Social Services Assistant

Department of Veterans Affairs•Seattle, WA

32d•Onsite

About The Position

This position is located within the Social Work Service, VA Puget sound Health Care System in Seattle, WA. The Social Worker Associate helps to enable patients and their families to function at their fullest potential, and to enhance their quality of life through the development of personal, social, medical, economic resources and facilitates linkage between patient and family with VA and community support systems. THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION

Responsibilities

Identifies appropriate community and VA resources, and facilitate utilization of these resources by the Veteran, families, and non-patients;
Assists Veteran patients with use of video technology;
Triages mental health crises;
Assists patients and families by providing counseling and/or appropriate referrals, with problems that are tangible and overt in nature i.e., inability to meet mortgage payments, to difficulties, and employment problems;
Assist patients and families by counseling and/or making appropriate referrals, with problems that are intangible in nature i.e., marital conflict, family dysfunction, chronic mental illness and substance use disorders;
Provides on-going supportive counseling to patients to maximize their coping and adjustment, to illness, injury, treatment, living demands, one by-product of which is to avoid or forestall readmission to the medical center;
Assists our Veteran patients in understanding medical protocol and VA benefits;
Identifies unmet needs within the community and assist in developing these needed resources;
Represents Service assigned and the Medical Continuum (as assigned) on committees/task forces which address program development and program maintenance, direct service, education, or matters of an administrative nature;
Performs other related duties as assigned.