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Social Worker- Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACT)

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
This job announcement has closed

Summary

OUR MISSION: To fulfill President Lincoln's promise - "To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan" - by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans. How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate care to Veterans?

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
01/20/2022 to 01/31/2022
Salary
$54,727 to - $86,074 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 11
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Danville, IL
1 vacancy
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
DN-11354007-22-JK
Control number
632229800

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Duties

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Recruitment/Relocation Incentive may be authorized for a highly qualified candidate.

The Patient Aligned Care Team is a comprehensive team which delivers primary care to Veteran patients in a longitudinal rather than episodic fashion and which has as its focus: prevention; health promotion, coordination and chronic disease management. The social worker in this Veteran-centric approach often functions as a care coordinator with a panel of veterans to ensure that health care meets the needs, as defined by the Veteran. Social Workers are uniquely prepared for this role by virtue of their education, training, and experience which prepares them to understand the person-in-situation and the influences that family and community have in impacting the health-care needs of Veterans.

  • Assessing and treating the complicated psychosocial problems of Veterans and their families/significant others.
  • Assessing psychosocial problems that cause distress, often impacting the health condition and creating barriers to care.
  • Complete thorough assessments to determine the underlying causes of the presenting problem, the interpersonal and environmental factors impacting the problem, and its affect on the patient's ability and desire to comply with the treatment recommendations by the multidisciplinary team.
  • Helps the patient and family to understand the contributing factors to the problem(s), will discuss with them the pros and cons of possible short-term and long-term solutions, encouraging them to make positive and lasting changes to reduce stressors.
  • Coordinates with VA staff and community agencies to assist in problem solving as needed.
  • Independently complete thorough psychosocial assessments to determine the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and/or their families.
  • Participates as a member of the interdisciplinary treatment team and actively participate through collaboration with Veterans and family as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members in the development and implementation of treatment goals and interventions.
  • Facilitates action for community placements through collaboration with Veterans and their families as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members to ensure that appropriate community placements are completed in a timely manner.
  • Serves as a liaison between Veterans and/or their families and VA and community resources in order to ensure thorough delivery of services.
  • Provides consultation and education to Veterans and their families regarding community resources, VA benefits and specialty programs, and advance directives.
Work Schedule: 7:30am-4:00pm
Telework: May be authorized on an occasional basis with supervisor approval
Virtual: This is NOT a virtual position
Recruitment/Relocation Incentive: May be authorized for a highly qualified candidate
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
  • All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
  • 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
  • Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
  • Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Personnel

Qualifications

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: 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: 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. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED)
  • Licensure: Must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. (COPY OF LICENSE REQUIRED)
In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Grade Determinations:

GS-9 Level:
Experience, Education and Licensure: None beyond the basic requirements. This is the entry level and are closely supervised. In addition, the candidates must demonstrate all of the 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 Level: In addition to the basic requirements, you must have a minimum of one year of post-MSW degree experience in the field of health care social work (VA or non-VA experience).
OR
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. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED)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.
References: VA Handbook 5005/120 Part II Appendix G39 Social Worker Qualification Standard

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-09 to GS-11.

Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary. Physical demands do not exceed those of a typical office setting. There may be some walking, standing, twisting, turning, sitting, pushing, bending, repetitive keyboarding, or carrying of light items.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Additional information

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

As required by Executive Order 14043, Federal employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 regardless of the employee's duty location or work arrangement (e.g., telework, remote work, etc.), subject to such exceptions as required by law. If selected, you will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. Per the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), you are fully vaccinated for COVID-19, 2 weeks after receiving the requisite number of doses of a COVID-19 vaccine approved or authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or that has been listed for emergency use by the World Health Organization. For Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or AstraZeneca/Oxford, full vaccination is 2 weeks after receiving the second dose in a 2-dose series. For Johnson and Johnson (J&J)/Janssen, full vaccination is 2 weeks after an employee has received a single dose.

HR Office staff must verify your vaccination status prior to issuing a final offer of employment and before you report for New Employee Orientation. [In addition, new hires must show vaccination documentation and submit their completed VA FORM 10230, COVID-19 Vaccination Form, to VA HR staff when reporting for New Employee Orientation. HR staff will upload vaccination information in the VA Light Electronic Action Framework (LEAF) system. If you are unable to obtain the COVID-19 vaccination due to a legally covered exception (i.e., medical or religious reasons), VA will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation is needed and how you can request an exception. If you request a legally required exception, you must first complete the VA FORM 10230, COVID-19 Vaccination Form, and return the form to the servicing HR Office staff within 2 business days. The HR Office staff will submit the form to your new supervisor of record for adjudication of the exception request. You may receive a final offer or be appointed while your request for medical or religious exception is being adjudicated. Some positions must be adjudicated favorably prior to receiving a final offer. Please contact the HR Point of Contact listed in the JOA for more information.

Due to COVID-19, VA is currently in an expanded telework posture. If selected, you may be expected to temporarily telework, even if your home is located outside the local commuting area. Once employees are permitted to return to the office, you will be expected to report to the duty station listed on this announcement. Management officials will provide information about returning to the official, pre-pandemic worksite, when applicable. At that time, you may be eligible to request to continue to telework depending upon the terms of your organization's telework policy and the duties of the position.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.

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.

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.

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