Senior Social Worker

Full Job Description

The Senior Social Worker will provide face-to-face Substance Use Disorder evaluations.

The Senior Social Worker will function as the Liaison between the Lamp Clinic and other VANTHCS Mental Health Service programs to ensure appropriate coordination of care, and transitions of care for enrolled Veterans pertaining to SUD.

The Senior Social Worker provide SUD supportive care, educational and psychotherapeutic groups.

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 ofSocial 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) Advanced practice level social workers must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level which includes 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.

All states except California use a series of licensure exams administered by the ASWB. Information can be found at https://www.aswb.org/.

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: Case Management Assessments: Mental Health, Psychosocial, and Substance Use Disorders Completing CSSRS, CSRE, and Safety Plans Working with Veterans with Dual Diagnosis of Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Working with Veterans Receiving Services from an Opioid Replacement Clinic Providing individual, supportive, and Evidence Based Psychotherapy 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: The work is sedentary.

Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work.

Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site.

Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds." Major Duties:

The Senior Social Worker is the Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Specialist for the Lamp Clinic.

The SUD Specialist supports the Lamp Clinic by providing engagement and as needed ensuring continuity of care between the different subprograms of the Lamp Clinic.

The SUD Specialist provides intensive case management services and psychotherapy to Veterans as they transition from engagement and stabilization through the Lamp Clinic Opioid Replacement Clinic.

The SUD Specialist provides on-going early substance used treatment interventions, substance use case management, intensive case management, and substance use psychotherapy to promote harm reduction to sustained abstinence.

Duties include but are not limited to: Incumbent performs specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness, comorbid and homelessness.

Incumbent incorporates complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of Veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved scope of practice.

Incumbent has the ability to expand clinical knowledge in the progression, demonstrating innovation in the creation of new models of psychosocial assessment or intervention to identify and address specialized clinical needs.

Ability to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the specialty population or specialty treatment program.

Incumbent develops and implements methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services, utilizing outcome evaluations and use of evidence-based treatment modalities that are effective with Veterans who are living with homelessness, along with medically and psychiatrically complex conditions.

Incumbent also provides specialized assessments, and treatment planning, as well as homeless consultation, to other team members to provide interventions and strategies for engagement for difficult to engage clients.

The incumbent, using a recovery model framework, independently conducts comprehensive homeless, mental health, and comorbid assessments and develops treatment plans in collaboration with Veteran, family, and interdisciplinary treatment team.

The incumbent will monitor e-consults, complete assessments, and make recommendations to the HCHV Program in addition to provide direct clinical care to Veterans struggling with mental !health.

illness, comorbid and homeless concerns. The incumbent will assist Veterans in transportation when appropriate to link them to community services.

The incumbent develops and maintains effective partnerships with VANTHCS mental health, substance use disorder programs, homeless and other VANTHCS teams and programs and follows leadership guidelines regarding access to VA mental health, substance abuse and homeless programs within VISN 17, including use of VA contracted care as warranted.

Incumbent routinely participates in all HCHV ,Program meetings related to Veterans enrolled in substance use disorder programs to ensure good transitions of care for population served.

The incumbent works in homeless shelters associated with VANTHCS. The incumbent manages consults for the program.

The incumbent develops and provides ongoing training and in-services to multidisciplinary team members in area of expertise.

In addition to the specialty SUD specific job duties listed above the SUD Specialist is also required to perform the general social worker duties required as a clinician in the Mental Health Division.

VA Careers - Social Work: https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

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