This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (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 appointment. 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. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/23/2024. 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/. 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. Physical Requirements. Please see "Physical Requirements" listed above. 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 Determination 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. Specialized experience includes Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services; Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational and other diversified backgrounds; Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures (i.e. acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology) to formulate a treatment plan; Skill in independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social problems to achieve treatment goals; Ability to provide consultation services to new social workers, social work graduate students, and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment. 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. 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 Part II Appendix G39 Social Worker Qualification Standard dated September 10, 2019. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. ["This vacancy will remain open until filled. The first cut-off date is 02/01/2024. Additional applications will be referred as needed. (NOTE: Applications expire after 90 days. Please update application thru USAJobs if you wish to be reconsidered.) Position is in the Family Therapy program and will be filled as Psychologist, Marriage & Family Therapist, Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, or Senior Social Worker. *** Bargaining Position *** Treatment Planning/Goal Setting - The social worker is responsible for developing the treatment plan, and setting achievable treatment goals with the veteran/family from the bio-psychosocial. The treatment plan will be completed by the patient's third visit for mental health services. The plan will be updated every six months or more frequently if there is a change in the patient's condition or needs. Screening/Assessment - The social worker will develop an assessment of the veteran, through a bio-psychosocial that includes a diagnosis. The social worker will work in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team, the veteran, family members and significant others. The goal of the assessment is to highlight the veteran's strengths, limitations, and internal/ external supports and service needs in order to optimize the veteran's functional status. The incumbent demonstrates an understanding of the range of treatment and skills needed for all adult patients including geriatric patients related to their physical limitations, psychological needs and age associated illnesses and conditions. Referral to service providers - Throughout the course of treatment the social worker is the subject matter expert on VA and/or community resources. The social worker will collaborate with other service providers in reassessing the veteran's needs. The social worker is responsible for educating the veteran and/or caregiver of the available services and assisting them in establishing the appropriate referrals based on the veteran's preference or that of his surrogate decision-maker. Supportive & Empirically Based Counseling Therapy - Social worker will provide the veterans and their caregivers with ongoing supportive counseling. The purpose of such counseling is to deal with the psychosocial impact of coping with mental health and chronic/disabling illness. Additionally, the Social Worker may be required to attend VHA training on the provision of Evidenced-based psychotherapies to provider services. Once trained the incumbent would be expected to provide such treatments on an on-going basis. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Telework: Ad-hoc Available Virtual: This is not a virtual/remote position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: May be authorized for a highly qualified candidate. Recruitment incentives may be authorized to full-time, part time, or intermittent individuals in their first appointment as a Federal employee or to a newly appointed former Federal employee with at least a 90-day break in service. EDRP Authorized: Contact VISN17EDRP2@VA.GOV, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Preferred Experience: Experience practicing working with behavioral health populations Experience in working with interdisciplinary teams Experience working with Veterans/Family Experience in Mental Health Diagnosis Experience in Evidenced Based Treatment (EBT) with couples and families Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds."]

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