Social Worker - Emergency Department

Summary

The VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System is actively recruiting for a Social Worker within the Emergency Department. The incumbent is responsible for providing assistance with care coordination for veterans who are being referred from community health care organization for VA services/programs - direct social work services to veterans being seen for treatment in the emergency department.

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. In order to qualify for this position - you must meet the requirements below within 30 calendar days of the closing date listed on the announcement.

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
• 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 to verify that the social work degree meets the 3 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
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)
• Exception
• VHA may waive the licensure or certification requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified - pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure/certification examinations
• This exception only applies at the GS-9 grade level
• For the GS-11 grade level and above - the candidate must be licensed or certified
• At the time of appointment - the supervisor - chief social work or social work executive will provide the unlicensed/uncertified social worker with the written requirements for licensure or certification - including the time by which the license or certification must be obtained and the consequences for not becoming licensed or certified by the deadline
• 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
• 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: GS-9 Experience - Education - and Licensure: None beyond the basic requirements
• In addition to the experience above - the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Ability to utilize a Veteran centric approach when providing interventions and counseling for Veterans - their family members - caregivers - and survivors
• 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: 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
• Examples of specialized experience include but are not limited to: Working under close supervision in program areas that do not require specialized knowledge or experience
• Identifying behaviors or symptoms of abuse - neglect or exploitation
• providing education on advance directives and advanced care planning
• providing social work case management
• acting as an advocate with community service providers/agencies when it serves the best interest of the patient and family members/caregiver
• assessing the psychosocial functioning and needs of patients and their family members identifying strengths - weaknesses - coping skills and psychosocial acuity - in collaboration with the patient - family - and interdisciplinary treatment teams
• maintaining a current network of internal and external resources to educate the patient and/or family members/caregivers and assist with the appropriate referrals
• 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
• 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
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit
• 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-9 to GS-11.

Duties

• This position is located primarily in the WP Emergency Department (ED) and the Patient Transfer Center (PTC) located in the Patient Business Office
• The ED social worker provides direct social work services to patients presenting for care in the ED and to begin discharge planning from the ED as a bridge to inpatient care
• The social worker will also screen - as part of the GERI-VET program - patients 75 years of age or older to assist in care coordination and work to reduce admissions for non-acute medical - social concerns
• All veterans referred from the ED staff presenting with psychosocial issues that may inhibit medical care follow through - independent care / social functioning or the need for possible social admission will receive a thorough psychosocial assessment of the presenting problem(s)
• The social worker will seek to identify additional psychosocial issues (e.g
• psychiatric - substance abuse - economic - housing - legal - interpersonal) that may also require treatment or referral
• The primary goal is to assess the patient's current level of social functioning - to assist them in moving towards a higher level of functioning - stability - self-sufficiency - and prevent unneeded social admissions by providing them and their caregivers with needed services and referrals to VA and community programs
• The social worker will also work with the discharge planning staff at outside area hospitals who have referred hospitalized veterans to the PTC for assistance with discharge planning - by providing the same level of services and referrals to help facilitate their discharge planning process and prevent unnecessary delays or readmissions
• The Social Worker (Emergency Department) duties include - but are not limited to: Performs case finding functions and outreach - identifying and screening patient for psychosocial needs
• Assists outside hospitals or health care organization with discharge planning
• Provides counseling or brief psychotherapy for individuals and families
• Develops treatment plans in collaboration with the veteran - family - and interdisciplinary treatment team
• Coordinates community-based services - including information and referral for additional services from other VA programs - other government programs and community agency programs
• Provides crisis intervention services - seeking to address the cause as well as the presenting complaint - coordinates family conferences and services as liaison to family members
• Establishes and maintains effective therapeutic relationships with veterans and their families
• Provides consultation services to other staff regarding psychosocial needs of veterans and impact of psychosocial problems on health are and adherence to treatment plan
• VA Careers - Social Work: Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Work Schedule: Monday-Friday (4) 10 hour shifts - may include some weekends
• (hours negotiable) Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay - a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade)
• Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave - 13 days of sick leave - 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual - based on prior [work experience] or military service experience
• Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment - up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth - adoption - or foster care placement of a child
• Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment - full time employees with a total family income below $144 -000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66
• Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 95299-0 (GS-9) - 95300-0 (GS-11) Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,321 health care facilities, including 172 VA Medical Centers and 1,138 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics) to over 9 million Veterans enrolled in the VA health care program. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of our medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision care. Some medical centers also offer advanced services such as organ transplants and plastic surgery.

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