Senior Social Worker- Home Based Primary Care

Veterans Health Administration • Cody, WY

18h • Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Social Worker is assigned to Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) and provides direct services to adult and geriatric Veterans and their families. Because the service area is frontier in nature and staffing is limited, the social worker works in the community and travels some distance alone to meet with Veterans enrolled in the HBPC program. The role involves advanced social work practice with complex cases, consultation, assessment, treatment planning, counseling, case management, crisis response, and coordination with interdisciplinary teams and community resources.

The position provides services in Veterans’ places of residence and supports continuity of care, including discharge planning, suicide risk assessment and safety planning, and assistance with disability, terminal illness, death, loss, and grief. The social worker maintains clinical documentation and required data, participates in team and committee meetings, contributes to performance improvement, and performs other professional duties assigned by the HBPC Program Director or designee. The position requires a master’s degree in social work from a CSWE-accredited program and state licensure or certification to practice independently at the master’s level. For the GS-12 Senior Social Worker grade, candidates must have at least two years of post-advanced-practice clinical licensure experience, including one year equivalent to GS-11, and meet the stated advanced-practice licensure and competency requirements.

Work schedule: Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Compressed or flexible scheduling is available. Telework is not available, and the position is not virtual. Relocation and recruitment incentives and permanent change of station authorization are not available.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in social work from a school fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE); a doctoral degree does not substitute for the master’s degree.
• State licensure or certification to independently practice social work at the master’s degree level.
• At least two years of experience after advanced-practice clinical licensure, including one year equivalent to the GS-11 grade level.
• Advanced-practice-level state licensure or certification, including an advanced generalist or clinical examination, subject to the stated grandfathering provisions.
• Ability to provide supervision for licensure.
• Skill in specialized interventions and treatment modalities, including individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced psychosocial or case management.
• Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation into differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
• Knowledge of developing and implementing methods to measure the effectiveness of social work practice and services, using outcome evaluations to improve treatment and design system changes.
• Ability to provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students on psychosocial treatment and to model effective social work practice.
• Ability to expand clinical knowledge and write policies, procedures, or practice guidelines for the service delivery area.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.
• Current valid state driver’s license.
• Ability to perform essential job functions safely, including visual acuity, hearing, clear speech, and manual dexterity; the role may require reaching above shoulder height, lifting and carrying 15–44 pounds, and extended periods of sitting, standing, and walking.
• Ability to work effectively in stressful situations and adjust priorities based on patient needs.
• U.S. citizenship, subject to the stated exception for non-citizen appointments when qualified citizens cannot be recruited.
• For males born after December 31, 1959, Selective Service registration is required.
• Subject to background and security investigation and completion of the online onboarding process and required employment documentation.
• Must participate in the seasonal influenza vaccination program.
• Must serve a one- or two-year trial period, during which continued employment is subject to written certification that it advances the public interest.

Nice To Haves

• Certification or other post-master’s training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university in a specialty area, including a defined curriculum or course of study and internship or equivalent supervised professional experience.

Responsibilities

• Receive and complete consults from interdisciplinary teams and other social workers on complex cases, and provide consultation to referral sources.
• Develop and maintain professional standards of practice and educate others about those standards.
• Conduct psychosocial assessments by interviewing Veterans and, when appropriate, family members or significant others.
• Develop assessments and psychosocial treatment plans in collaboration with Veterans, families, and the HBPC interdisciplinary team.
• Use available VA and non-VA resources and assessment findings to determine appropriate services and referrals.
• Provide independent consultation and treatment recommendations to the interdisciplinary team.
• Provide ongoing supportive counseling to patients, caregivers, and family members, and individual, family, or group counseling as appropriate.
• Participate in discharge planning and ensure discharge plans are carried out in a timely and appropriate manner.
• Educate Veterans and families about community resources, advance directives, and VA benefits.
• Consult with team and staff members and educate medical residents about social work practice and VA policy and procedures.
• Liaise with VA and community resources, including marketing and public relations duties as needed.
• Provide case management throughout the course of care as needed.
• Provide social work services including casework, counseling, discharge planning, case management, and other appropriate services.
• Provide wellness and prevention education and facilitate patient and family support groups as appropriate.
• Coordinate treatment and communicate with care lines to support continuity of care.
• Participate in committee assignments as directed by the service manager and attend required team, staff, and committee meetings.
• Maintain data and statistical compilations required by JCAHO, VA, and medical center policies and procedures.
• Assist patients and significant others with coping with disability, terminal illness, death, loss, and grief.
• Document social work interventions and activities in patients’ clinical records using CPRS and ensure appropriate handoffs when transferring patient care.
• Complete suicide risk assessments, assist Veterans in developing suicide safety plans, and consult with and inform the Suicide Prevention Office as appropriate for Veterans at risk.
• Advocate for Veterans and families when it serves their best interests.
• Make rapid assessments and develop crisis-management plans to maintain Veterans in medical foster homes; follow medical center policy in alleged abuse cases and medical or psychiatric emergencies.
• Keep the interdisciplinary team informed of concerns regarding patients or caregivers.
• Serve as the HBPC team social worker, completing assessments and meeting with Veterans in their residences.
• Establish and maintain positive working relationships with VA employees, volunteers, consumers, stakeholders, and outside community agencies.
• Collaborate in performance-improvement processes and comply with VHA performance measures, including referring cases for Protected Peer Review and Intensive Case Review; participate in client feedback activities and service enhancement.
• Perform other professional services as assigned by the HBPC Program Director or designee.

Benefits

• Federal employee benefits package is available to eligible employees; specific benefits depend on position type and should be confirmed with the hiring agency.
• Eligible selected applicants may request credit for prior federal or military service toward annual leave accrual, subject to approval and not guaranteed.

What This Job Offers

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