Social Worker - Mental Health Intake Coordinator

Summary

The WNY VA Healthcare System is currently recruiting for one Licensed Social Work - Mental Health Intake Coordinator for the Mental Health Clinic under the Behavioral Health Care Line. This position will be responsible for vetting and coordinating referrals to the MHC and managing a caseload of individual patients.

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:

• 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 http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the 3 accreditation standards for a masters of social work
• Licensure or Certification
• You must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level.*Exception - For assignments at the GS-9 level ONLY - VHA may waive the licensure or certification requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified - pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure/certification examinations
• VHA social workers who are not licensed or certified at the time of appointment must become licensed or certified at the independent - master's level within three years of their appointment as a social worker
• English Language Proficiency
• Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English
• 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 for Social Worker - GS-11:Experience and Licensure
• You MUST be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level
• GS-11 Experience or Education Requirement
• In addition to meeting the basic requirements - to qualify for the GS-11 - you must possess 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 patient/family member/caregiver advocate with community service providers/agencies
• assessing the psychosocial functioning and needs of patients and their family members
• In collaboration with the patient - family - and interdisciplinary treatment teams - identifying strengths - weaknesses - coping skills and psychosocial acuity
• Maintaining a current network of internal and external resources to educate the patient and/or family members/caregivers and assist with appropriate referrals
• OR - 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
• AND - Demonstrate Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities(KSA's)
• 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 - 7 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 https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• This is the full performance level of this vacancy - GS-11
• Physical Requirements: Work is sedentary but also demands standing - walking - bending - twisting - and carrying light items

Duties

• A Careers - Licensed Clinical Social Worker: https://youtube.com/embed/U_xC25QsN0w Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf Social Worker - Duties include: Receiving all consults to the Mental Health Clinic
• Vetting consults for appropriateness - and/or forwarding to other appropriate services as necessary
• Using clinical judgment along with administrative data to assign providers - with emphasis on matching patients to a provider who may best meet their needs - while attempting to maintain equity in panel sizes and patient mix
• Assuring access requirements are met or exceeded for new and established patients - according to national - VISN - and local guidelines
• Follow up to assure consult completion within 30 days or less
• Develops data driven performance improvement monitors with established goals and outcomes to evaluate and document the effectiveness of the consult process
• Utilizes statistical information to guide decision making in program development and for accountability of program activities
• Maintains daily - monthly - and quarterly statistics as required
• Assists the inpatient psychiatry staff with discharge planning for the patients to assure timely follow up and adherence to the 7 day high risk follow up measure
• Continuously promotes teamwork by cooperating with - and supporting staff - visitors - and customers in achieving medical center goals and missions
• Provides a full range of professional and clinical services on behalf of patients - their families - and other stakeholders of the VA medical center
• Coordinates an intake process for patients new or returning to the MHC - to familiarize them with all services offered in the MHC
• Note: The above is not an exhaustive list of duties and you will be expected to perform additional tasks as necessitated by the supervisor or designee
• Licensed Social Worker at the GS-11 will perform duties Independently
• Work Schedule: Monday-Thursday - 8:00am-4:30pm 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) Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 12489F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized