Division Director of Social Services - Fitzsimons Veterans Community Living Center

State of Colorado • Aurora, CO

8d • Onsite

About The Position

The Division Director of Social Services (DDSS) position develops, implements, and maintains division-wide processes for behavioral health programs, dementia care programs, quality improvement, survey readiness, MANE investigations, and training to ensure excellence and regulatory compliance with applicable state and federal regulations for the social services departments within the VCLCs. This position is required per VA regulations for buildings with over 120 beds and therefore will be based out of VCLC at Fitzsimons. While simultaneously promoting the mission and philosophy of the Division of Veterans Community Living Centers (VCLCs), this position maintains understanding of regulatory requirements and has expertise in behavioral health-related clinical practice within long-term care. This position works directly with Nursing Home Administrators (NHAs), nurse leadership, social services, division leadership, and external providers to ensure positive outcomes. This position helps form the culture of excellence in quality of care and quality of life for VCLC residents. This position will be the required consultant for all VCLC homes and will provide the required frequency of visitation in person, virtually, or via chart reviews. This position will act as a consultant to the four VCLCs.

Requirements

• Licensed Clinical Social Worker requirement required by CMS, VA and CDPHE
• Nine (9) years of relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned to this position in a long-term care setting OR A combination of related education and/or relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned equal to nine (9) years.
• State of Colorado residency at the time of application and throughout the duration of employment.
• Out-of-State Driver’s License holders must obtain a valid, non-restricted Colorado Driver’s License within 30 days of employment start date.
• Former State employees who were disciplinarily terminated or resigned in lieu of termination must disclose that information on the application and explain why the prior termination or resignation should not disqualify them from the current position, and provide their employee number from their prior State employment.

Nice To Haves

• Long Term Care Experience and or Multisite/team leadership or consulting experience
• Relevant years of state service experience.

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and maintain division-wide processes for behavioral health programs, dementia care programs, quality improvement, survey readiness, MANE investigations, and training.
• Provide oversight, consultation, direction, and recommended interventions to social services, Nursing Home Administrators, and others on clinical and psychosocial care and quality improvement.
• Advise division leadership regarding how to address quality of care issues in the context of staff and organizational culture.
• Create and educate VCLC Division and Facility staff on policies and procedures that meet the expectations of regulatory bodies and provide ample guidance to facility staff to implement.
• Perform site visits at each VCLC as needed.
• Make recommendations and provide instruction, guidance and development of action plans with facility leadership to address concerns regarding systems, quality improvement, and regulatory survey readiness.
• Identify division-wide benchmarks, thresholds, and standards for comprehensive behavioral health services.
• Implement processes for tracking and trending.
• Use data to improve/maintain the delivery of health care services and address trends, issues, and concerns at the facility and division level.
• Be available to respond to and provide guidance to social service staff as needed.
• Review and approve ongoing MANE allegations and investigations.
• Evaluate intervention successes, monitor trends, lead teams on MANE investigation procedures.
• Provide educational resources, identify trends, and provide education / procedural changes as necessary.
• Provide consultation and clinical supervision services/reports to any of the homes who do not meet the CMS, VA, or CDPHE requirements for qualified personnel within the Social Work department.
• Help lead, contribute, and participate in decision-making during specific VCLC meetings such as psych pharm, QAPI, and resident care conferences at the request of the NHA or Division leadership.
• Provide assistance to individual buildings with challenging residents, family members, or other legal representatives where the interdisciplinary teams have exhausted efforts or request assistance.
• Keep NHAs, social service staff, and others current on changes and expectations within federal or state legislation/regulations and determine best practices for ensuring survey readiness.
• Coach and train all necessary and appropriate entities in the implementation of policy changes, rules, and current long-term care trends.
• Implement changes on division-wide compliance practices with the Veterans Administration, The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and state regulatory agencies that will be adopted in the VCLCs and complied with across the division.
• Provide guidance and direction to division leadership, DONs and NHAs to address non-compliance.
• Collaborate with nursing home leadership in conducting root cause analyses for occurrences, incidents, and sentinel events and lead improvement efforts.
• Participate in creating a division-wide onboarding experience for VCLC staff.
• Develop and provide education and training to VCLC staff regarding behavioral health, dementia care, trauma-informed care, and other areas of psycho-emotional health.
• Offer clinical supervision to existing and new social service staff for the purpose of achieving new licensure or to deepen their skills and understanding. This can be done in-person and remotely.
• Audit charts at VCLCs for consistent, accurate, and appropriate documentation.
• Audit and evaluate the work of social service staff for accuracy and compliance and will share outcome reports with the Nursing Home Administrators and Social Service Directors.
• Other duties as assigned by appointing authority.

Benefits

• PERA Defined Benefit Plan or PERA Defined Contribution Plan plus 401(k) and 457 plans
• Medical and dental health plans
• Employer supplemented Health Savings Account
• Paid life insurance
• Short- and long-term disability coverage
• 11 paid holidays per year plus vacation and sick leave
• State of Colorado Employee BenefitHub Resource Center
• Employee Wellness program
• Excellent work-life programs, such as flexible schedules, training and more
• Remote work arrangements for eligible positions
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program eligibility for some positions

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director