This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/20/2024. 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 the CSWE website to verify if that social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a master of social work. Licensure. Individuals assigned as social worker program coordinator must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure. English Language Proficiency. Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j. Grade Determinations/Minimum Qualifications for GS-12 (1) Experience and 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. (2) 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. (3) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate 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. References: https://www.va.gov/OHRM/QualificationStandards/HT38 0185-SocialWorker.pdf (va.gov), Appendix 39 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Preferred Experience: PREFERRED EXPERIENCE WORKING IN HUD-VASH, PREFERRED EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH VETERANS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS Physical Requirements: Traveling throughout the medical center and the community is required, as is performing activities involving sitting, walking, and standing, bending, and carrying such items as books, papers, and files. In carrying out responsibilities it may be necessary for the incumbent to travel into the community where he/she conducts interviews with the Veterans, their families, representatives of community health and welfare agencies and law enforcement agencies. The incumbent must travel in a government vehicle for extended periods of time in carrying out professional duties when deemed necessary. ["A Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU This Senior Social Worker/ HUDVASH position is in the Social Work service at the VA Boston Healthcare System located in Brockton, MA and Jamaica Plains, MA. This position is full-time at 40 hours per week. The social worker in this position functions as a GS-12 Team Lead Case Manager at the VA Boston Healthcare System's HUD-VASH Program. The VA Boston Healthcare System is classified as a 1A complexity, tertiary care facility encompassing a wide geographical range with 3 main VA Medical Center campuses and 5 CBOCs as well as a large social work service that provides diverse services to Veterans, families, and caregivers. The VA Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program is an intensive permanent supportive housing program for Veterans experiencing homelessness and chronic homelessness. The program provides the clinical, supportive and case management services with the help of a multidisciplinary team of VA staff that assists program veterans to obtain affordable permanent housing in the community followed by an array of psychosocial services aimed at achieving stability and safety in their homes while promoting long-term housing retention. The HUD-VASH Program is an essential and critical part of VHA, and vital for ending and preventing homelessness among Veterans. Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program funding provides rental assistance under a supportive housing program for homeless Veterans authorized by section 8(0)(19) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, 42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(19). The initiative is known as the HUD-VASH Program, and has been authorized pursuant to Division K, Title II, of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (Public Law 110-161) (\"2008 Appropriation Act\") enacted on December 26, 2007 (see proviso (7) under the heading \"Tenant-Based Rental Assistance\"). The HUD-VASH Program combines HUD Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) rental assistance for Veterans experiencing homelessness with clinical, supportive and case management services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) at its medical centers and in the community. VA Medical Centers must ensure that VA case management, healthcare and other services are made available to Veterans experiencing homelessness. The Team Leader HUD-VASH Senior Social Worker is responsible for oversight of these services and case management of the Veterans who receive them. Work Schedule: Full-Time; 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Compressed: Not Authorized Telework/Virtual/Remote Work: Maybe authorized at supervisor's discretion. Functional Statement #: PDF04575 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required NOTIFICATIONS: This position is in the Excepted Service. Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees. Current Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. This is an AFGE Bargaining Unit position. This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay. Selectee may be required to work at any VA Boston Healthcare System campus, as needed. Incomplete applications will not be considered."]
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,321 health care facilities, including 172 VA Medical Centers and 1,138 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics) to over 9 million Veterans enrolled in the VA health care program. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of our medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision care. Some medical centers also offer advanced services such as organ transplants and plastic surgery.
