Homeless Outreach Social Worker

The VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, Homeless & Justice Clinical Recovery (HJCR) Program is hiring three Homeless Outreach Social Workers who will be responsible for providing clinical services. With primary emphasis on assessment of patient needs, care coordination, facilitation of groups, individual psychotherapy, & provision of psychoeducational classes. Has good basic knowledge of Medical Center, VA & community resources needed to meet the needs of Veterans on the social worker's caseload.

Duties

• Provides outreach & crisis intervention services to homeless Veterans, seeking to address the cause as well as the presenting complaint to homeless needs.
• Coordinates family conferences & serves as a liaison to family members.
• Has working knowledge & experience in the use of medical & mental health diagnoses, disabilities, & treatment procedures, which include acute, chronic & traumatic illness/injuries, common medications & their effects/side effects, & medical terminology.
• Works closely with other VA medical center programs & services to ensure coordination between entities is facilitated & direct care, referral, & follow up for enrolled Veterans is contiguous & based on a continuum of services. In addition, the incumbent will act as a consultant to other staff/team members.
• Possesses the knowledge & ability to independently implement treatment modalities, provide counseling or psychotherapy for individuals, families, & groups, within the scope of licensure & training. Incumbent independently conducts psychosocial assessments.
• Develops treatment plans in collaboration with the Veteran/family & with the interdisciplinary treatment team & appropriate community partners. Incumbent possesses the skills to offer psychosocial interventions & measures outcomes to interventions.
• Coordinates community resources & community-based services, including information & referral for additional services from other VA programs, other government programs & community agency programs. Incumbent establishes & maintains effective therapeutic relationships with homeless Veterans &, as appropriate, their families.
• Acts as HJCR program "Provider of the Day" to ensure homeless Veterans have timely access to care & services.
• Participates in outreach efforts to encourage homeless Veterans to engage in care. Outreach locations may include the following: homeless shelters, libraries, parks, streets, & homeless camps.
• Assists in tracking data of outreach contacts.
• Assists Veterans who have been referred to non-case managed HUD vouchers in the application process.
• Assists in providing support & resources to Veterans who do not qualify for homeless program services due to being over income.
• Incumbent will work hours to meet the needs of the homeless community. These hours may be outside of the traditional 0800 -1630 tour of duty.
• Coordinate & respond to requests coming from the National Homeless Hotline.
• Responds to incoming referrals from all sources including but not limited to the following: messages on outreach voicemail, National Homeless Hotline, internal providers, community partners, family members, etc.
• Assists in coordinating a walk-in clinic for homeless Veteran's on VA campus that includes participation of other VA programs & community partners.
• Coordinates & participates in) community events including the annual Homeless Veterans Stand Down, Point-In-Time Count, & other events & activities directly related to outreach to Veterans who are homeless.
• Works independently with patients & their families who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, & social problems utilizing individual, group, family counseling, & psychotherapy skills, within the scope of licensure & training.
• Provides consultation services to other staff regarding the psychosocial needs of homeless Veterans & the impact of psychosocial problems on health care & adherence to the treatment plan, within the scope of licensure & training,
• Utilizes the ability to evaluate his or her own practice through professional peer review, case conferences & other organizational means. Incumbent will communicate effectively, both orally & in writing, with people from varied backgrounds.
• Utilizes general knowledge of Veterans' benefits & services relating to special programs, service-connected compensation & nonservice-connected pension.
• Facilitates referrals based upon the Veterans' needs & eligibility.
• Meets the needs of customers while supporting VA missions. Incumbent consistently communicates & treats customers in a courteous, tactful, & respectful manner. Incumbent will provide customer with consistent information according to established policies & procedures.
• Handles conflict & problems in dealing with the consumer constructively & appropriately.
• Has working knowledge & skill in the use of word-processing, data management & other computer systems, especially those programs in use by VHA.
• Support the goals & mission of the Homeless & Justice Clinical Recovery Program.

Work Schedule: M-F 8AM-4:30PM May be required to work some weekday evenings or Saturdays.

Please click here for more information or to apply.

 

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