Clarification from the agency

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HUD-VASH is an intensive case management program for chronically homeless Veterans aimed at providing psychosocial services to Veterans while residing in stable housing through HUD's Section 8 voucher system. This Senior Case Manager has experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. At least two years should be in an area of specialized practice in the Senior Social Worker's professional discipline. The Senior Social Worker is licensed or certified by a state area of specialized professional practice. The Senior Case Manager is responsible for coordination of case management services for Veterans receiving housing provided through HUD Section 8 housing vouchers. The HUD-VASH program is located in multiple sites within the catchment area of Northern California Health Care System. The Senior Social Worker is responsible for providing case management for a caseload of Veterans in the HUD-VASH program. The Senior Social Worker is responsible for reviewing agreements between Section 8, landlords, Public Housing Authorities and the VA in establishing appropriate referral sites for HUD-VASH placements. The incumbent performs site visits of HUD-VASH apartments to ensure that Veterans reside in safe environments in compliance with local housing codes. He/she verifies the Veteran's status, eligibility for VA medical care, and eligibility of program participation. The Senior Social Worker is responsible for ensuring that homeless Veterans are considered as primary participants for program acceptance.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to a background/security investigation
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENTS: The following requirements are required at all grade levels for this series:

Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g.

English Language Proficiency. Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.

Education. Candidates must 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 if that social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a master of social work: http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation/Accredited-Programs.aspx

GRADE DETERMINATIONS. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met to qualify for this series at the GS-12 grade level:

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:

1. 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.
2. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
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References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/120, PART II, APPENDIX G39, dated: September 10, 2019.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS12.

Physical Requirements: Light Lifting (under 15lbs); Light Carrying (under 15 lbs); Use of fingers; Both hands required; Walking 4 hours; Standing (up to 2 hours); both legs required; Operation of crane, truck, tractor, or motor vehicle, ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously; both eyes required; depth perception; ability to distinguish basic colors; ability to distinguish shades of colors; hearing (aid permitted).

Environmental Factors: Working outside and inside; excessive heat; excessive cold; dust; fumes, smoke, or gases; slippery uneven walking surfaces; working around moving objects or vehicles; working closely with others; working alone; possible exposure to infectious disease in patients homes.

Note: Must have a driver's license.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, résumé, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.