Summary

The Incumbent independently provides clinical psychosocial and case management services at an advanced practice level to eligible veterans and their family members in the Mental Health Access Clinic. The Mental Health Access Clinic provider possess knowledge and experience in the relationship between medical and psychological aspects of health and disease.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

• Citizenship
• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy
• 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
• English Language Proficiency
• Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)
• Differentiating Independent Practice from Advanced Practice Level
• Experience must be evaluated to differentiate between independent practice and advanced practice levels
• A social worker practicing at the independent level has a generalized knowledge of practice - (which is required for all social workers at the full performance level and above.) - whereas the social worker practicing at the advanced level has specialized knowledge of practice typically related to a particular diagnosis or patient population
• The advanced practice social worker can be further differentiated from the independent practice social worker by their ability to expand clinical knowledge in the profession - provide consultation and guidance to colleagues - role model effective social work practice skills - teach or provide orientation to less experienced social workers - develop innovations in practice interventions - and provide clinical supervision for social work licensure or certification
• A social worker with advanced practice skills and personal qualifications that meet the standard for the senior social worker will have passed an advanced generalist or clinical Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) examination and be assigned to a position that requires use of the advanced practice skills in order to be considered for the senior social worker grade
• 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 (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: 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: Familiarity working with Veterans in the Mental Health Access Clinic - a serving Veterans diagnosed with same day mental health needs and/or a serious mental illness
• Familiarity and skill in evidence-based practices is important for this role - while working in a Veteran Centric environment
• At least two years should be in an area of specialized social work practice in mental health and substance abuse treatment
• The incumbent has a post 2 years independent clinical license or certification by a state at the advanced practice level - which includes an ASWB advanced generalist or clinical examination - unless they are grandfathered by the state in which they are licensed to practice at the advance practice level
• The Senior Social Worker 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
• 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 physical demands of this position involve active listening - reading - observing and evaluating verbal and nonverbal behavior - walking - speaking - bending - carrying light items such as paper - books - small parts - writing reports - writing clinical notes - using office equipment such as computers - telephones - fax machines - photocopy machines - and possibly driving an automobile
• The work is performed in an urgent care clinical setting that exposes the incumbent to the communicable disease common to the diseases that are present within the Emergency Department
• Strenuous physical activity is not required.

Duties

• VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU VA Careers - Licensed Clinical Social Worker: https://youtube.com/embed/U_xC25QsN0w Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Major Duties: Completing biopsychosocial assessments and developing treatment plans - provides emergency evaluations requested by primary care providers and completes suicide evaluations and safety plans
• Utilizing evidenced based therapies to address brief - problem focused issues
• Determining the appropriateness of the patient receiving services in the specialized mental health clinic setting and developing short term treatment plans for the patient
• Providing timely and sufficient feedback to members of the Mental Health Access Clinic interdisciplinary team regarding findings and recommendations for mental health treatment
• Documenting care of patients within 24 hours
• Veterans treated come from a wide geographic area
• their health care and psychosocial problems and needs are complex and require a high degree of clinical oversight and creative problem-solving
• Services are provided in an ambulatory clinic setting
• Responsible for maintaining 80% utilization compliance of clinical modalities of care for veteran population phone - face to face - and virtual
• Performing specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness
• Incorporating 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
• Providing individual - group - and family psychotherapy and advanced level case management interventions used in the treatment of veterans with serious medical or psychiatric disorders
• On an outpatient basis - finding a suitable means of treatment and comprehensive discharge plans to help veterans and/or significant others cope and manage with overwhelming - stressful environments
• Discharging plans and treatments are aimed at helping veterans find practical solutions to problems and circumstances
• Making decisions are based on the senior social worker's advanced practice skills - professional judgment and expertise regarding the veteran's self-care capability - the family support system - the veteran's health care needs and possible consequences
• Developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the Mental Health Access Clinic - utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services
• Demonstrating the ability to design changes based on empirical findings
• Offering consultation to colleagues and graduate students on the psychosocial treatment of patients - rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills
• Demonstrating the ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the special area of practice and to provide supervision for licensure or specialty certifications
• Performing other related duties assigned
• Work Schedule: Monday-Friday - 8:00am - 4:30pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized 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: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 260342F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized