Summary

This Mental Health Integration (MHI) Senior Social Worker position is administratively aligned with the Mental Health Service and is assigned as a co located - collaborative and integrated care mental health provider in Oncology and Pain Clinics. The MHI Senior Social Worker works collaboratively within this specialty medical clinic to promote prevention - brief assessment - early identification - and treatment of most mild to moderate mental health and health behavior concerns.

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
• 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 http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/
• English Language Proficiency
• Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)
• 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: 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
• 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
• 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
• Preferred Experience: Atleast 2 years of experience as a licensed psychologist with atleast 1 year equivalent to the lower GS level
• Trained in evidence based treatment protocols for pain
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS12
• Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation - see Duties section for essential job duties of the position
• May require standing - lifting - carrying - sitting - stooping - bending - puling - and pushing
• May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment
• Work Environment: Work is performed in an office/clinic setting with minimal risks that requires normal safety precautions
• the area is adequately lighted - heated - and ventilated
• However - the work environment requires someone with the ability to handle several tasks at once in sometimes stressful situations.

Duties

• Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Duties include (but are not limited to): Collaborates with Specialty Medical Team members and others as appropriate (e.g. - PCMHI - General Mental Health - Primary Care) to support high quality - effective - and coordinated service delivery at the patient and programmatic levels
• Maintains daily open access slots and encourages same day warm handoffs within the Specialty Medical Clinic
• Uses Measurement Based Care (MBC) in accordance with nationally recommended guidelines
• Advances clinic capacity to complete (or coordinate to ensure the completion of) suicide risk assessments and intervention within the Specialty Medical Setting Conducts initial functional assessments that are focused on the main reason(s) for referral and are less extensive than traditional mental health intake evaluations (e.g. - 30 minutes vs
• 60 or 90 minutes for traditional evaluation)
• Supports Stepped-Care principles to facilitate \"on-time - on target\" services to Veterans - matching the intensity of services with the level of clinical need
• Refers Veterans with more severe or complex needs to the appropriate general or specialty mental health program
• Provides a full range of psychological interventions consistent with training and expertise - with special emphasis on brief and evidenced-based interventions found to be effective in Specialty Medical Setting
• Provides time-limited - brief - evidence-based - individual or group interventions (e.g. - approximately 1-6 sessions) for a broad range of mental health and health behavior concerns within the Specialty Medical Setting - making exceptions as needed depending on Veteran need and disease-course
• Utilizes the Whole Health approach in clinical practice - including connecting with the Veteran's Mission/Aspiration/Purpose to inform - plan and deliver clinical services Clinical Administrative Responsibilities Writes clear - concise notes that are completed same day or within 24 hours and are optimized for collaboration within the Specialty Medical Team
• Engages in Specialty Medical Team huddles and meetings to cultivate collaborative team functioning and serves as a subject matter expert for behavioral health considerations
• Provides education to Special Medical Team on mental health and health behavior issues - as well as tips to promote effective patient communication - motivational enhancement - and behavior change
• Integrates self into routine workflow of the Special Medical Team and seeks opportunities to offer expertise or direct patient care services to support team­ based care Tolerates interruptions - demonstrates flexibility and adaptability - and maintains availability for ad hoc team discussion
• Accepts and encourages same day warm handoffs and routinely provides feedback to team members on the same day as referral
• Within the Special Medical Care setting - raises awareness and understanding regarding the mental and behavioral health impacts and needs often associated with the medical conditions being addressed
• May supervise Psychologist trainees in accordance with training program policies and accrediting agency requirements
• May provide staff and student didactic training and consultation as requested in content areas of scholarly and/or clinical expertise
• Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 7:30am - 4:00pm - subject to change based on the needs of the facility
• Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
• When setting pay - a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade)
• Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave - 13 days of sick leave - 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual - based on prior [work experience] or military service experience
• Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment - up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth - adoption - or foster care placement of a child
• Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment - full time employees with a total family income below $144 -000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66
• Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Ad Hoc - as determined by agency policy Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 00956F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized