Senior Social Worker

Full Job Description

This Senior Social Worker position serves the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks (VHSO), Social Work Service, Office of Community Care (OCC) and is responsible for the management, coordination and provision of social work services to Veterans and their families approved for community care.

Basic Requirements: 1. United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. 2. English Language Proficiency.

Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). 3. Education.

VHA Social Worker must 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. 4. 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/.

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 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.

Licensure/Ceritification: 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 knowledge, skills and abilities (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.

Note: KSAs must be clearly reflected in your resume under description of duties to be found qualified for this position/grade level.

Preferred Experience: Experience participating in the discharge planning process with other disciplines Experience communicating effectively with people from diverse backgrounds Experience using advance practice skill and judgement Experience providing full range of social work services Reference: 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 GS-12.

Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for this occupation, see duty section for essential duties of this position.

May require standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, pulling, and pushing.

May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment.

Work Environment: Work is performed in an office clinic setting with minimal risks that requires normal safety precautions; the area is adequately lighted heated and ventilated.

However, the work environment requires someone with the ability to handle several tasks at once and sometimes stressful situations. Major Duties:

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Duties of the Senior Social Worker include, but are not limited to: Conducts chart reviews to determine eligibility and needs of Veterans and family members.

Active participant in the discharge planning process with office of community care and other disciplines.

Assists case managers in office of community care and community hospitals execute discharge plans in a manner that is timely and appropriate. Provides individual, and family counseling as appropriate.

Provides consultation/education to Veterans and families on community resources, advance directives and VA benefits. Acts as a consultant to other team/staff members.

Acts as liaison between VHSO and community hospitals, to include outreach, marketing and public relation duties as needed.

Provides case management to Veterans and families, as needed, throughout the continuum of care.

Provides a full range of social work services within commonly accepted standards of social work practice which includes case work, individual, family counseling, discharge planning, case management, end of life care, and other services as appropriate.

Provides wellness/prevention education as appropriate. Coordinates treatment and communicate with the care lines to facilitate continuity of care for Veterans.

Participates in committee assignments, as deemed necessary by the service manager.

Maintains data and statistical compilations to comply with Joint Commission, VA and medical center policy and procedures.

Assists patients and their significant others with coping and dealing with the loss and grief experiences in disability, terminal illness and death.

Documents social work interventions and activities in patient's clinical record utilizing CPRS and ensure appropriate hand off when transferring of patient care.

Participates in a rotation of on-call social workers, including modification of tour of duty to accommodate patient care needs on weekends.

Provides consultation/education to medical residents on social work practice and VA policy and procedure.

Would need to be able to operate a government vehicle, so a valid state driver's license is required.

If transporting Veteran patients, must take mandatory annual physical and driver training Provides services both in the VA medical center, Community-Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) and in community hospitals.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm (Subject to change based on the needs of the service) 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: Available (Ad Hoc) Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 564-00787-F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized