The Primary Purpose of this Position: Advanced knowledge of social work practice, advanced clinical social work, case management, and care coordination skills to meet the needs of Veterans with complex care and psychosocial needs, advanced clinical and case management application of social work principles. The Organizational Location of the Position is: Social Work Service at the Dallas campus of VA North Texas Health Care System (VANTHCS), Dallas, TX. 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/. Grade Determinations: Senior Social Worker, 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. 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: (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: Experience providing in conducting psychosocial assessments, case management services, identifying high risk for hospital re/admissions and difficulty with treatment adherence. Experience in care coordination, resource linkage, addressing social drivers of health, and advocating for patients' rights to access medical care, housing, financial assistance, and psychosocial support in medical settings. Proficiency in providing crisis intervention and short term counseling for patients coping with new diagnosis, treatment adherence, or other complex psychosocial stressors related to their chronic illnesses. Familiarity with healthcare systems, medical terminology, working in interdisciplinary teams to support patents managing chronic illnesses. Experience with diverse populations, understanding the intersection of social drivers of health and chronic illnesses. Experience working with an interdisciplinary team in a medical setting. Experience working independently and employing critical thinking skills when working with chronic illnesses. Ability to prioritize multiple tasks and meeting deadlines. Reference: SOCIAL WORKER QUALIFICATION STANDARD GS-0185 Veterans Health Administration. For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the GS-12 Physical Requirements: Light lifting, 15-44 lbs, straight pulling (1 hour), pushing (2 hours), Reaching above shoulder, Use of both fingers, Walking (3 hours), Standing (3 hours), Repeated bending (1 hour), Climbing, use of legs and arms, operation of motor vehicle, Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously, Far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20, Both eyes required, Depth perception, Ability to distinguish shades of colors, Hearing (aid permitted), Keyboarding (4-7 hours per day), Sitting (4-7 hours per day). ["VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf Duties include but are not limited to:The Senior Social Worker works with Veterans across VANTHCS, utilizing both the care coordination and integrated case management (CC & ICM) framework and the Whole Health Patient-Centered approach, collaborating with the Veteran's multidisciplinary team and/or specialty clinics, providing advanced/complex social work services across the care continuum. Incumbent assures timely, appropriate, and patient-centered care is provided during each stage of care and facilitates transitions across VHA facilities and with community providers. Works collaboratively with other clinicians and services to identify and address system challenges for enhanced care coordination across the region Develops a biopsychosocial assessment of the Veteran in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team, the Veteran, family, caregivers, and/or significant others, as appropriate. Incorporates complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of Veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved scope of practice and at a level appropriate to their licensure, including psychiatric diagnosis per current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact VISN17EDRP2@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more 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). 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: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 00000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized"]

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