The Senior Social Worker is responsible to the Chief and/or Assistant Chief, Mental Health Service, but practices independently, exercising initiative and independent judgment in day-to-day activities. The Social Workers supervision/consultation is of an administrative and professional nature; with the chief and assistant chief providing guidelines as to the general policy and direction of the areas of MHS that the Social Worker coordinates. 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: a. Citizenship - Be a citizen of the United States. Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g this part. b. Education - Have a master's degree in social work from a school of social work fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. 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. c. 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/. *Exception. VHA may waive the licensure or certification requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified, pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure/certification examinations. This exception only applies at the GS-9 grade level. For the GS-11 grade level and above, the candidate must be licensed or certified. At the time of appointment, the supervisor, chief social work or social work executive will provide the unlicensed/uncertified social worker with the written requirements for licensure or certification, including the time by which the license or certification must be obtained and the consequences for not becoming licensed or certified by the deadline. *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/Experience: 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. Social workers have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. Senior social workers are experts in their specialized area of practice. 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. References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services. ["This position will provide individual outpatient psychotherapy and group therapy with a focus on evidence based treatment modalities. This position will also provide mental health support embedded into primary care. VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Conduct psychosocial assessments to determine needs of Veterans and family members. Active participant in the treatment planning process with other disciplines and/or participate in discharge planning with other disciplines and will be responsible for ensuring that discharge plans are executed in a manner that is timely and appropriate. Provide individual, family and group psychotherapy as appropriate. Provide consultation/education to Veterans and families on available services for Military Sexual Trauma. Act as a consultant and provide relevant training on Military Sexual Trauma to other staff members in the facility. Collect and manage data about Veterans with Military Sexual Trauma veteran at facility. Ensure compliance at local facility with VA and national standards of care. Provide consultation/education to Veterans and families on community resources, advance directives and VA benefits. Act as a consultant to other team/staff members. Act as liaison between VA and community resources, to include marketing and public relation duties as needed. Provide case management to Veterans and families, as needed, throughout the continuum of care. Provide a full range of social work services within commonly accepted standards of social work practice which includes case work, individual, family and group counseling, discharge planning, case management and other services as appropriate. Participate in committee assignments, as deemed necessary by the service manager. Maintain data and statistical compilations to comply with JCAHO, VA and medical center policy and procedures. Collaborate in the performance improvement processes and comply with performance measures as required by the VA for their specific population and/or program. Reports to the supervisor designated within the clinic or service in which working and/or Chief of Mental Health Service. Practices independently, using professional judgment and expertise to make decisions about services and treatment provided to Veterans and their significant others/family members Work Schedule: 8:00am - 4:30pm Monday - Friday Telework: AD-HOC Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 30199-F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized"]

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