This position is located in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Southeast Network (VISN 7), VA Augusta Health Care System (VAAHCS) in Augusta, Georgia located in Social Work Service for Intensive Community Mental Health Recovery Services. The Senior Social Worker functions at the advance license level, independently, and provides clinical psychosocial services at an advanced practice level. 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. 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 (ICMHRS) - Intensive Community Mental Health Recovery Services, 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. AND Licensure/Certification. Individuals assigned as Senior Social Worker 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. AND Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate 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 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39 dated September 10, 2019.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. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services. ["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 position is a non-supervisory position that reports to the Program Coordinator, Supervisory Social Worker, or Chief of Social Work or designee(s). The Senior Social Worker (ICMHRS) - Intensive Community Mental Health Recovery Services, will provide a full range of advance practice psychological assessment services and diagnose mental disorders, particularly for complex or unusually difficult patients. Incumbent will provide education to patients, family members, and significant others. Incumbent will provide comprehensive, evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions, including individual, family, and group psychotherapy. Incumbent will provide consultation to professional staff within the Social Work Service and to community providers, concerning clinical assessment findings and appropriate treatment plans for patients. Incumbent will be responsible for developing, implementing, and documenting the psychotherapeutic treatment plan for an assigned case load of patients, including prompt completion of clinical reminders. Incumbent will function independently as a member of Charlie Norwood VAMC Medical Staff with clinical privileges. The Senior Social Worker assists with program development, evaluation, and effectiveness. Incumbent will take an active role in the Joint Commission and Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) preparation and surveys. Assist with development and implementation of methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in assigned specialty area, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services. The incumbent can demonstrate the ability to design changes based on empirical findings Administers information and analytical systems to evaluate and enhance the quality of service provided to patients. Develops and implements information systems to track service activities including visits, referrals, inpatient days, patient demographics, equipment utilization and patient satisfaction. Develops implements and evaluates clinical guidelines and protocols to establish appropriate utilization of services. Responsible for key project activities related to the planning, development, and implementation of the project component. Workload directed by this position may occur at one or more locations that are physically removed from the main unit or facility under conditions that make day-to-day supervision difficult to administer. The incumbent has experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgement with at least two years in an area of specialized social work practice. The incumbent must be licensed at the advanced practice level and be able to supervise others for licensure. Other duties and responsibilities may be assigned by the assigned Supervisor and/or Social Work Executive/Chief as needed for the benefit of the Veteran, family, and quality of services provided. Additionally, the incumbent may be relocated to another office, or building, to include Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC), to support the mission of the medical center. The individual may be required to work an irregular tour of duty, to include weekends, depending on the needs of the service and medical center: The individual will participate in the medical center's social work on-call rotation, as required. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm. Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized. EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact Lena Gowder, lena.gowder@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) 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 Eligible. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 55028F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized."]

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