This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply. Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.). Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g. 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). 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). Senior Social Worker GS-12 Experience: 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 and 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: 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. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit Social Worker Qualification Standard. 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: s. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services. ["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 Senior Social Worker position is in Mental Health services at the VA Maine Healthcare Systems, located at the Augusta (Togus), ME location. The Social Worker in this position acts in the role of senior social worker to an interdisciplinary team of professionals and trainees working with Veterans with a range of psychiatric disorders, provides supervision and consultation as appropriate, provides educational opportunities, provides direct patient care via individual and groups, participates in program development in consultation the Department of Mental Health, and provides administrative duties and reports related to such, as assigned by leadership. The incumbent has wide latitude for determining day to day work activities and decisions and is expected to make independent judgments and decisions in providing services to Veterans, regardless of complexity and difficulty of the problem presented. Duties may include, but are not limited to: Provision of direct patient care: individual and group therapy. Knowledge of psychodynamics, substance use disorders and case management. Refers to appropriate services as clinically indicated (i.e., Medicine, Vocational programs, etc.). Documents psychiatric evaluations, psychosocial, treatment plans, interventions, referrals, follow-up appointments Documents per protocol for high-risk Veterans Consults with outside organizations, including the Vet Center Attends weekly staff meetings Adheres to established guidelines of waiting periods (i.e. for OEF/OIF Veterans) Involved in, and performs required processes, to meet performance monitors and clinical reminders Participate in service and hospital meetings Knowledge of community resources that Mental Health/PTSD/Anxiety Veterans may utilize Work Schedule: Full-time; Monday - Friday; 07:30am-4:00pm EDRP Authorized: Contact vhaedrpprogramsupport@va.gov for questions/assistance on how to begin the application process. Learn more EDRP Assignment Code: B7 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: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: F05910 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required NOTIFICATIONS: Due to a critical staffing shortage, 38 U.S.C. § 7412 waives the requirement to apply Veterans' preference for this job announcement. This position is in the Excepted Service. Narrative responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) will be required from the selectee in order to proceed with the appointment. This position is a AFGE Bargaining Unit position. This position is covered by a special rate or locality-based comparability pay. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Selectee may be required to work at any VA Maine Healthcare System campus, as needed. May be required to attend conference at other facilities or other VA sites on occasion. The incumbent may be required to travel to other VA campuses and CBOC's. Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. Veterans' preference does not apply for other current permanent Federal agency employees."]

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