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The VA Tuscaloosa Health Care System is recruiting for a full-time Social Worker (Medical Foster Home Program Coordinator), the (MFH) program strives to maximize quality of life issues by assisting Veterans in obtaining needed care in a home-like setting rather than a nursing home or institution and preventing hospitalization, as often as possible. 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. 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 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/. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). GRADE DETERMINATIONS. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Senior Social Worker, GS-12 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: (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. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. 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. 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. 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. References: VA Handbook 5005/120 Part II Appendix G39, Dated September 10, 2019. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position involve primarily walking, sitting, talking, driving, use of the telephone, etc. Light lifting, under 15 pounds, Light carrying, under 15 pounds, Hearing (aid permitted). ["VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU The Medical Foster Home (MFH) program coordinator oversees the daily operation of the program, develop policies and procedures for program operation, and prepare reports and statistics for facility, VISN, and national use. They oversee program operations and evaluations, identifying areas for improvement, gathering relevant data, assessing the data, developing and implementing ideas for improvement and evaluating efficacy of improvement efforts. The position entails travel in the community (50%-75% of the time), to include visits to existing and prospective medical foster homes for the purpose of oversight visits and inspections. The incumbent of the position may be required to work an irregular tour of duty and/or weekends, depending on the needs of the program and/or service. They will also be responsible to help cover other SWS program areas as needed. Duties for the position may include but are not limited to: Participate in the development, evaluation, and communication of standards, policies, and procedures, and plans of care for the MFH program. Educate medical center colleagues and/or students regarding the MFH program and assist with dissemination of information to other VA facilities and community partners. Track MFH program assessments, consults, authorizations, statistics, data management, identify significant findings, problem solve, complete documentation reports pertaining to caseloads, productivity, and trainings. Prepare reports and statistics for facility, VISN, and national use. Provide program oversight to ensure quality care is provided by contracted agencies. Complete an initial screening of Veterans to determine whether they meet eligibility criteria for inclusion in the MFH program. Develop a treatment plan of the Veteran in collaboration with the referring team, the Veteran, family members, and caregivers, whenever possible. Assist referring clinical teams in treatment planning process and goal setting by identifying resources when warranted. Serve as a liaison between the contracted MFH provider and Veteran and/or family. Educating the Veteran and/or caregiver of the available services and assisting them in establishing the appropriate referrals based on the Veteran's preference or that of his surrogate decision-maker. Recruits prospective MFH caregivers and homes. Reviews MFH caregiver applications and determines if applicants are suitable to proceed based on requirements outlined in 1141.02(1) (Medical Foster Home Program Procedures) and VHA Handbook 1140.01 (Community Residential Care Program). Coordinates the pre-approval inspections of all prospective medical foster homes as well as the annual inspections of all approved medical foster homes, to include coordination with interdisciplinary inspection team members, conducting the on-site inspection, compiling the survey report, and following up on all corrective action plans. Experienced in making rapid assessments and developing crisis management plans to maintain a patient in the home or for admission to acute, short term, and/or long-term placements. Ensures sentinel/adverse events are reported and investigated by program staff and reported through appropriate channels in a timely manner. Ensures suspected cases of abuse and/or neglect are reported and documented in accordance with current TVAMC policy. Provides education related to VA and community resources, entitlements, Advance Directives/Living Will, Life-Sustaining Treatment decisions, and will refer Veterans and/or families to other TVAMC programs or appropriate VA resource for identified health education needs. Provide Veterans and their caregiver's ongoing supportive counseling. Enter all Veteran and family contacts in the electronic record using appropriate formats and templates. Collaborate in the performance improvement processes and comply with performance measures as required by the VA for their specific population and/or programs. Participate in activities that obtain customer satisfaction feedback from clients and work to enhance services as needed. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required"]

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