This position is located with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA), VA Mid-Atlantic Care Network (VISN 6), Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center (HVAMC), Social Work Service Line, under Home and Community Care in the Medical Foster Home Program. 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. Licensure. Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. English Language Proficiency. Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Regulations. Grade Determinations - Senior Social Worker (GS-12) Experience/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. 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. 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. Assignments. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level. Senior social workers typically practice in a major program area such as but not limited to: Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site; a Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center, or a national VHA referral center, such as a national Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or a national Transplant Center, or other program areas of equivalent scope and complexity. The senior social worker may be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics. The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans, ensures equity of access, service, and benefits to this population, ensures the care provided is of the highest quality. The senior social worker provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff. They serve on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, VISN and national level, or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor, Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services. This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management. This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation. References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, Social Worker Qualification Standard, September 10, 2019. Available in the Human Resources Office. Physical Requirements: This work is moderately active. Typically, the employee is driving a vehicle, walking around various facilities/settings, visiting with patients standing up and at time sits comfortably while working. There will also be some light exertion required when walking, standing, bending, or climbing stairs, carrying light items such as papers, books, laptop, small objects, or driving automobile. Must be able to sit/stand for long periods of time and lift 20lbs. Ability to complete a Basic Life Support (BLS) course is a position requirement. ["The Medical Foster Home (MFH) Program is a Senior Social Worker who is responsible for maximizing psychosocial quality of life issues in order to assist Veterans to remain in their home or in a less restrictive of care other than a nursing home and keep them out of the hospital as often as possible. The incumbent serves Veterans who tend to have serious, frequent and severe crises, lack family or an adequate community support network, be poor at self-monitoring; frequently fails to comply with instructions and treatments; have significant deficits in coping skills and require continuing psychosocial and medical support. Clinical Functions: This GS-12 Senior Medical Foster Home Social Worker is responsible for the overall function of the Medical Foster Home Program. The incumbent is in charge of program development, recruitment, and development of foster homes, recruitment and placement of Veteran residents, case management, development of policies and care processes, and coordination with Home Base Primary Care (HBPC) interdisciplinary treatment teams. Have extensive knowledge of medical center policies and procedures, VHA and VBA regulations. The incumbent is responsible for selecting of homes and residents, establishes intake processes and oversight responsibilities. The incumbent will maintain a record-keeping system for the program, marketing the model of care, reaches out to the community groups and agencies to promote the foster care program. The incumbent serves as a mentor to other VA MFH program coordinators, social workers, and other interested health care providers. Provides training to caregivers, students, residents, interns and fellows from other disciplines regarding the advantage and disadvantages of a medical foster home. Topics include but are not limited to caregiver and family issues and the impact of psychosocial issues and problems of the Veteran in a medical foster home. The incumbent is responsible for completing the following duties/responsibilities: The position is responsible for assuring that regular follow-up to Veterans in Medical Foster Home (MFH) program is completed, as required. This position is responsible for assuring that the placement of Veterans in the MFH program meets VA eligibility requirements. This position assures that the annual MFH programs reviews are completed as set forth in VA policy and must have a good knowledge of standards concerning MFH program. This position is responsible for assuring that quality assurance related to this program is within program parameters. Incumbent is responsible for assuring the reporting and investigating of sentinel/adverse events as necessary. This position is responsible for reporting to the Service manager and Service Chief the status of the program. This position maintains a current list of active participants in the program to enable tracking service activities, utilization of services, and other functions. This position also functions as the lead for the MFH inspection team, conducting home visits for new and old potential foster home placements, or as follow up to report of care concerns. In addition, ensures that surveys are conducted annually or as needed. This position provides administrative, technical, and educational consultation necessary for accomplishing the work of the program, including education of health care system staff across the health care system and outreach efforts to community. The incumbent will participate in committee assignments, as deemed necessary by the service managers. The incumbent will as appropriate, supervise the practice of social work students, or a less experienced social worker. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. Subject to change based on the needs of the agency. Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a remote or virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required"]

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