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures (i.e.

acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology) to formulate a treatment plan.

(d) Skill in independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social problems to achieve treatment goals.

(e) Ability to provide consultation services to new social workers, social work graduate students, and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS11.

The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-9 to GS-11.

Physical Requirements: The incumbent must be in overall good health, able to sit at a desk working at a computer, engage in light to moderate physical activity including sitting, walking, bending, and carrying supplies.

The incumbent must be able to perform primarily light and sedentary duties with occasionally moderate physical demands with reasonable accommodation, if necessary, without endangering the health and safety of the incumbent and others.

Position requires walking throughout the Health Care Center, standing for extended periods of time, and involves sitting at a computer and in counsel and consultation with Veterans, their families, and interdisciplinary teams.

Position will require frequent travel into the community to meet with Veterans and community providers.

Incumbent must pass a recurrent driver's physical and maintain a current driver's license so that they are able to travel into the community and transport Veterans. Major Duties:

The HUD-VASH Case Manager assists in the day-to-day operations of the HUD-VASH Program and ensures compliance and collaboration with the local facility and VA Central Office HUD-VASH initiatives through the following: Clinical Functions: The incumbent is responsible for providing case management for a caseload of Veterans in the HUD-VASH program.

The incumbent is responsible for reviewing agreements between Section 8, landlords, Public Housing Authorities and the VA in establishing appropriate referral sites for HUD-VASH placements.

The incumbent performs site visits of HUD-VASH apartments to ensure that Veterans reside in safe environments in compliance with local housing codes.

Site and community visits require the use of government vehicles and incumbent must be able to pass/maintain drivers physical requirements.

The incumbent is responsible for collecting and submitting HUD-VASH Program participant data as outlined by the HOMES evaluation procedures.

The incumbent coordinates care including serving as an advocate on behalf of the Veterans to ensure comprehensive service delivery and linking and referring Veterans to the VA Medical Center, VA Regional Offices and/or community agencies.

The incumbent will provide a full range of social work services within commonly accepted standards of social work practice, which includes case work, individual, family and group counseling, crisis intervention, discharge planning, case management and other services as appropriate.

The incumbent will conduct psychosocial assessments to determine needs of Veterans and family members.

The incumbent will provide consultation/education to Veterans and families on community resources, Advance Directives, VA Benefits and Organ Donation in accordance with standards of their work area.

Other clinical duties and responsibilities may be assigned.

Administrative Functions: The incumbent actively participates in the HUD-VASH Program conference calls and attends trainings offered by the HUD-VASH program.

The incumbent is responsible for following local policy and SOPs for the HUD-VASH Program, Social Work Service and the VA Medical Center.

The incumbent actively participates in program planning and development, advising the supervisor of shifting trends with caseloads and identifying the need for and making recommendations on program procedures or policy changes based upon work experiences.

The incumbent completes statistical and other reports in accordance with VA Medical Center and respective professional discipline service policies.

Works with VA Medical Center multi-disciplinary teams and community agencies to strive for developing more effective and efficient ways of delivering healthcare services to HUD-VASH Program Veterans.

Attends all appropriate staff meetings (i.e., interdisciplinary treatment team meetings, Social Work staff meetings, Social Work supervision meetings, and other committees and workgroups, as appropriate) and perform other duties as required.

Other administrative duties and responsibilities may be assigned outside of these primary duties that are for the benefit of the Veteran, families, and quality of services provided.

Incumbent may be required to work in other clinic in order to meet the needs of the Service.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Work Schedule: 7:45am-4:30pm Monday-Friday Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).

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: Ad-Hoc may be available the discretion of the Service Chief or equivalent Virtual: This is not a virtual position Functional Statement #: 000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized