Summary

Primary purpose of this position is: Provides a variety of psychosocial assessments and case management services - short-term solution focused counseling and family services with individual Veteran and families who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric - medical - and social problems. Organization/Department: VA North Texas Health Care System - Social Work Service

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 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)
• 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
• Preferred Experience: Medical Inpatient and Outpatient Social Work Experience Experience working with an interdisciplinary team Experience working independently and employing critical thinking Experience addressing complex psychosocial factors Experience prioritizing multiple tasks and meeting deadline 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: Light lifting & light carrying (under 15 pounds) - straight pulling (1-2 hours) - pushing (1-2 hours) - reaching above shoulder - use of fingers - walking & standing (3 hours) - repeated bending (1 hour) - ability for rapid mental & muscular coordination simultaneously - near vision correctable to 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4 - far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other - hearing (aid permitted - frequent keyboarding (4-7 hours) - frequent sitting (4-7 hours).

Duties

• Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Duties include but not limited to: Coordination of Care and Case Management: The Senior Social Worker in the Emergency Department coordinates referrals/consults for non-institutional services such as Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) - Contract Community Nursing Home (CNH) - community skilled nursing facilities - Community Adult Day Health Care (CADHC) - hospice - transitional and supportive housing - skilled and non-skilled homecare services in collaboration with the interdisciplinary team members - and other VA and community-based services to meet veterans' needs - particularly related to social drivers of health
• Reviews progress notes from other providers to accurately determine the strengths and limitations of each Veteran being referred for VA and/or community-based services
• Screening/Assessment/Diagnosis: Independently evaluates Veterans and family members/significant others situation and arrives at a reasoned conclusion
• Interprets and explains VA's treatment and benefit programs
• Performs case finding functions and outreach - identifying and screening patients for psychosocial needs
• Discharge Planning/Treatment Planning/Goal Setting: The incumbent is responsible for ensuring that services provided are compliant with all regulations - policies - and procedures relevant to the population served and monitors medical center performance related to population served
• Works with patients and families who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric - medical - and social problems
• Independently provides crisis management in coordination with interdisciplinary team members and Veteran/family
• Treatment/Interventions: Incumbent provides individual - group - and family psychotherapy and advanced level case management interventions used in the treatment of veterans with polytrauma injuries - spinal cord injuries - traumatic brain injuries - visual impairment - post-traumatic stress disorder - addictions - and other serious disorders
• Resources and Referrals: The incumbent develops effective and strong relationships with community resources to ensure continuity of care and to promote successful transitions of services
• Incumbent has advanced skills in community partnership building and expertly represents Social Work Service
• Throughout the course of treatment - the social worker is the subject matter expert on VA and/or community resources
• The social worker will collaborate with other service providers in reassessing the veteran's needs
• Incumbent provides coordination of services for patients needing Mental Health ED assessment - making referrals - and engaging in strong \"hand-offs.\" Professional Evaluation/Education/Training/Supervision/Mentoring: Independently manages clinical evaluation of the professional services provided
• Devises methods of obtaining data and evaluates data to determine the effectiveness of treatment
• Serves as a mentor to other social workers
• Provides clinical supervision for unlicensed social workers - social worker licensed at the LMSW category and for social work associates
• The incumbent is viewed by social workers and the interdisciplinary team members as a senior clinician with advanced practice skills and expertise
• Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 4:00pm - 12:30am Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): May Be 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 #: 55032F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized