Job Description
Social Worker
This social worker is assigned to the Contract Nursing Home (CNH) program. The incumbent will be responsible for routine visits to the contract nursing home sites in the catchment area served by VA Central Iowa Healthcare System. This will involve routine visits to veterans living in select community nursing homes with contracted payment agreements with the Veterans Administration. The purpose of these visits is to monitor the care and functioning of the veteran in the care settings based on specific parameters established for quality nursing home care. Contact will be made with the family members/ surrogates of the veterans to coordinate care and psychosocial needs, all directed toward the optimal functioning of the veteran in the nursing home setting. The social worker serves in a liaison role between staff of the contract nursing home and the VA regarding veteran and family issues and will also process additional care and service needs requests made by the nursing home staff to augment the veteran's care and physical/mental health needs. The incumbent will work with the CNH Program Coordinator on program development and authorizations to contract home as well as other case management needs. Duties include, but are not limited to:
- Acts as a consultant to other team/staff members and to staff members of the Contract Nursing Homes.
- Provides consultation/education to medical residents on social work practice and VA policy and procedure.
- Provides consultation/education to veterans and families on community resources, advance directives and VA benefits.
- Assists in coordination of care between community nursing homes and the VA.
- Acts as liaison between VA and community resources, to include marketing and public relation duties as needed.
- Provides case management to veterans and families, as needed, throughout the continuum of care.
- Provides a full range of social work services within commonly accepted standards of social work practice which includes case work, individual, family and group counseling, discharge planning, case management and other services as appropriate.
- Addresses Advance Directives with Veterans.
- Supervises the practice of social work students, or a less experienced social worker.
- Coordinates treatment and communicate with the care lines to facilitate continuity of care for veterans.
- Assists patients and their significant others with coping and dealing with the loss and grief experiences in disability, terminal illness and death.
Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:30am to 4:00pm. Participates in a rotation of on-call social workers to accommodate patient care needs on weekends and holidays. Telework: Ad-hoc only. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Requirements:
- You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
- Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
- Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
- You may be required to serve a trial period.
- Subject to background/security investigation.
- Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
- Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
Qualifications:
Basic Requirements:
- Citizenship. Citizen of the United States.
- English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English.
- Education and Experience. 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-0185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level.
GS-9 Grade Requirements:
- 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:
- Ability to work with Veterans and family members from various socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds utilizing counseling skills.
- Ability to assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members, and to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the Veterans problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and assistance needed.
- Ability to implement treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups to achieve treatment goals. This requires judgment and skill in utilizing supportive, problem solving, or crisis intervention techniques.
- Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies.
- Fundamental knowledge 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.
GS-11 Grade Requirements:
- Experience and Licensure. Appointment to the GS-11 grade level requires completion of a minimum of one year of post-MSW experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the field of health care or other social work-related settings, (VA or non-VA experience) and licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level; OR
- Education. In addition to meeting basic requirements, a doctoral degree in social work from a school of social work may be substituted for the required one year of professional social work experience in a clinical setting.
- Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
- Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services.
- Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational and other diversified backgrounds.
- Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures (i.e. acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology) to formulate a treatment plan.
- Skill in independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social problems to achieve treatment goals.
- Ability to provide consultation services to new social workers, social work graduate students, and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment.
Preferred Experience: A foundation in medical social work, working with aging populations, and attention to detail with respect to reading medical documentation, and completing documentation correctly. Experience advocating for Veterans who are frail, elderly and/or have multiple complex medical and neurocognitive disorders. Ability to listen and communicate effectively with families and advocate for needs of Veterans and their families. Experience in medical or mental health setting preferred, along with assessment and treatment planning experience. Strong customer service experience, as well as adherence to program guidelines and experience working as a member of a small team.
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Job Tags
Permanent employment, Contract work, Work experience placement, Seasonal work, Remote work, Trial period, Relocation package, Weekend work, Monday to Friday,