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Veterans Health Administration is Hiring a Social Worker Near Colorado, CO

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-9 Experience. GS-9 is the entry level grade for the GS-185 social work series and is used for social workers with less than one year of post-MSW experience and for social workers who are not yet licensed or certified at the independent practice level. Social workers at the GS-9 level are working toward completion of prerequisites for licensure or certification.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

• Ability to work with Veterans and family members from various socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds utilizing counseling skills.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies.
• 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.

GS-11 Experience, Education, and Licensure. This is the full performance level of the position and requires an Experience/Education and a Licensure component. Experience/Education: Completion of a minimum of one (1) year of post-MSW degree 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) OR a doctoral degree in social work from a school of social work may be substituted for the required one (1) year of professional social work experience in a clinical setting. AND Licensure: Licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level is required.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

• Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services.
• Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational and other diversified backgrounds.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Physical Requirements: 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. Social Worker must be able to perform primarily light and sedentary duties with occasionally moderate physical demands, exercise patience, and control emotions, with reasonable accommodation if necessary, without endangering the health and safety of the social worker or others. Position requires walking throughout the clinic and/or Medical Center, standing for extended periods of time, and involves sitting at a computer and in counsel and consultation with Veterans and interdisciplinary teams. Position may require some travel into the community to meet with community agencies and partners who aid and support the ECHCS and its Veterans. This position also requires close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; and repetitive motions of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers.

References: VA Handbook 5005, Appendix G39. Social Worker Qualification Standard, GS-185.

Responsibilities:

Major Duties Include, but are not limited to:The social worker functions in accordance with the policies, principles, professional ethics, and techniques of accepted Social Work practice to include the National Association of Social Work, professional licensing code, and state laws. Additional guides are available in the form of Veterans Health Administration directives, program guides, bulletins, and circulars, HCS memoranda, medical staff by-laws; applicable labor-management bargainingagreements; and external accreditation agencies utilized by the VA HCS. Incumbent is expected to independently practice and work as part of a multidisciplinary team model. This is not a supervisory position.Direct clinical and associated administrative responsibilities include:

• Comprehensive Case Management Assessment and Reassessments.
  • Completes a comprehensive assessment of the concerns, needs, and preferences of the Veteran and their family or caregiver.
• Goal(s) and Resource Identification.
  • Identifies and prioritizes the Veteran's and their family/caregiver's desired or expected goal(s) and outcome(s), as well as a resource assessment to identify available benefits, assistive options, and appropriate services and resources within and outside VHA. Resources may include existing natural supports, and internal skills and coping mechanisms.
• Care Planning, Implementation, and Communication.
  • Plans and implements a care plan through coordination and collaboration with the Veteran, the family or caregivers, and VHA and community providers.
• Therapeutic Engagement and Psychosocial Intervention.
  • Engages, develops, and maintains therapeutic relationships with both the Veteran, families, and caregivers, utilizing resiliency-based, recovery oriented, Veteran-centered communication and practice techniques (e.g., Health Education, Health Coaching, Shared Decision Making, Motivational Interviewing, Solution Focused Work, Psychosocial Problem Solving, Strength-Based work) as well as time-limited psychotherapy to facilitate progress, growth, and positive lifestyle changes.
• Care Collaboration, Coordination, Referrals, and Transitions.
  • Coordinates effective and timely referrals to ensure the appropriate level and type of care, working collaboratively with VA teams across ECHCS (e.g., PACT, Home Based Primary Care, primary-care mental health integration, Whole Health,specialty Substance Abuse Treatment Program and PTSD Clinic, Suicide Prevention Team, Local Recovery Coordinator, Veterans Justice Outreach, Housing and Urban Development Department of Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing; Health Care for Homeless Veterans; Grant and Per Diem, Transition and Care Management, and the Caregiver Support Program), at ECHCS (e.g., inpatient, residential), and across VISN 19.
  • Manages transitions of the Veteran to other interfacility VA programs (e.g., Salt Lake City Tele-mental Health Clinical Resource Hub), as well as other VHA, DoD, federal, state, and local home and community-based services (to include the Office of Community Care).
• Program and Outcome Evaluation.
  • Uses best practice processes, procedures, tools, and templates in their work to allow for better tracking, monitoring, and reporting of quality and performance metrics.
• Documentation.
  • Completes all clinical charting and documentation accurately and in a timely manner as required by and according to procedures outlined by applicable accrediting organization, VHA, Medical Center, and Service policies.
• Professional Responsibilities.
  • Engages in various administrative activities, to include peer review to assess the quality of professional care standards provided in the organization, participating in team-, clinic-, and service-based staff meetings, and engagement in continuing education activities to maintain professional licensure and any certification, to include Basic Life Support.
  • Maintains a level of productivity and quality consistent with the complexity of the assignment and consistent with Social Work standards, Joint Commission standards, and facility standards. Serves on committees, work group, and task forces as needed.
• Other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm.
Telework: Ad-hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 554-52427-A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Available
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Job Summary