Senior Social Worker Counselor

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.

English Language Proficiency: Must be proficient in both spoken and written English in accordance with VA policy.

Education: Must 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 if that social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a Master of Social Work.

Licensure: Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-185 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 on the OHRM website.

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

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.

ASWB Examination: Must have passed the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) advanced generalist or clinical examination, unless your advanced practice license was granted prior to the state administering the ASWB or your licensure was obtained in the state of California and you have a CA advanced practice 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.

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 does not inherently include physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with a workplace accommodation.

A pre-placement exam is not required. NOTE: This position is multi-disciplinary and can be filled by: Senior Social Worker & License Professional Mental Health Counselor.

Each discipline is announced separately, and applicants must apply to the announcement for which they are qualified. Major Duties:

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Duties include but are not limited to: Direct Service Provision: Independently implement professional clinical practice applications in the provision of readjustment counseling to individuals, couples, families, and groups.

Risk Assessment and Crisis Intervention: Provides consultation and associated support for staff developing crisis intervention strategies, which includes assessment, safety planning, and complex treatment planning using independent clinical judgment using family systems theory/therapy.

Care Coordination: Communicates routinely with inter-professional team members and leadership to communicate about program and patient issues for in-depth problem solving, while consistently modeling ethical and professional behaviors and standards to include multicultural awareness.

Serves on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, Medical Center and Zone, District, or national level, or in the community as deemed appropriate by the Vet Center Director.

Outreach: Acts as clinical consultant to the Vet Center outreach workers to improve their sensitivity to clinical indicators and basic interviewing questions to expedite the transition of prospective clients contacted on outreach to actual Vet Center readjustment counseling clients.

Actively Coordinates with Vet Center Outreach Specialists to ensure seamless referral of individuals engaged in the community at outreach events.

Documentation/Administrative Responsibilities/Consultation: Actively participate in one-to-one clinical and administrative oversight during administrative and clinical staff meetings as directed by the Vet Center Director.

Documents clinical interactions and services delivered as required by policy.

Screening and Assessment: Works directly with eligible individuals to establish a therapeutic relationship sufficient for completing all required readjustment counseling intake procedures to include an assessment of risk for self-harm and psychosocial stressors.

Counseling Planning/Goal Setting: Based on the outcome of the intake, will develop and periodically update an individualized readjustment counseling service plan that reflects a course of therapeutic and psychosocial interventions, inclusive of outcome measurements.

Clinical Supervision, Consultation, Training, Review and Evaluation: Provides clinical consultation services to other staff members with clinical service responsibilities under the supervision of the Vet Center Director.

The scope of clinical consultation services will include all aspects of direct readjustment counseling service such as advising on the clinical assessment, service planning, and case coordination with community providers when the individual's needs are beyond the scope of services available at a Vet Center.

Will provide clinical consultation and supervision to meet the requirements for independent licensure with special attention to providing to unlicensed staff/trainees systematic clinical supervision towards licensure.

Will provide clinical oversight (chart auditing, etc) as outlined by policy.

Team cohesion and coordination: Actively participate in staff meetings designed to promote team building and staff development.

Other Duties: May perform other duties as assigned as appropriate for the grade and assignment and which are within the scope of practice Work Schedule: Monday-Friday; 8:00a-4:30p; Some nights and weekends required bases on the needs of the Vet center.

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized. Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized. EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive.

Contact VHA.ELRSProgramSupport@va.gov,, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance.

Learn more 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: Not available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 86327-A Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.