Senior Social Worker (Homeless Outreach)

Summary

The Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center, Long Beach is seeking a Senior Social Worker for the Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) Outreach Program. Responsibilities include outreach to vulnerable, unsheltered Veterans living on the streets, in encampments, parks, and other locations. The position engages Veterans in shelters, drop-in centers, Stand Downs, and community events, connecting them with VA services and resources to reduce homelessness and improve access to care.

Duties

Duties include, but are not limited to: Serve as clinical team lead for the HCHV Homeless Outreach Program, supporting staff who assist Veterans with high-acuity needs and complex barriers. Conduct targeted street, community, and facility-based outreach to Veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Provide high-risk triage, psychosocial assessments, counseling, education, crisis intervention, referrals, and resource coordination. Verify Veteran status, eligibility for VHA care, and eligibility for HCHV and related programs. Coordinate comprehensive care and advocate for Veterans by linking them with VHA services, VA benefits, and community resources. Provide housing-related assistance, including referrals for rental arrears, HUD-VASH, emergency services, and other supportive programs. Manage HCHV-Contract Emergency Residential Services (HCHV-CERS) transitional beds in Long Beach and Orange County, including budget oversight and eligibility coordination. Serve as the primary liaison and clinical resource for HCHV-CERS grantees, community agencies, and other homeless-service partners. Participate in case conferences, by-name list activities, Coordinated Entry System efforts, and community planning meetings. Provide consultation, education, and clinical support to outreach staff, interdisciplinary teams, Veterans, families, and community providers. Screen Veterans for suicide risk and social determinants of health; provide safety planning, interventions, referrals, and timely clinical documentation. Maintain accurate medical records, program data, performance measures, statistical reports, and accountability documentation in accordance with VA policies. Participate in program development, staff training, committees, special events, quality improvement activities, and initiatives addressing the changing needs of homeless Veterans. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Telework: Ad hoc telework as determined by agency policy and supervisor discretion Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Travel Required: 75% Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Authorized Functional Statement: 000000

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: Citizenship: Must be a citizen of the United States English Language Proficiency. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. 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. Note: 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: Must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work 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. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements stated above, the following qualification criteria must be met for each grade. The candidate's qualifications must clearly demonstrate the level of competence required for the grade. Experience: 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 and 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. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: 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. Preferred Experience: At least one year experience working in homeless services, such as outreach, case management, and housing. Preferred, but not required, experience working with the Coordinated Entry System, By-Name Lists, and Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS). Licensed with an independent or advanced license, homeless services experience Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: Must be in overall good health, able to sit at a desk working at a computer, engage in light to moderate physical activity including sitting, walking, bending, and carrying supplies. Applicants must be able to perform primarily light and sedentary duties with occasionally moderate physical demands, exercise patience, and control emotions, with reasonable accommodation, if necessary, without endangering the health and safety of the applicant or others.

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.