Senior Social Worker

Summary

The Senior Social Worker serves in a Community Based Outpatient Clinic - providing Veterans with case management - clinical treatment - advocacy - and coordination with VA and community services. Working with CBOC and interdisciplinary teams - the Social Worker also delivers Integrated Case Management for Veterans with complex needs - ensuring care is organized across settings and aligned with clinical requirements.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States
• (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3 - section A - paragraph 3g 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 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
• Loss of Licensure or Certification: Once licensed or certified - social workers must maintain a full - valid - and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment
• Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment
• Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019 - Employee Occupational Health Services
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)
• 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 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
• Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities
• In addition to the experience above - the candidate 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: Two years experience post advance practice clinical licensure Two years experience providing individual and group therapy using evidence-based modalities to treat depression and anxiety
• Two years experience providing assessment and mental health diagnosis Two years experience serving as part of a multidisciplinary/Interdisciplinary team Two years experience conducting suicide risk screens - assessments - and safety plans
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12
• Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary
• Some work may require movement between offices - hospitals - warehouses - and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work
• Work may also require walking/standing - in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site
• Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds.

Duties

• Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Major duties include - but are not limited to: - Ability to provide psychosocial treatment to a wide variety of individuals from various socioeconomic - cultural - ethnic - educational - and other diversified backgrounds
• This requires knowledge of human development and behavior (physical and psychological) - and the differential influences of the environment - society - and culture
• - Basic knowledge of psychosocial treatment modalities and ability to implement treatment modalities in working with individuals - families - and groups to achieve treatment goals
• This requires judgment and skill in utilizing supportive - problem solving - or crisis intervention techniques
• - Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients - staff - and representatives of community agencies
• Ability to communicate effectively - both orally and in writing - with people from varied backgrounds
• - Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses - disabilities - and treatment procedures
• This includes acute - chronic - and traumatic illnesses/injuries
• common medications and their effects/side effects
• and medical terminology
• - Basic skill in the use of computer software applications for drafting documents - data management - and tracking
• Ability to learn and utilize software programs in use by VHA
• - Knowledge of community resources - how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services - and ability to coordinate services
• - Ability to independently provide counseling and/or psychotherapy services to individuals - groups and families
• - Ability to provide consultation services to other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment
• - Ability to provide orientation and coaching to new social workers and social work graduate students
• Ability to serve as a field instructor for social work graduate students who are completing VHA field placements
• - Ability to independently evaluate his/her own practice through participation in clinical privileging - professional peer review - case conferences - research studies - or other organized means
• - Must have a current - valid - unrestricted driver's license and the ability to operate a government vehicle for occasional travel
• Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8am - 430pm 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) 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 only Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #:0000

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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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