The incumbent in this position functions as the Senior Social Worker in the Chronic Pain and Wellness Clinic at the Rocky Mountain Regional VAMC, within VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Department of Veterans Affairs. The incumbent provides programmatic clinical and case management services for the Veterans receiving care within the Chronic Pain and Wellness Clinic. Services include direct patient care and representation of the clinic within the VA and the community. 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. Possess 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. Licensure. Possess a full and unrestricted license or certification by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. English Language Proficiency. Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English. Grade Determinations: Senior Social Worker, GS-12 Experience and 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. 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, 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. Preferred Experience: Experience working on psychiatric inpatient units and assessing for crisis evaluations. 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. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: The incumbent must be able to engage in personal safety skills and therapeutic containment methods from the Prevention and Management of Disruptive Behavior (PMDB) curriculum. ["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 The incumbent performs and is responsible for a combination of clinical and administrative functions including but not limited to: Case management and care coordination for Veterans with complex physical and psychiatric conditions, and psychosocial needs. Utilizes and/or refers to both VA and non-VA resources across the care continuum to address current medical, mental health and psychosocial needs. Collaborates with interdisciplinary teams across VHA health care systems to facilitate care coordination. Provides individual, group and family mental health interventions. Provides psychoeducational classes and psychotherapeutic support groups. Develops and implements methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the medical specialty area of chronic pain utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services. Offers consultation to colleagues on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in the specialty area of chronic pain, rendering professional opinions based on experience, expertise, and role modeling effective social work practice. Conducts psychosocial assessments and develops clinically driven treatment plans which will be developed with the Veteran's input. Assists Veterans in identifying disability resources, initiating applications, obtaining medical information and follow up paperwork as needed or appropriate. Provides education to medical providers and staff in general regarding the role of the social worker in the Chronic Pain and Wellness Clinic. Provides coverage for other programs within the Social Work Specialty Services team as needed. The Social Worker is responsible for the documentation associated with all clinical and administrative tasks in accordance with VHA. Reports of Abuse/Neglect are completed by the Social Worker and follow VHA and State requirements. The Social Worker is a mandated reporter and will report abuse or neglect in accordance with applicable licensure board, NASW Code of Ethics and VHA guidelines. The incumbent may be requested to provide supervision of social workers for advanced practice licensure or the graduate trainee program, act as a mentor/provide orientation for less experienced social workers, participate or chair committees or groups that impact social work practice and/or lead roll out of evidence-based practices."]
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,321 health care facilities, including 172 VA Medical Centers and 1,138 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics) to over 9 million Veterans enrolled in the VA health care program. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of our medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision care. Some medical centers also offer advanced services such as organ transplants and plastic surgery.
