Summary

The Senior Social Worker works within the RRTP program providing EBP based psychotherapy/ psychoeducation and treatment coordination. This position focuses on helping Resident Veterans experiencing a wide range of complicated mental - addiction - behavioral - physical - psychosocial - and environmental problems. In addition to working individually with Residents - group psychotherapy is also expected.

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 SW Licensure Summary by State
• 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: In addition to the basic requirements for employment - the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates
• 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: 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
• Assignments
• For all assignments above the full performance level - the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope - complexity (difficulty) - and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time
• Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level
• Senior social workers typically practice in a major program area such as but not limited to: Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site
• a Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center - or a national VHA referral center - such as a national Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or a national Transplant Center - or other program areas of equivalent scope and complexity
• The senior social worker may be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns
• Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics
• The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans - ensures equity of access - service - and benefits to this population - ensures the care provided is of the highest quality
• The senior social worker provides leadership - direction - orientation - coaching - in-service training - staff development - and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff
• They serve on committees - work groups - and task forces at the facility - VISN and national level - or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor - Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services
• This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management
• This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12 Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019

Duties

• VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional FUNCTIONS OF ASSIGNED DUTIES - BUT NOT LIMITED TO: Independently conducts psychosocial assessments
• Incumbent possesses the skills to offer psychosocial interventions and measures outcomes to interventions
• Incumbent must be able to independently implement the recovery model of treatment
• The incumbent will carry a caseload and develop treatment plans - and will utilize the initial assessment to mutually develop treatment goals with the Veteran and guides the plan of care towards meeting those goals
• Requires a high level understanding of treatment coordination and discharge planning - working within the VA system to assist Veteran in re-engaging in their community of choice upon discharge
• Provides ongoing treatment coordination services from admission until discharge coordinating closely with the entire treatment team
• Provides treatment coordination services to a caseload of Residential Veterans
• Daily group treatment coordination meetings for assigned caseload
• Meets individually with Veterans on assigned caseload a minimum of once every other week
• Provision of a minimum of 15 group hours a week and supplemental individual sessions as needed and recommended by the treatment team
• Incumbent is able to coordinate community-based services - including information and referral for additional services from other VA programs - other government programs and community agency programs
• Independently identifies high-risk patients
• Provides crisis intervention services - seeking to address the cause as well as the presenting complaint - coordinates family conferences and serves as liaison to family members
• Has working knowledge and experience in use of medical and mental health diagnoses - disabilities and treatment procedures
• This includes acute - chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries - common medications and their effects/side effects - and medical terminology
• Establishes and maintains effective therapeutic relationships with Veterans and their families
• Incumbent is able to independently work with patients and families who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric - medical and social problems utilizing individual - group and family counseling and therapy skills
• Independently provides consultation services to other staff regarding the psychosocial needs of Veterans and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and adherence to treatment plan
• Ability to evaluate incumbents own practice through professional peer review - case conferences and other organizational means
• Incumbent is able to communicate effectively - both orally and in writing - with people from varied backgrounds
• General knowledge of Veterans' benefits and services relating to special programs - service connected compensation - non-service connected pension
• Facilitates referrals based upon Veterans needs and eligibility
• Incumbent participates in regular RRTP team meetings - sharing observations and information aimed at enhancing the Veteran's treatment
• The Licensed Professional Counselor will work in collaboration with the RRTP team to develop and implement recovery-oriented programming for the care and treatment of Veterans in RRTP
• Has working knowledge and skill in the use of word-processing - data management and other computer systems - especially those programs in use by VHA
• Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 7:30am - 4:00pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): 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: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 00000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized