Social Worker (HUD VASH)

Department of Veterans Affairs•Seattle, WA

71d•Onsite

About The Position

VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS) is a Complexity Level 1a Facility and provides extensive primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary care in outpatient, inpatient, residential, and community settings. VAPSHCS is a multi-site medical system that includes a major medical facility in Seattle, Washington, outpatient and residential facilities at American Lake Campus in Tacoma, Washington, and six Community Based Outpatient Clinics. Duties will vary based on grade. At the GS-11 full performance level of this assignment, the incumbent is assigned to Community Housing and Outreach Services (CHOS), specifically in Housing and Urban Development - Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Programs at VA Puget Sound Health Care System located in the Puget Sound region, Washington with responsibility to provide direct services for Veterans, their families and caregivers.

Responsibilities

Responsible for providing independent case management throughout the continuum of care for a caseload of Veterans in the HUD-VASH program. Case management is defined as the provision of services by VA clinical staff to Veterans experiencing homelessness and includes all activities to provide appropriate treatment to house and maintain Veterans in HUD approved, stable housing.
Provides a full range of clinical services to include case work, individual, family and group counseling, discharge planning, case management and other services as appropriate.
Independently performs case finding functions and outreach, identifying and screening Veterans for current mental health status, housing status, access to resources, and other needs.
Provides independent evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions, including individual, family, and group psychotherapy.
Provides a full range of psychological assessment services and diagnoses mental disorders, particularly for complex or unusually difficult patients many of whom have psychiatric and medical problems.
Assumes complete professional responsibility for their clinical assessment findings, patient care decisions, and documentation.
Is an active participant in the development of treatment plans in collaboration with the Veteran/family and the interdisciplinary treatment team. Incumbent coordinates community-based services, including information and referral for additional services from other VA programs, other government programs and community agency programs.
Independently identifies high-risk patients.
Provides complex crisis intervention, clinical assessment and case management services, seeking to address the cause as well as the presenting complaint.
Coordinates family conferences and serves as liaison to family members.
Has working knowledge and experience in use of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures. This includes acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology.
Responsible for ensuring that Veterans experiencing homelessness are considered as primary participants for program acceptance.
Analyzes ethical/care issues, applying appropriate theoretical principles and ensures application of institutional policy.
Responsible for reviewing and facilitating agreements between Section-8, landlords, Public Housing Authorities and the VA in establishing appropriate referral sites for HUDVASH placements.
Communicates effectively, both orally and in writing, with people from varied backgrounds. Incumbent maintains general knowledge of Veterans' benefits and services relating to special programs, service-connected compensation and non-service connected pension; facilitates referrals based upon identified need and eligibility.
Consistently communicates and treats customers (Veterans, their representatives, visitors, and all VA staff) in a courteous, tactful, and respectful manner.
Performs site visits of HUD-VASH apartments, project-based facilities, and/or in community settings, in accordance with the Veteran's treatment plan/acuity level, to ensure that Veterans obtain housing and once housed, reside in safe environments, in compliance with local housing codes.
Coordinates care including serving as an advocate on behalf of Veterans to ensure comprehensive service delivery and linking and referring Veterans to the VA Medical Center, VA Regional Offices, and/or community agencies.
Assists patients and their significant others with coping and dealing with the loss and grief experiences in disability, terminal illness and death.
Participates in discharge planning with other disciplines and is responsible for ensuring that discharge plans are executed in a manner that is timely and appropriate.
Provides consultation/education to Veterans and families on community resources, advance directives and VA benefits.
May be asked to participate in a rotation of on-call social workers, including modification of tour of duty to accommodate patient care needs on weekends and/or after hours.