Summary The Cincinnati VA Medical Center is looking for a Senior Social Worker who will serve the Contract Nursing Home (CNH) and the Community Adult Day Health Care (CADHC) programs. As an independent social worker, the senior social worker will assist SW Coordinator and RN with monitoring and evaluating the delivery of services within the community based programs to include Contract Nursing Home (CNH) and Community Adult Day Health Care (CADHC). Responsibilities 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: Coordinates and directs the VA Contract Nursing Home and Adult Day Health Care Programs. Serves as a clinical review member for skilled rehab under VA Community Care Network. Ensures that all contract nursing homes and adult day care facilities are in compliance with VA requirements and Directives. Reviews all State reports, surveys complaint files, and facility QI Profiles for participating nursing homes/adult day care. Determines the need for additional CNH facilities and termination criteria of current CNH facilities. Completes visits of ADHC programs per OCC guidance. Prepares a summary report and recommends appropriate action to the CNH Oversight Committee regarding inclusion/continuation or termination of the nursing home contract or adult day care center placements. Monitors referrals to the Cincinnati CNH program for completeness and compliance with program criteria. Reviews all program participants to assure compliance with reviews and recertification. Authorized to obligate funds for payment of contract services and completes visits in compliance with VHA Office of Community Care (OCC) Field Guidebook and as needed based on evaluation of the individual case needs. Develops and provides program oversight and leadership, Serves as Contract Officer Technical Representative(COTR) for contract process and manages budget and fund control for contract programs. Interviews veterans and their family members/significant others to establish facts about the veteran's situation, presenting problems and their causes, and the impact of such problems on the veteran's functioning and health as part of a comprehensive psychosocial assessment. Interprets and explains VA's treatment and benefit programs. Completes insightful assessments of serious and complicated cases involving end of life care, psychiatric illness, catastrophic medical conditions, dementia and other high-risk diagnoses to assess acuity and need for services to make independent professional decisions and recommendations for agency action. Demonstrates knowledge in Geriatrics, Extended Care, community resources, and patient/family dynamics to help veterans with serious medical and psychiatric problems through counseling or referral. Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of the services and benefits available from community, State, and Federal agencies. Shows awareness of the presences of cultural differences and how they may influence the helping process. The veteran's unique ethnicity, culture, values and beliefs are taken into account in psychosocial assessment, treatment plans and the treatment modalities utilized. Provides knowledge of specific disease categories and terminology used in the treatment setting is considered an integral part of the total knowledge base for this position as well as knowledge of VA and community resources in general; also needed is advanced knowledge of aberrant behavior in order to assess the nature and severity of a veteran's problems, needs an advanced skill level in order to be able to communicate with and motivate the mentally ill. Communicates with and utilizes other disciplines (e.g., nursing, medicine, psychology, inspection team members, community agencies, physicians, attorneys, administrators) to facilitate treatment planning and implementation. Functions as a professional representative of the program, to agency administrators, local hospitals, local Ombudsmen, or Veterans Benefits Coordinator, in contacts with other agency's staff and the public. Provides patients, family members, and agencies with consistent information according to established policies and procedures. Handles conflict and problems in dealing with the customer constructively and appropriately. Work Schedule: Days determined upon selection, 7:30am - 4:00pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized Telework: AD HOC only, as determined by agency policy. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 91544-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Requirements 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. You may be required to serve a trial period. 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. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). 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: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/ Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services. 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. 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. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.