Senior Social Worker (Hospice and Palliative Care Program Coordinator)

Quick Facts

• Role: Senior Social Worker (Hospice/Palliative Care Program Coordinator; Community Living Center Clinical Social Worker)

• Focus: Advanced psychosocial care for Veterans, families, and caregivers

Description

The Senior Social Worker serves as the Hospice/Palliative Care (HPC) Program Coordinator and Community Living Center clinical social worker. The position provides comprehensive psychosocial assessments, short-term solution-focused and supportive counseling, crisis intervention, treatment planning, resource coordination, and discharge planning for Veterans facing crisis, serious illness, functional decline, or complex barriers to care.

The role manages and evaluates social work services, develops program goals and reports outcomes, coordinates referrals and transfers across care settings, and supports an interdisciplinary palliative care consult approach.

Responsibilities

• Provide hospice/palliative care program coordination (40%) and serve as Community Living Center clinical social worker (60%)

• Deliver education to Veterans and families on VA benefits/services, community resources, entitlements, and completion of Advanced Directives and Living Wills

• Conduct psychosocial assessments and deliver counseling, crisis intervention, and treatment planning

• Coordinate resources and discharge planning; refer to appropriate interdisciplinary team members

• Develop and maintain processes to identify Veterans who may benefit from hospice or palliative care

• Serve as point of contact for HPC Program inquiries and prepare HPC Program reports for VA stakeholders

• Develop referral procedures and facilitate timely transfers between care settings

• Establish performance standards, monitor program effectiveness, and modify service delivery to improve outcomes

• Develop policies and procedures to support compliance with applicable regulatory standards

• Identify and evaluate community resources and explore community placement options for continuity of care

• Develop and implement outreach for Veterans with palliative care needs not currently receiving VA health care

• Serve as the social work member of the interdisciplinary Palliative Care Consult Team (PCCT)

Requirements

• U.S. citizenship

• Proficiency in written and spoken English

• Master’s degree in social work from a CSWE-accredited school

• State licensure or certification to independently practice social work at the master’s level; senior social workers must hold advanced practice licensure/certification (advanced generalist or clinical examination) or meet grandfathering rules

• At least 2 years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure (with 1 year at GS-11-equivalent level)

• Ability to provide supervision for licensure

• Subject to background/security investigation and completion of pre-employment physical and onboarding requirements

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government includes a comprehensive federal benefits package. Eligibility depends on the position type and whether the role is full-time, part-time, or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for details on specific benefits.