Social Worker

Summary

Provide expert psychosocial support to Veterans facing serious illness, long-term care needs, and end-of-life challenges. As a Palliative Care and Community Living Center Social Worker, you will advocate for Veterans and caregivers, coordinate complex services, facilitate care transitions, and help individuals and families navigate critical healthcare decisions while maximizing quality of life and well-being.

Duties

• VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Major Duties As a Social Worker (Palliative Care/CLC), you will: Conduct comprehensive psychosocial assessments to identify barriers to care and develop Veteran-centered treatment plans. Provide case management services for Veterans residing in the Community Living Center and receiving palliative or hospice care services. Deliver supportive counseling and interventions related to adjustment, chronic illness, grief, loss, end-of-life concerns, and caregiver stress. Collaborate with interdisciplinary treatment teams to coordinate services and support Veteran goals of care. Facilitate discharge planning and care transitions by coordinating with Veterans, families, community agencies, and healthcare providers. Connect Veterans and caregivers with VA benefits, community resources, long-term care options, specialty programs, and supportive services. Assist Veterans and families with advance care planning, care preferences, burial benefits, and end-of-life decision making. Provide bereavement support and follow-up services to family members and caregivers. Participate in outpatient palliative care clinics, delivering counseling, advocacy, education, referrals, and resource coordination. Serve as a liaison between Veterans, families, community partners, and VA programs to ensure coordinated and comprehensive care. Provide education and consultation regarding hospice, palliative care, community resources, and VA benefits to Veterans, caregivers, staff, and community stakeholders. Maintain clinical documentation and actively participate in interdisciplinary treatment planning and quality care initiatives. Highly competitive applicants will have experience with palliative care or hospice care service Veterans or experience in a nursing home setting. Work Schedule: Mon-Fri 8:00am-4:30pm Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade). Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Qualifications

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. Verification of the degree can be made by going to http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of social work. Licensure: Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-0185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/. Exception. VHA may waive the licensure or certification requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified, pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure/certification examinations. This exception only applies at the GS-9 grade level. For the GS-11 grade level and above, the candidate must be licensed or certified. At the time of appointment, the supervisor, chief social work or social work executive will provide the unlicensed/uncertified social worker with the written requirements for licensure or certification, including the time by which the license or certification must be obtained and the consequences for not becoming licensed or certified by the deadline. Loss of Licensure or Certification. Once licensed or certified, social workers must maintain a full, valid, and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment. Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f). May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Creditable Experience. The candidate must have knowledge of current professional social work practices. To be creditable, the experience must have required the use of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics associated with current professional social work practice. The experience or education must be post-Masters of Social Work (MSW) degree. Experience and education satisfying this requirement must be active professional practice, which is paid/non-paid employment as a professional social worker, as defined by the appropriate state licensing board. Quality of Experience. Experience is only creditable if it is obtained following graduation with a master's degree in social work and if it includes work as a professional social worker directly related to the position to be filled. Qualifying experience must also be at a level comparable to social work experience at the next lower level. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Social Worker, GS-9 Experience, Education, and Licensure. None beyond the basic requirements. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:(a) Ability to work with Veterans and family members from various socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds utilizing counseling skills.(b) Ability to assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members, and to…

Education

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.