Social Worker (Homeless Program) Details

Social Worker (Homeless Program)

US Department of Veterans Affairs - Fresno, CA

Employment Type : Full-Time

DutiesSummary

The VA Fresno Health Care System is recruiting for a Senior Social Worker to serve in the Housing and Urban Development/VA Supportive Housing (HUD/VASH) program within Social Work Service. This position functions as the Medical Center's Liaison/Case Manager and is responsible for monitoring all phases of programming and coordination of case management services for Veterans receiving housing provided through the HUD Section 8 housing vouchers.


Responsibilities
• Responsible for overseeing all aspects of 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.
• Performs site visits of HUD-VASH apartments to ensure that Veterans reside in safe environments in compliance with local housing codes.
• Verifies the Veteran's status, eligibility for VA medical care, and eligibility of program participation.
• Responsible for establishing a process for referrals and admissions to the HUD-VASH Program, ensuring that homeless Veterans are considered as primary participants for program acceptance.
• Responsible for collecting and submitting HUD-VASH Program participant data as outlined by NEPEC evaluation procedures.
• Responsible for providing oversight of HUD-VASH case management. Case management is defined as the provision of services by VA clinical staff to homeless Veterans and includes all activities to provide appropriate treatment and maintain Veterans in HUD approved stable housing.
• Participates in the HUD-VASH Program conference calls and attends training offered by the HUD-VASH.
• Responsible for developing and administering local policy and SOP for the HUDVASH Program. This includes maintaining policies and documentation as required for CARF and JCAHO accreditation.
• Participates in program planning and development, advising the supervisor of shifting trends with caseloads and identifying the need for and making recommendations on program procedure or policy changes based upon work experiences.
• Participates in the orientation/teaching of graduate social work/nursing students, students of other disciplines, and Medical Center personnel on the biopsychosocial aspects of homelessness.
• Responsibility for improving professional skills, participating in planning and executing specific staff development projects, attending seminars and institutes, and participating in training programs of other disciplines as requested.
• Performs accountability functions: 1) document all contacts with patients/families in the medical charts; 2) completes statistical, administrative, staffing studies and other reports in accordance with VA Medical Center and respective professional discipline service policies.
• Conduct psychosocial assessments to determine needs of Veterans and family members.
• Participant in the treatment planning process with other disciplines.
• Participate in discharge planning with other disciplines 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.
• Provide consultation/education to medical residents on social work practice and VA policy and procedure.
• 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 which includes case work, individual, family and group counseling, discharge planning, case management and other services as appropriate.
• Provide wellness/prevention education and facilitate Patient/family support groups as appropriate.
• Supervise the practice of social work students, or a less experienced social worker.
• 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 JCAHO, CARF, VA and medical center policy and procedures.
• Assist patients and their significant others with coping and dealing with the loss and grief experiences in disability, terminal illness and death.
• Participate in a rotation of on-call social workers, including modification of tour of duty to accommodate patient care needs on weekends.
• Participate in assessing all Veterans who present through the Walk-in Center for evaluation to the HCHV Program.
• All others duties as assigned.
Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status

No

Promotion Potential

None

• Job family (Series)

  0185 Social Work

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• Requirements

  RequirementsConditions of Employment
  • You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
  • Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
  • You may be required to serve a probationary period
  • Pre-employment physical required
  • Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
  QualificationsPhysical Requirements:
  Physical Demands of the work are generally minor. The work is primarily sedentary, although the stress involved in dealing continually with persons in emotional distress and who may be uncooperative and occasionally violent makes this work notably more demanding than most sedentary jobs." For additional information on Physical Standards please see VA Directive and Handbook 5019. http://www.va.gov/vapubs/
  
  Basic Qualifications:
  • Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States.
  • 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.
  • Licensure. Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level.
  • English Language Proficiency. Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English.
  
  Preferred Experience:
  
  Grade Determination: GS-12 Senior Social Worker
  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
  1. Advanced knowledge of and mastery of theories and modalities used in the specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. Ability to determine priority for services and provide specialized treatment services.
  2. Advanced and expert 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 interventions used in the treatment of veterans with polytraumatic injuries, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, visual impairment, post-traumatic stress disorder, etc.
  3. Advanced knowledge and expert skill 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. Ability to coordinate the delivery of specialized psychosocial services and programs. Ability to design system changes based on empirical findings.
  4. Ability to provide subject matter consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in the specialty area, rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills. Ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the specialty area of practice and to provide supervision for licensure or for specialty certifications.
  5. Ability to expand clinical knowledge in the profession, demonstrating innovation in the creation of new models of psychosocial assessment or intervention to identify and address specialized clinical needs. Ability to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the specialty population or specialty treatment program.
  
  Tour of Duty: Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:30pm
  References: VA Handbook 5005, Chapter II, Appendix G39. This standard is available in the Human Resources Liaison Office for review

  Telework: May be available to highly qualified candidate, according to local policy
  Virtual: This position is not virtual
  Recruitment/Relocation Incentive: Maybe authorized for highly qualified candidates

  • Can not be a current employee of the hiring facility.
  • VA employees must be outside a 50 mile radius of the hiring facility.

  Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
  Note: These positions are covered by the bargaining unit

  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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.
  
  Additional information
  This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
  
  It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.
  
  This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.
  
  United States Citizenship Required; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
  
  VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.
  
  Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.
  
  If you are unable to apply online view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.
  
  ***NOTE: Declining to be interviewed, failure to respond/accept interview attempts, or failure to report for a scheduled interview will be considered as a declination for further consideration for employment against this vacancy.***
  
  How You Will Be Evaluated

  You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

  IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, résumé, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

  Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

  
  
  Background checks and security clearanceSecurity clearance

  Other

  Drug test required

  No

• Required Documents

  Required Documents
  To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:
  
  • CV/Resume
  • Most current (Non-award) SF-50 To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:
    
    • CV/Resume
    • Most current (Non-award) SF-50 Federal Employees Only
    • License

    • Original issue of advanced practice license (LCSW, LICSW, etc.)

    The following documents are accepted and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please use this checklist to ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's, documentation to support Veterans Preference or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees).
    
    • Cover Letter
    • DD-214
    • Other
    • Other Veterans Document
    • SF-15
    • Transcript
    Veterans' Preference: When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form. Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/vetpref/index.aspx.
  The following documents are accepted and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please use this checklist to ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's, documentation to support Veterans Preference or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees).
  
  • Cover Letter
  • DD-214
  • Other
  • Other Veterans Document
  • SF-15
  • Transcript
  Veterans' Preference: When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form. Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/vetpref/index.aspx.
  If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

  Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

  Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

• Benefits

  Benefits

  A career with the U.S. Government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Learn more about federal benefits.

  Review our benefits

  Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time, or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

• Federal employees - Competitive service

  Current or former competitive service federal employees.

• Federal employees - Excepted service

  Current excepted service federal employees.

• Internal to an agency

  Current federal employees of this agency.

• The public

  U.S. citizens, nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

This announcement is open/continuous until filled. This announcement is open to the public.