Senior Social Worker - Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)

Summary

The Senior Social Worker position within the VA Palo Alto Health Care System provides advanced-level clinical psychosocial and case management services to Veterans and their families. Working independently under Social Work leadership, the incumbent delivers specialized, high-level clinical practice to address complex biological, psychological, social, and environmental needs.

Duties

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00AM to 4:30PM Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position Relocation/Recruitment Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Available Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Available PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Available Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time off 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 VAI nsurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Functional Statement #: 11836-F VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU The incumbent is a Senior Social Worker and provides social work case management services as well as program coordination and development in the inpatient Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center (PRC), Comprehensive Rehab Center (CRC), residential Polytrauma Transitional Rehabilitation Program (PTRP) and Inpatient Spinal Cord Injury (SCI). Duties include, however, not limited to: Provides independent and expert clinical psychosocial and case management service in a specialized area of practice in the acute rehab Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center (PRC) and Spinal Cord Injury and/or the Polytrauma Residential Rehabilitation Program (PTRP). Responsible for the coordination of services with the following agencies: VHA, Department of Defense (DoD), Military Treatment Facilities (MTF), Military Medical Support Office (MMSO), Veteran Benefits Affairs (VBA), Vet Centers, as well as wide-ranging community agencies (e.g., child care agencies, housing facilities, financial institutions, employment agencies, etc.) to ensure the most appropriate comprehensive care. Independently provides a full range of assessment and evaluation services appropriate to the care setting. Formulates and implements a treatment plan, identifying the patient's problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and assistance needed, in collaboration with the patient, family, and interdisciplinary treatment team. Creates plans of action to ensuring assessment and crisis intervention services are maximized based on circumstances and availability of resources. Demonstrates leadership in developing and expanding professional intervention strategies. Provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and countinuing education programs for assigned social work staff.

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. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. 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. Licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work 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. 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/Education - The candidate must have at least two years of experience 9 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, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) 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. (b) Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. (c) 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. (d) 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. (e) 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. Assignments - For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently pra