Summary

This Social Work Coordinator Hematology/Oncology position is located at VA Western New York Healthcare System (VAWNYHS). This is a complexity level 1B facility that includes two (2) medical campuses and six (6) rural Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC).

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Duties

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU

• Provides a full range of social work services within accepted standards of social work practice, which includes screening, assessment, care and treatment planning, casework, individual, family and group counseling, discharge planning, case management and implementing treatment modalities appropriately.
• Provide advanced level case management, HEM/ONC education, and support to a challenging patient population.
• Provide psychosocial assessment and bone marrow transplant assessments.
• Provide Suicide Risk Assessment and crisis interventions.
• Actively participate in treatment planning processes with patient/family and team members.
• Actively participates in discharge planning processes ensuring the individualized discharge plan is safe and meets patient needs and executed in a timely and appropriate.
• Counseling individuals, couples, and families or referrals to specialized mental health providers
• Providing referrals and linkage to community agencies with specialized benefits.
• Facilitating support group for cancer patients and or caregivers.
• Performs specialized treatment of mental illness, including adjustment to chronic or life-threatening diagnoses and readjustment/re-integration to the community after treatments.
• Facilitating family discussions about illness, healthcare, and life changes.
• Works closely with the treatment team in developing care plans, providing patient and family education, discussing end of life issues, and ensuring continuity of care.
• Possesses extensive knowledge of community resources including Aging Services programs, home health services, housing and transportation options, HEM/ONC programs and services.
• Provides education or referrals for required transportation to/from cancer care treatments at the VA or other community programs.
• Educates referral sources, community agencies, Veteran Service Organizations and other interested parties regarding the scope and management of this patient population.
• Makes referrals to VA and community resources as needed by outpatient hematology, oncology and radiation therapy patients.
• Advocates for patients needs and attempts to help patients meet set goals and make patients experience easier and pleasant during treatment and for discharge from hematology oncology and radiation therapy.
• Demonstrates ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the special area of practice and provide supervision for licensure or specialty certifications
• Provide Interagency collaboration when Veteran's cancer care involves multiple entities.
• Facilitating communication between the treatment team, veteran and the family, including advocacy.
• Assist with end of life planning/preference of care with the use of Advance Directives for health.
  
  

Work Schedule:

Telework: Ad-hoc

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 12402F

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

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Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• 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 probationary 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.
  
  

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:

Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g this part).

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 SW Licensure Summary by State.

• 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.
• For appointments at the GS-9 grade level, 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. Most states require two years of post-MSW experience as a prerequisite to taking the licensure/certification exam, and VHA gives social workers one additional year to pass the licensure/certification exam. In states such as California, Washington, and others where the prerequisites for licensure exceed two years, social workers must become licensed at the independent, master's level within one year of meeting the full state prerequisites for licensure.
• A social worker who does not yet have a license that allows independent practice must be supervised by a licensed independent practitioner of the same discipline who is a VA staff member and who has access to the electronic health record.
• Different states have different levels of licensure or certification, making it difficult for VHA staff to determine the independent practice level. Each state, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia completed surveys identifying the level of licensure or certification allowing independent practice. Copies of the surveys are on file in the VHA Office of Care Management and Social Work Services, and a summary spreadsheet of the levels of licensure or certification is available to social work professional standards board members for purposes of determining whether the social worker's level of licensure or certification meets the VHA qualification standards. All states except California use a series of licensure exams administered by the ASWB. Information can be found at https://www.aswb.org/. The ASWB is the association of boards that regulates social work. ASWB develops and maintains the social work licensing examination used across the country and is a central resource for information on the legal regulation of social work. The ASWB offers three examinations. The master's examination is generally used by states for the independent practice level of licensure or certification, while the advanced generalist and the clinical examinations are used for the advanced practice level of licensure or certification. Differences between the master's and the advanced exams demonstrate the expectation that advanced practice social workers will have a more sophisticated knowledge of practice theory and its application.

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.

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:

Social Worker, GS-12

Experience and Education: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency. Candidate may have certification or other post-master's degree training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship, or equivalent supervised professional experience.

Licensure/Certification: Individuals assigned as social worker program coordinator must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Knowledge of program coordination and administration which includes consultation, negotiation, and monitoring.
• Knowledge and ability to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines for the program.
• Ability to supervise multidisciplinary staff assigned to the program.
• Skill in organizing work, setting priorities, meeting multiple deadlines, and evaluating assigned program area(s).
• Ability to provide training, orientation, and guidance within clinical practice.
  
  

Reference: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G39.



Physical Requirements: Work is sedentary but also demands standing, walking, bending, twisting, and carrying light items. The incumbent operates a government vehicle as part of their job and could be required to transport Veterans in a government vehicle. A valid state issued driver's license and successful completion of a physical fitness exam for motor vehicle operators by the VA Employee Health Office is required.

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.

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