Clarification from the agency

Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred to in the following order: 1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility. 2. All other VA employees. 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:

• Assists in the day-to-day operations of the Caregiver Support Program and ensures compliance and collaboration with local facility and VA Central Office Caregiver Support Program initiatives.
• Collaborates with the other members of the CSP team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans, ensuring equity of access, service, and benefits to this population, and ensures the care provided is of the highest quality.
• Provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs as assigned.
• Serves 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.
• Develops and facilitates caregiver support groups and educational programs and distributes educational materials provided by VA, local, state, and national caregiver organizations.
• Participates in direct caregiver and Veteran contacts to assess caregiver stress/burden and the development/application of directed clinical treatment interventions.
• Provides caregiver and family clinical interventions to facilitate the treatment of caregiver stress, psychiatric illness, emotional distress, and social needs.
• Advises and collaborates with interdisciplinary teams throughout the medical center on caregiver issues.
• Provides ongoing consultation and support to colleagues regarding caregiver support services and issues facing Veterans, families and their caregivers.
• Demonstrates skill in communication and can develop positive, effective relationships with all CSP stakeholders including Veterans, caregivers, local, state, and federal agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations.
• Provides referrals to VA medical and mental health treatment and to other VA services including VA benefits, as well as community-based social services and other non-VA entitlement programs.
• Provides referrals or consults, and in some cases facilitate direct admission of a Veteran to other VA programs including but not limited to the Community Residential Care Program, Respite Program, Community Health Care Coordination Program, Hospice, Home Based Primary Care, Telehealth, and the Community Nursing Home Program, if appropriate.
• Stays informed regarding current federal and state legislation directed at assisting caregivers to continue to provide caregiving in an environment that is safe for both themselves and the Veteran.
• Serves as a liaison between the VA and community agencies.
• Participates in caregiver support activities in the local community and state to promote and recognize the role of the caregiver and participates on state and local caregiver support committees.
• Assists in coordinating events and programs for the annual National Family Caregivers Month in November, which includes announcements and advertising of month-long activities, mobilization of participants, educational sessions, caregiver recognition events, and caregiver support programs.
• Assists program leadership in maintaining a data monitoring system to measure the efficacy of the program and assists in collecting and analyzing local data for reports to local management, the VISN Caregiver Support Program Lead, and the National Caregiver Support Program, Care Management and Social Work Service, Office of Patient Care Services.

Supervisory Controls:

• Performs duties independently. Supervision and consultation are of an administrative and professional nature with the supervisor or designee providing guidelines as to the general policy and direction of the Caregiver Support Program.
• Possesses or develops an understanding and sensitivity of the individual needs, beliefs, and/or expectations of patients with various backgrounds.
• The employee is respectful toward patients' values and practices resulting in overall patient satisfaction and comfort level.

Work Schedule: M-F 8am to 430pm
Telework: AD HOC, per agency policy discretion
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 93459-A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination and drivers' examination.
• 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.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• 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.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

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 Master 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/.
• Failure to Obtain License or Certification. In all cases, social workers must actively pursue meeting state prerequisites for licensure or certification starting from the date of their appointment. Failure to become licensed or certified within the prescribed amount of time will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment.
• 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.
• In order for a social worker to be qualified for a position at the grade 12 and above, the social worker must have passed the ASWB exam."
• Advanced Practice Level. The Advanced Practice Level (APL) of social work requires completion of the advanced generalist or clinical Association of Social Work Board (ASWB) examination and determination by a state licensing board which determines advanced practice for licensure within their jurisdiction. In VHA, the Advanced Practice Level also requires use of advanced practice knowledge and skills in accordance with the VHA Social Worker Qualification Standards for GS-12 or above positions." (VHA Directive 1110.02).

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

(1) 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.

(2) 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.

(3) 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.

Reference: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G39 Social Worker Qualification Standard. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office. For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/

Preferred Experience: Experience with outreach, presentation, group and individual coaching.

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services.

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.