Senior Social Worker (Palliative Care)

Summary

The Long Beach VA Health Care System is recruiting for (1) Senior Social Worker (Palliative Care). The incumbent is responsible for providing a wide range of social work direct care services to Veterans with highly complex health and mental health problems. The SSW may also be responsible for clinical program development related to PC - including coordination of PC consults and hospice referrals - and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

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 the CSWE website to verify that the Social Work degree meets the accreditation standards for a Master's 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
• License documentation must be submitted with application
• 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)
• 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 - candidates 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
• Preferred Experience: 2 years post advance practice license social work experience
• Experience in end of life - palliative care - hospice care and working on interdisciplinary teams
• Ability to put together EOL trainings for staff
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12
• Physical Requirements: Must be in overall good health - able to sit at a desk working at a computer - engage in light to moderate physical activity including sitting - walking - bending - and carrying supplies
• Applicants must be able to perform primarily light and sedentary duties with occasionally moderate physical demands - exercise patience - and control emotions - with reasonable accommodation - if necessary - without endangering the health and safety of the applicant or others
• The position requires walking throughout the Medical Center and clinics - community agencies/court rooms - standing for extended periods of time - and involves sitting at a computer and in counsel and consultation with Veterans and interdisciplinary teams
• The position also requires close visual acuity to perform an activity such as preparing and analyzing data and figures
• transcribing
• viewing a computer terminal
• extensive reading
• and repetitive motions of the wrists - hands - and/or fingers.

Duties

• VA Careers - Social Work: VA Careers - Licensed Clinical Social Worker: Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Duties may include but are not limited to: Responds to PCCT consults - completion of comprehensive psychosocial assessments - assistance with Advance Directives - discussion of goals of care - and referrals/follow-up of palliative and hospice care services Performs bedside consultation in acute care and CLC settings - facilitating Veteran/family meetings to address end of life care discussions - supporting treatment teams shifting from curative care into palliative/comfort care Provides education - consultation - and training for VHA staff about hospice and palliative care services and interventions
• Supports compliance of the VHA-LBHCS Palliative Care Program with Joint Commission and Office of Inspector General standards for the provision of palliative and hospice care Coordinate team meetings - ensure effective communication with community hospice agencies for transitioning Veterans and serve as a resource for VHA staff Responsible for developing and maintaining VHA - VBA - National Cemetery and Community resources with pertinent information
• They understand VHA - VBA - community medical - social and entitlement benefits for Veterans Assists with the development and implementation of a bereavement support program - in conjunction with the Chaplain service - for the families of Veterans in need of supportive services Provide individual - group - and family psychotherapy and advanced level case management interventions used in the treatment of Veterans with serious medical and psychiatric disorders Develops and implements methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the Palliative Care specialty area - utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services Demonstrates the ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the special area of practice and to provide supervision for licensure Work Schedule: Monday-Friday
• 7:30am-4:00pm
• Compressed TOD negotiable
• Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized 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) Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: PD000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,321 health care facilities, including 172 VA Medical Centers and 1,138 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics) to over 9 million Veterans enrolled in the VA health care program. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of our medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision care. Some medical centers also offer advanced services such as organ transplants and plastic surgery.