The Senior Social Worker is located with Social Work Service, Southern Arizona VA Health Care System (SAVAHCS), Tucson, AZ. This position functions as the Medical Center's Grant and Per Diem Liaison/Case Manager for VA's Health Care for Homeless Veterans Programs, Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPD) Program. Responsible for monitoring and coordination of services provided by community-based programs funded under VA's Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program.

Duties

The Senior Social Worker provides services and oversight of the GPD-funded programs as defined in the GPD rules, regulations, and directives including verification of Veteran status and eligibility for participation in the GPD Program, maintaining admission and discharge dates of participants for billing purposes, reviewing and approving/disapproving readmissions to and extensions of care, and collecting and submitting participant information as outlined by Northeast Program Evaluation Center (NEPEC) evaluations procedures and Homeless Operations Management and Evaluation System (HOMES) procedures. The incumbent will provide clinical duties which includes comprehensive biopsychosocial spiritual assessments, social determinants of health screenings, Advance Directives, Goals of Care, case management, crisis intervention, risk/suicide assessments, documentation, safety planning, abuse/neglect/exploitation reporting, psychoeducation, resource referrals, coordination of care within SAVAHCS and community stakeholders, discharge care planning, and other services as appropriate. The incumbent provides oversight of GPD-funded program participants' care and, case management as necessary of those participants at sites where organizations are receiving per diem payments. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. work schedule. Telework: Not eligible. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required.

Requirements

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/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. English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). 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 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. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) 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. (b) Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. (c) 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. (d) 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. (e) 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. Must have a valid driver's license and be able to drive a government vehicle. References: VA Handbook 5005, Appendix G39. Social Worker Qualification Standard, GS-0185. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Tucson VA Medical Center 3601 South Sixth Avenue Tucson, AZ 85723 US
• Name: Cherie Mennel
• Phone: 520-792-1450 X6213
• Email: [email protected]