Senior Social Worker (PACT)

Summary

The VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System (VCBHCS) is seeking a Senior Social Worker (PACT) at the Treasure Hills VA Clinic in Harlingen.

Qualifications

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 - You must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f) Education Requirements: You must possess 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
• Note: A doctoral degree in Social Work may NOT be substituted for the master's degree in Social Work
• License or Certification* - You must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level
• 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 Licensure Requirement: You 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 must be able to provide supervision for licensure
• Experience Requirement: You must possess 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
• In addition to the experience above - you must demonstrate the following Knowledge - Skills and Abilities: 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: Experience working with special populations - palliative - hospice patients or medically complex patients
• Experience completing a thorough assessment of psychosocial needs and development and implementation of a treatment plan and providing community resource referral Medical Social Work case management experience including discharge planning
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12
• Physical Requirements: Light lifting - under 15 pounds Light carrying - under 15 pounds Straight pulling (1 hour) Pushing (1 hour) Reaching above shoulder Walking (3 hours) Standing (3 hours) Repeated bending (1 hour) Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously Near vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other Hearing (aid permitted) Keyboarding (4-7 hours) Sitting (4-7 hours)

Duties

• VA Careers - Social Work: Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Screening/Assessment: Completes an assessment of the Veteran in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team - the Veteran - family members and significant others
• Understands the problems of advancing age and have respect for the diverse needs of the aging Veteran population - being sensitive to human growth and development - age-appropriate needs and concerns of the geriatric Veteran and be able to provide current and advanced techniques to the treatment of this Veteran population
• It is the responsibility of the Social Worker - working within the interdisciplinary treatment team - to share in the development of a treatment plan with the Veteran based on this assessment
• Treatment Planning/Goal Setting: Responsible for contributing to the development of the treatment plan and setting achievable treatment goals with the Veteran and family members/caregiver
• Referral to service providers: Throughout the course of treatment - the Social Worker is the subject matter expert on VA and/or community resources
• Collaborates with other service providers in reassessing the Veteran's needs
• Responsible for educating the Veteran and family members/caregivers of the available services and assisting them in establishing the appropriate referrals based on the Veteran's preference or that of his surrogate decision-maker
• Resource Usage/Development: Responsible for using the current Social Work resource file of VA and community social service programs and enhancing the content to the benefit of Veterans
• Refers the Veteran to needed services
• Advocacy: Understands the difficulty of bureaucracy and will act as an advocate when it serves the best interest of the Veteran and family members/caregiver
• Educates and encourages the Veteran to advocate on his/her own behalf - thus fostering a sense of independence and empowerment
• Crisis Intervention: Experienced in making rapid assessments and developing crisis management plans
• Accesses multiple resource directories in addition to previously developed resources to meet the demands of a crisis
• In the event of a medical or psychiatric emergency - follows the protocol of his/her respective clinic and the facility at the WTVAHCS
• Provides crisis intervention services - seeking to address the cause as well as the presenting complaint - coordinates family conferences and serves as liaison to family members
• Incumbent maintains knowledge of Suicide Prevention policy and procedure - recognizes warning signs for suicide ideation or recent self-directed violence - and utilizes the identified screening tools to assess suicide risk
• Education/Health promotion and prevention: Provides education related to VA and community resources - entitlements - Advance Directives/Living Will and will refer Veterans and family members/caregiver to the appropriate interdisciplinary team member for identified health education needs
• ***DUTIES CONTINUED IN EDUCATION SECTION*** Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 8 AM - 4:30 PM Recruitment/Relocation 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: Ad-Hoc May Be Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,321 health care facilities, including 172 VA Medical Centers and 1,138 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics) to over 9 million Veterans enrolled in the VA health care program. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of our medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision care. Some medical centers also offer advanced services such as organ transplants and plastic surgery.

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