The mental health social worker practices social work in the Mental Health Service Line. The incumbent has responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. He/she is assigned to work with the mental health patient population with highly complex mental health conditions. 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). Grade Determinations:GS-12 Senior Social Worker. 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. Individuals assigned as Senior social worker must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and 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. Assignment: 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. Preferred Experience: None References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G39 dated September 10, 2019. Physical Requirements: This position involves primarily walking, talking, driving, use of the telephone etc. Moderate carrying and lifting, 15-44 lbs. Reaching above shoulders; Use of fingers; Walking 1-4 hours; Standing 4 hours. Operation of a motor vehicle to transport patients and materials is required. ["Duties include but not limited to: The Social Worker provides medical social work services on various units within the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center. Services include high quality case management, clinical treatment, advocacy, and coordination of linkages to other appropriate VA of community service providers/agencies as needed by the Veteran and their family members. Duties may include but not limited to: Assess for psychosocial problems, often at a time when the veteran is experiencing crisis and include the provision of short-term, solution-focused counseling with veterans and/or their family members/significant others. Referrals typically originate from members of the interdisciplinary team, from veterans and/or their family members/significant others coming as walk-ins to seek assistance, and from community professionals. Independently performs case finding functions and outreach, identifying and screening patients for psychosocial needs. Incumbent must possess the knowledge and ability to independently implement treatment modalities, provide counseling or psychotherapy for individuals, families and groups. Independently conducts psychosocial assessments. Develops plans in collaboration with the Veteran/family and with the interdisciplinary treatment team. Incumbent possess the skills to offer psychosocial interventions and measures outcomes to interventions. 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 and provides case management services. Incumbent 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 diagnosis, 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. Work Schedule: Multiple work schedules to be discussed during the interview process Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 10109F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required"]

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