Supervisory Social Worker - Dementia Care Program Coordinator

Summary

The VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System is actively recruiting for a Supervisory Social Worker to serve as the Dementia Care Program Coordinator. The incumbent will function as a member of the Dementia Care Coordination Team within the Geriatrics Section of Social Work Service. This specialty treatment program is designed to provide preventive and proactive continuous patient-centered dementia care interventions that are evidence-based.

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
• In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d) - no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English
• 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
• 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
• Licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work 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 Ohio licensure
• Supervisory Social Worker - GS-12 (1) Education and Experience
• One year of experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level
• Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills in a specialty area or in administration demonstrating progressively more professional competency and judgment
• Candidate may have certification or other post-master's degree training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship - or equivalent supervised professional experience
• (2) Licensure/Certification
• Individuals assigned as Supervisory Social Workers must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level - and must be able to provide supervision for licensure
• (3) Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities
• In addition to the experience above - the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) Ability to independently organize work - set priorities - and meet multiple deadlines
• (b) Knowledge of supervisory duties which includes clinical supervision - consultation - negotiation with other departments and quality improvement
• (c) Ability to ensure provision of clinical social work services
• (d) Ability to provide staff training and development
• (e) Skill in interpersonal relationships in dealing with employees - team leaders - and managers
• (4) Assignment
• 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
• At the GS-12 grade level - supervisory social workers typically have significant personnel management responsibilities for a small to moderate sized professional and non-professional staff - including support staff and professional staff at the GS-12 grade level and below
• The supervisory social worker is responsible for the professional and administrative management of an area in a social work service - in a care/product line - or multiple facilities
• They provide direct clinical services with or without program coordination responsibilities
• 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 14 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: VA Handbook 5005/120 - Part II - Appendix G39
• The full performance level of this vacancy is a GS-12
• Physical Requirements: No special physical qualifications are required to perform work
• The works requires the ability to move around the office and facility
• The work is performed in offices and meeting rooms and is largely sedentary
• The incumbent may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing in isolation situations
• The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium - dementia - or psychiatric disorders
• The work can be mentally and emotionally demanding and stressful - and the ability to utilize effective coping and self-care strategies is essential.
  
  

Duties

• The Supervisory Social Worker duties include - but are not limited to: Provides coordination of care and direct case management and patient care services
• Develops information for program operation and prepares reports and statistics for facility - VISN and national use
• Manages and controls the use of data related to program and day to day functioning for program evaluation/planning by maintaining statistical records for the program
• Evaluates practice and identifies areas to improve services based on target outcome measures and proposed Medical Center benchmarks for the DCC Program
• Participates in activities that obtain feedback from patients and their family/caregivers to enrich services and interventions
• Conducts caregiver and family clinical interventions to facilitate the identification of caregiver stress - psychiatric illness - emotional distress and social needs as treatment issues
• Provides education and in-service training to VAMC employees - Veterans - families and caregivers
• Makes independent assessments for the psychosocial - healthcare - financial - and dementia care needs of the patient/caregiver
• Develops treatment goals that address the unique needs of dementia patients who often have multiple medical and mental health issues
• VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Work Schedule: 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM (Monday through Friday) Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 93944-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized