Senior Social Worker

Summary

Senior Social Workers (SSWs) are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level. SSWs typically practice in major specialty treatment programs, responsible for clinical program development and ensuring effectiveness. SSWs are assigned to settings without social work supervision, such as CBOCs or satellite clinics, addressing special patient populations with highly complex health or mental health problems requiring expert-level psychosocial interventions.

Duties

VA Careers - Licensed Clinical Social Worker: https://youtube.com/embed/U_xC25QsN0w Function or scope of assigned duties: Independently performs case finding functions and outreach, identifying and screening patients for psychosocial needs. Must possess the knowledge and ability to independently implement treatment modalities, and provide counseling or psychotherapy for individuals, families, and groups. Independently conducts psychosocial assessments. Identifies high-risk patients and provides appropriate intervention case management services. Independently diagnoses Veterans according to the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or other recognized diagnostic manuals of mental disorders. Develops treatment plans in collaboration with the Veteran and/or family and with the interdisciplinary treatment team. Possesses the skills to offer psychosocial intervention and utilizes professional judgment in determining the method and techniques to be used. Acts as a subject matter expert and liaison with community agencies. Coordinates community-based services, including information and referral to or from other VA programs, government programs, and community agency programs. Has knowledge and experience in the use of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures. Identifies high-risk patients and provides appropriate intervention case management services. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm/7:30am-4:00pm ( subject to changed based on agency needs) Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (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 existing pay, 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 Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Functional Statement #: 520-00706-F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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: Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified U.S 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: 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. 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 tohttp://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:In addition to the basic requirements stated above, the following qualification criteria must be met for each grade. The candidate's qualifications must clearly demonstrate the level of competence required for the grade. Experience: 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 and 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. 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. Licensure: 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: Must be fully licensed. Must have 5 years of mental health experience. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please