Clarification from the agency

Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order: 1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility. 2. All other VA employees. 3. All other applicants NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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The Cincinnati VA Medical Center (CVAMC) is a two-division campus located in Cincinnati, OH and Fort Thomas, KY serving 15 counties in Southwest OH, Northern Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana with 6 Community Based Outpatient Clinics located in Bellevue, KY; Florence, KY; Lawrenceburg, IN; Hamilton, OH; Clermont County, OH, and Georgetown, OH. The CVAMC also supports two off main campus locations in the Cincinnati area via an Eye Center and Mental Health Outreach Community Division.

Duties:
Program Management:

• Administers information and analytical systems to evaluate and enhance the quality of service provided to patients.
• Develops and implements information systems to track service activities including visits, referrals inpatient days, patient demographics, equipment utilization and patient satisfaction.
• Develops, implements and evaluates clinical guidelines and protocols to establish appropriate utilization of services and program's effectiveness.
• Serves as point of contact for all inquiries regarding the SCI program. This may include stakeholders (e.g. veterans, families, community hospitals and nursing homes, Paralyzed Veterans of America and other Veterans Service Organizations), Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders Strategic Healthcare Group and Congressional inquiries.
• Establishes collaborative relationships with physicians, nurses, and other disciplines to foster their involvement in care of veterans with SCI.
• Identifies gaps in services and develops a plan, in consultation with SCI staff and other departments as appropriate.
• Identifies unmet needs of the SCI population and works collaboratively with community agencies, i.e. assisted living facilities, nursing homes, handicapped accessible housing and state's veterans' homes.

• Functions as the Social Work member of the interdisciplinary SCI treatment team. Clinical social work services are provided to the SCI population with frequent complex and unpredictable caseload requirements. Such services include, but are not limited to psychosocial assessments, establishing realistic but achievable treatment goals.
• Provides individual, family and group counseling aimed at helping the veteran and his family find practical solutions to complex problems.
• Makes home visits independently or with members of the SCI interdisciplinary team to assess the home environment when appropriate to ensure that services are provided that will enable the veterans to live safely and independently.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

• The employee is responsible to the Chief, Social Work Service or designee but practices independently, exercising initiative and independence in day-to day activities.
• Supervision/consultation is of an administrative and professional nature; with the Chief of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Services providing guidelines as to the general policy and direction of the Program the incumbent coordinates.
• Provides cross coverage to TBI. (Traumatic Brain Injury), Coordinator and maintains accurate information on this population needs, program development priorities and staffing.
• The individual is Chairperson for Social Work Staff Development Program and is responsible to ensure licensure accreditation hours are provided to licensing board, coordination program agenda and ensuring relevant topics are presented as described by the needs of the service.
• Supervises Senior Companion Program Volunteers, assigns volunteers to patients in the community needing services and maintains active board membership with Senior Corps. Advisory Council.

• Effectively communicates with and utilizes other disciplines (e.g., nursing, medicine) to facilitate treatment planning and implementation. With few exceptions, participates effectively in team meetings, treatment planning conferences, etc.
• Collaborates with divergent multidisciplinary team members in a manner that enhances coordination of comprehensive patient care.

• Duties are performed in an office setting and/or on hospital wards and clinics where there is exposure to communicable diseases common of the client population. The position may require off site visits to agencies and home visits.

Conditions of employment

• 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.
• 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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). 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).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

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.
• English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).
• 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/.

• Knowledge of program coordination and administration which includes consultation, negotiation, and monitoring.
• Knowledge and ability to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines for the program.
• Ability to supervise multidisciplinary staff assigned to the program.
• Skill in organizing work, setting priorities, meeting multiple deadlines, and evaluating assigned program area(s).
• Ability to provide training, orientation, and guidance within clinical practice.

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, resume, 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.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.