Summary

The Senior Social Worker in the interdisciplinary VA SORCC Pain Clinic is an advanced practice clinician whose duties and responsibilities center on the treatment and care management of Veterans enrolled in the VA SORCC Active Management of Pain (AMP) clinic within the Pain Management Clinic, which lies within the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation clinic.

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 SW Licensure Summary by State
• Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/
• 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, GS-12 (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
• 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
• Preferred Experience: Working with Veterans, specifically assisting those dealing with Chronic Pain and/or Veterans with Limb Loss and/or Veterans with Progressive, degenerative Neurological Conditions (i.e
• ALS, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, etc.) Reference: 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 Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services.

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 Functions or Scope of Assigned Duties: Develops a comprehensive bio-psych-social spiritual assessment of the Veteran individually and in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team, the veteran, family members and significant others
• It includes the Veteran's strengths, limitations, and internal/external supports and service needs to optimize the Veteran's functional status
• Demonstrates an understanding of the range of treatment and skills needed for all adult Veterans and their families including geriatric Veterans related to their physical limitations, psychological needs and age associated illnesses and conditions
• Assesses the full range of psychiatric issues using advanced clinical training, insight, and experience to interpret data and need for services
• Has the ability to make crisis assessments in multiple settings to assist other hospital staff with identification and initiation on need services
• Performs insightful assessment of serious and complicated cases involving psychiatric, catastrophic medical conditions, dementia and other high-risk diagnoses
• Assesses risk factors and develops a preliminary disposition plan involving the Veteran, family, or significant others
• Develops and implements services needed for the families of Veterans in crisis or high risk
• Completes comprehensive chronic pain assessments
• Completes opioid risk assessments
• Screens/assesses for inclusion/exclusion in various pain programs
• Triage/screening of Primary Pain consults or designates responsible person
• Completes screenings and assessments of complex pain management needs
• Independently evaluates the Veteran's situation and needs utilizing professional judgment and advanced practice skills to integrate the information obtained in the psychosocial assessment, other disciplines assessment's and arrives at an appropriate DSM diagnosis
• Makes independent professional decisions and recommendations for agency actions
• Independently assesses pain treatment/opioid risk/mental health and SUD assessments
• Responsible for coordinating the interdisciplinary staff, veteran and family in the development, documentation, maintenance, and achievement of an individualized treatment plan
• Responsible for working with staff, veterans, family, and community resources to set and work to achieving the Veteran's treatment goals
• Provides independent consultation and makes recommendations to interdisciplinary team members on course of treatment
• Coordinates screening of patients for specific programs
• Adjusts the Treatment plan and interventions based on changing needs and response to interventions
• Initiates and effects changes in methods and interventions to promote efficient practice and to improve patient outcomes
• Effectively uses professional skills, objectivity, and insight
• Modifies services to best meet the treatment needs of Veterans and to promote efficient practice
• Work Schedule:8:00AM - 4:30PM, Monday - Friday Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade)
• 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 #: 00000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized