Senior Social Worker

Summary

This co-located collaborative care position is in the Behavioral Health Service Line with primary assignment to the Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) Program - located within primary care with work completed at one of the CBOCs associated with Harry S. Truman Memorial Veteran's Hospital (Truman VA). The PCMHI Senior Social Worker functions as part of a multidisciplinary primary care team - and delivers brief consultation-based services to Veterans and primary care providers.

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/
• Physical Requirements
• See VA Directive and Handbook 5019 - Employee Occupational Health Services
• 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: (1) 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
• 2) 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
• (3) 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
• (4) 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
• References: VA Handbook 5005/23 - PART II - APPENDIX G39 - Social Worker Qualification Standard - This can be found in the local Human Resources Office
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12
• The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12 Physical Requirements: This position is mostly sedentary and requires walking - kneeling - bending - standing - and light lifting.

Duties

• VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf This co-located collaborative care position is in the Behavioral Health Service Line with primary assignment to the Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) Program - located within primary care with work completed at one of the CBOCs associated with Harry S
• Truman Memorial Veteran's Hospital (Truman VA)
• The PCMHI Senior Social Worker functions as part of a multidisciplinary primary care team - and delivers brief consultation-based services to Veterans and primary care providers
• The focus is on general service delivery for a wide range of concerns - and resolving problems within the primary care service context
• Duties may include but are not limited to
• - PCMHI Clinical Practice Management: Conduct functional assessments - based on 30 minute appointments and will triage/refer to specialty care services as appropriate
• Applies principles of population based care (defines roles and identifies problems rapidly)
• - Uses brief assessments routinely (clinical reminders - PHQ-9 - PCL - Audit C - etc.)
• conducts suicide assessment and safety planning for high risk veterans consistent with current VA policy and procedures
• - Senior Social Worker is able to assist in accessing care for Veterans who are in need of psychiatric stabilization
• - Initial consultation appointment are based on functional assessments and treatment focuses on functional outcomes
• - Maintains daily open access slots
• - Provides brief mental health and behavioral interventions (e.g. - 1-6 session for broad range of concerns)
• - Uses time-limited - evidence-based interventions that are simple and concrete
• - Teaches and encouraged self-management home-based practice interventions including use of VA and other mobile apps
• - Uses intermittent visit strategy and flexible patient contact strategies
• - Triages appropriately and efficiently to specialty mental health services
• Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) Authorized: This position is eligible for EDRP - a student loan payment reimbursement program
• You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of your start date
• Approval - award amount (up to $200 -000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application
• Contact VISN15EDRP@va.gov - the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance
• Learn more
• Work Schedule: Monday through Friday - 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Available Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Available EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive
• Contact VISN15EDRP@va.gov the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance
• Learn more Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
• 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 #: 000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized