Senior Social Worker

Full Job Description

The Senior Social Worker possesses advanced practice skills and judgment and at least two years in an area of specialized social work practice.

This Social Worker is assigned to a remote, highly rural Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) with no access to on-site supervision.

The Senior Social Worker is assigned to a highly rural patient population with complex and co-occurring physical, behavioral, and psychosocial problems requiring advanced and innovative psychosocial interventions.

Basic Requirements: a. Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States.

(Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g this part). b. 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. c. 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/. Grade Determinations: Senior Social Worker, GS-12 (1) 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.

(2) 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.

(3) 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.

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

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services. Major Duties:

VA Careers - Social Work: https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU VA Careers - Licensed Clinical Social Worker: https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/U_xC25QsN0w Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional The duties of this position include, but are not limited to: Conducts psychosocial screens and/or assessments of the Veteran in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team, the Veteran, family members, and significant others and develops a treatment plan with the Veteran based on this assessment.

Completes behavioral health clinical reminders for patients in assigned specialty clinics.

The incumbent conducts clinical reminders during clinic visits and, as needed, by telephone as clinic visit follow-ups.

The incumbent may also provide clinical support to non-assigned specialty clinics for behavioral health clinical reminders.

Uses advanced knowledge and mastery of theories and modalities required for the treatment of complex medical, behavioral, and psychosocial health care needs of Veterans in the above assigned clinics and specialty care programs.

Participates in the creation of the Veteran's treatment plan, with special attention to the psychosocial elements of the treatment plan and identifies needed psychosocial interventions.

Demonstrates an understanding of the range of treatment and skills needed for all adult patients related to their physical limitations, psychological needs, and age-associated illnesses and conditions.

The incumbent provides a full range of psychosocial treatment interventions, including, but not limited to Veteran and caregiver support for emotional needs, information and referral for financial and other resource needs provided by VA and community agencies, and appropriate and timely involvement of palliative and hospice care.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:30am to 4:00pm or 8:00am to 4:30pm (schedule may be negotiable for highly qualified candidates) Recruitment/Relocation Incentive: Authorizied 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: Ad Hoc only Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized