Career Center

Summary

The Senior Social Worker is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. He/she may be assigned to work with special patient populations with highly complex health problems - such as high risk patients with multiple diagnoses in need of crisis intervention. They provide effective coordination and chronic disease management. He/she and understands the influences that family and community have in impacting the health-care needs of Veterans.

Qualifications

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
• 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/
• 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
• Preferred Experience: 5 years of case management - discharge planning - and care coordination experience 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
• The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-12 to GS-12
• Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019 - Employee Occupational Health Services

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-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf (1) Must have a high level of skill and expertise to establish and maintain effective therapeutic relationships with Veterans in the Primary Care Clinic and/or their families
• The incumbent is able to independently work with Veterans and their families who are experiencing a wide range of complicated medical - psychiatric - emotional - behavioral - financial - legal - and psychosocial problems
• Effective social work in the Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) context often occurs over a series of several visits
• (2) Must independently complete thorough psychosocial assessments to determine the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and/or their families
• The incumbent must be able to utilize this assessment in facilitating the Veteran's maximum use of treatment for attainment of the highest level of independence that is safely possible
• (3) Must actively participate as a member of the interdisciplinary treatment team and actively participate through collaboration with Veterans and family as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members in the development and implementation of treatment goals and interventions
• (4) Must possess a working knowledge and experience in use of medical and mental health diagnoses - disabilities - and treatment procedures - including acute - chronic and traumatic illnesses - substance abuse disorders - common medications and their effects/side effects - and medical terminology
• (5) Must facilitate action for community placements through collaboration with Veterans and their families as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members to ensure that appropriate community placements are completed in a timely manner
• Community placements can involve but are not limited to referrals to group and family care homes - assisted living facilities - adult day health care programs - contract nursing homes - Community Living Centers - residential care homes - inpatient and outpatient hospice services
• (6) Must possess knowledge and ability to independently implement treatment modalities - provide educational classes - and/or supportive groups for Veterans and families - including shared medical appointments
• The social worker must be able to use and teach Veterans in the effective use of the My HealtheVet (MHV) system
• Must possess skill in using computer systems - especially the internet for Veterans who choose this modality to communicate with the team
• (7) Must provide consultation and education to Veterans and their families regarding community resources - VA benefits and specialty programs - and advance directives
• This includes the incumbent's knowledge of the process for accessing and/or coordinating appropriate community-based services - including information and referral for additional services from other VA programs - other government programs - and community programs
• (8) Must be available to provide consultation to other treatment team and staff members regarding psychosocial needs of Veterans and/or their families and the impact of the identified psychosocial problems on the Veteran's health care planning and compliance with treatment
• (9) Must possess skills and knowledge to provide case management services to Veterans and their families throughout the continuum of care
• Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm 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)