Senior Social Worker (CBOC)

Full Job Description

This Social Worker is assigned to a Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) at VA Puget Sound Health Care System located in Washington with responsibility to provide direct services for Veterans, their families and caregivers.

VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS) is a Complexity Level 1a Facility and provides extensive primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary care in outpatient, inpatient, residential, and community settings.

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. 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 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/. 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 (KSAs).

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: Experience with case management or as a medical social worker.

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: Moderate lifting and carrying (15-44 lbs.), pushing, ability to distinguish basic colors, and hearing (aid may be permitted).

Environmental factors include working outside and inside, working closely with others, and working alone. Major Duties:

Duties include, but are not limited to: Conducts psychosocial assessments to determine needs of veterans and family members.

Actively participates in the treatment planning process with other disciplines.

Participates in discharge planning with other disciplines and will be responsible for ensuring that discharge plans are executed in a manner that is timely and appropriate.

Provides individual, family and group 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. Provides consultation/education to medical teams and providers on social work practice and VA policy and procedures.

Acts as liaison between VA and community resources, to include 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 and group counseling, discharge planning, case management and other services as appropriate.

Addresses issues such as Advance Directives and organ donation in accordance with the standards of their work area.

Provides wellness/prevention education and facilitate patient/family support groups as appropriate.

Will as appropriate, supervise the practice of social work students, or be a lead and mentor for less experienced social workers.

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 JCAHO, VA and medical center policies and procedures.

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

Documents social work interventions and activities which will include in patient's clinical record utilizing CPRS and/or Report of Contacts.

Ensures appropriate hand off when the Veteran is transferring care. Works independently with Veterans and their caregivers in a community setting.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Work Schedule: 8AM - 4:30PM, Monday - Friday Compressed: Authorized Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized 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) 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 Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

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