Senior Social Worker

Full Job Description

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.

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/.

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: GS-12 Senior Social Worker 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: 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.

Preferred Experience: Experience providing therapy for a wide range of mental health problems, including co-morbid substance use disorders, using evidence based practice (EBP).

Preferably candidate will have experience working with Veterans and with primary care mental health integration.

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 generally sedentary. The work requires intermittent standing and walking, with periods of bending and sitting.

The work requires light lifting and carrying of light items (under 15 lbs.) such as charts, notes, reports, and binders.

Simple grasping and fine manipulation is required when using a keyboard to access a computer. The work requires the incumbent to travel for conducting visits in the community.

Work is typically performed in both a clinical and community-based setting which may expose the incumbent to the communicable diseases common to the Veteran population.

The work environment is adequately lighted and heated. The incumbent may be required to work an irregular tour and/or weekends as the need arises performs related duties as assigned. Major Duties:

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional The Senior Social Worker position is within the Mental Health & Behavioral Science Service (MHBSS) line at the Providence VA Healthcare Systems (VAPHS) at the New Bedford, MA location.

This position is full-time at 40 hours per week.

In addition to providing direct patient care, the psychologist has some administrative duties but does not have any collateral research or supervisory responsibilities.

The duties of the position include but are not limited to: Provides a full range of clinically indicated evaluations and interventions, including consultation, risk assessment, functional assessment, diagnostic evaluation, psychoeducation, and individual, couples, family, and group psychotherapy.

Selects and provides the most appropriate psychotherapeutic techniques in providing quality care, including evidence-based care for mental, behavioral, or emotional disorders, as well as adjunctive treatments and interventions for medical conditions (including but not limited to chronic pain, sleep issues, weight management, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, etc.).

Best practices, practice guidelines, measurement-based care, and evidence-based treatment protocols are utilized to the extent feasible in all therapeutic encounters.

Completes intakes and makes appropriate treatment recommendations based on these assessments and evaluations. May provide clinical supervision to trainees as available.

Attends and participates in treatment team meetings and serves as a consultant to other treatment providers.

Completes administrative functions, including report and progress note writing and attending discipline-specific, staff, service, and organizational meetings.

Responds to clinic consults, coordinates patient care, and assists with tracking clinic data.

Provides interdisciplinary clinical consultation and clinical guidance to mental health and medical staff, as needed.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday; 8:00am-430pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized for up to 15% of annual salary for highly qualified candidates.

Relocation Incentive: Authorized for up to 15% of annual salary for highly qualified candidates.

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive.

Contact Karen Chapman @karen.chapman@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) 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: Yes - as determined by the agency policy.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: F05612 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Notifications: Due to a critical staffing shortage, 38 U.S.C.

§ 7412 waives the requirement to apply Veterans' preference for this job announcement. Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action).

The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).

In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. This position is covered by a special rate.

Narrative responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) may be required from the selectee in order to proceed with the appointment.