Senior Social Worker - Emergency Department/Inpatient Mental Health

Full Job Description

This social worker is responsible for behavioral and psychosocial health services for Veterans within the emergency department and inpatient mental health unit located at the Sioux Falls VA Health Care System.

The incumbent will serve a patient population with highly complex medical and mental health diagnoses.

The incumbent is required to exercise advanced judgement and decision making in the provision of evidence-based behavioral interventions, biopsychosocial assessments and risk assessments.

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: Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j, this part.

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 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.

Applicants must meet the requirements for providing supervision in the state where they are licensed at the advanced practice level and should list these qualifications within the assessment narrative and their resume.

Documentation is required if part of your state's requirements for providing supervision for licensure is beyond your licensure only (example: certification of continuing education credits).

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs (submission of a document with written demonstration of KSAs is highly recommended with application).

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.

All qualifying experience you possess must be clearly described in your application package. We will not make assumptions when reviewing applications.

Failure to demonstrate your experience in your resume may result in disqualification. It is strongly recommended that you write to each KSA in your application package.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12.

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

Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position.

Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination. Major Duties:

Major duties include, but are not limited to the following: The incumbent must use a high level of skill in assessing and treating behavioral and psychosocial concerns in collaboration with the Veteran and their identified support system The incumbent will conduct comprehensive psychosocial assessments and risk assessments and participate in development and implementation of treatment plans that guide Veteran care and highlight the Veteran's strengths, preferences, internal/external supports, and service needs in order to optimize the Veteran's functional status.

The incumbent will rapidly assess Veterans presenting with acute psychiatry emergencies and develop crisis management plans in conjunction with the treatment team.

The incumbent will provide intensive and comprehensive psychosocial case management and care coordination to facilitate appropriate discharge planning.

The incumbent will coordinate care with the interdisciplinary team, associated referral sources, and the behavioral/mental health care teams members to integrate psychosocial factors and evidence based treatment into case conceptualization and treatment planning.

The incumbent will possess advanced training in behavioral medicine, trauma-informed care, motivational interviewing, and working with special populations.

The incumbent will utilize a high level of skill and expertise to establish and maintain effective therapeutic relationships with Veterans and is able to work with Veterans and their families who are experiencing a wide range of complicated medical, psychiatric, emotional, behavioral, and psychosocial problems.

The incumbent will also utilize these skills to navigate team dynamics, promoting patient-centered and closed loop communication The incumbent will act as an advocate when it serves the best interest of the Veteran and family members/caregivers.

The incumbent will attempt to engage family in the treatment planning and discharge planning process when the Veteran consents.

The incumbent will possess a working knowledge and experience in use of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures, including acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses, and medical terminology which impact the patient population.

The incumbent will possess the knowledge and ability to independently implement treatment modalities, provide individual and group psychotherapy and assist with addressing Goals and Care and Advance Directive/Living Will with Veterans.

The incumbent will provide consultation and education to Veterans and their families regarding community resources, VA benefits and specialty programs, and and balance directives.

This includes the incumbent's knowledge of the process for accessing and/or coordinating community based service, including information and referral for additional service from other VA programs, and other government programs, and community programs.

The incumbent will facilitate referrals to other VA programs, other government programs, and community programs based on the Veteran's preference or that of the surrogate decision-maker.

The incumbent will provide consultation to other treatment team and staff members regarding psychosocial needs of the Veterans and/or their families and the impact of the identified psychosocial problems on the Veterans' health care planning, compliance with treatment, and discharge planning.

Eligible to serve as a field instructor or preceptor in the state of licensure, may supervise associated health trainee graduate students, and provides a training experience for them.

Works with students to develop training plans and goals. When assigned a student, incumbent will supervise training activities of the student and will adhere VHA Policy.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): 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: Not eligible Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

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