Senior Social Worker

Full Job Description

This position is located within the Orlando VA Healthcare System, a Level 1a facility, which provides a state-of-the-art continuum of services, education and resources to Veterans and caregivers of Veterans with complex needs.

The Senior Social Worker works in the Oncology/Radiation Oncology Clinic specialty medical area providing services to Veterans being treated for illness or diseases associated with Oncology.

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. English Language Proficiency.

Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written. English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). 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 tohttp://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/ Grandfathering Provision.

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 and 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.

Two years of specialized experience in Oncology and/or Radiation Oncology social work are highly preferred. Ability to independently complete comprehensive psychosocial assessment.

Ability to communicate effectively with peers, Veterans and families. Advanced skills in care coordination and case management for patients with complex behavioral and medical needs. Reference.

For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements.

Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation, see Duties section for essential job duties of the position.

Position requires walking throughout the clinic and/or Medical Center, standing for extended periods of time, and involves sitting at a computer and in counsel and consultation with Veterans and interdisciplinary teams.

Work is performed in a wide range of settings, including office/clinic setting with minimal risks that require normal safety precautions; the area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated.

The position requires the ability to handle multiple tasks in sometimes stressful situations while engaging in counsel and consultation with Veterans and interdisciplinary teams. Major Duties:

Duties and functions of the Oncology Specialty Care Senior Social Worker include but are not limited to the following: The incumbent possesses experience working with advanced medical disease process with expertise in areas of medical and surgical oncology, end of life, and radiation.

The incumbent has advanced knowledge and mastery of theories and modalities used in the specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness.

Incumbent performs specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness.

Incumbent incorporates complex multiple causations in differential diagnosis and treatment of veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.

The Incumbent demonstrates the ability to determine priority for services and provide specialized treatment services.

The incumbent has advanced and expert 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 interventions used in the treatment of veterans with Cancer or other oncology related diagnosis.

Develops and implements methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the medical specialty area of Oncology, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services.

Incumbent is able to demonstrate the ability to design changes based on empirical findings.

Offers consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in the specialty area of Oncology, rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social social work practice skills.

The incumbent has primary responsibility for providing education on advance health care planning, will address Advance Directives Discussion, Advance Directives, Goals of Care planning/conversations in accordance with the standards in their work area.

The incumbent will provide education to medical providers, mental health providers and staff in general regarding the role of the social worker in the Oncology clinic.

The incumbent will also be assigned as needed additional duties within the Medical Specialty Clinics not to exceed more than half of responsibilities to the Oncology Clinic.

The incumbent will fulfill ethical responsibilities to Veterans, colleagues and VA in accordance with relevant discipline Code of Ethics, VHA Code of Ethics, and local Ethics policies, which include but is not limited to compliance with all laws and regulations related to confidentiality and release of information, and protecting Veterans' personal identifying information.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00am - 4:30pm Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases.

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: Ad-hoc, based on service needs Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: Senior Social Worker (Oncology Specialty Care) GS-0185-12, 80395F