Clarification from the agency

If you are a current, permanent federal employee, you should apply under CBST-10912169-21-SMB.

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Performs specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness, including adjustment to chronic or life threatening diagnoses. Incumbent incorporates complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.

The incumbent independently provides clinical psychosocial and case management services at an advance practice level to eligible active duty service members, veterans and their family members to meet biological, psychological, social and environmental needs. The incumbent will coordinate and manage social work and community services for this patient population to ensure the best possible care in accordance with the VA Prime Care System of Care. The role of Senior Social Worker is accountable for assessing, delivering, managing and evaluating services to Prime Care clients and families in need of psychosocial services. These functions include the expeditious case management of socially complex issues within the significantly large, active Prime Care Clinic population.

The incumbent serves as primary care social work faculty for the Center of Excellence [CoE] in Primary Care Education. The CoE in Primary Care Education is an Patient Aligned Care Team [PACT] model of care designed to provide inter-professional clinical education for trainees in a primary care setting. Incumbent faculty will serve as the social work subject matter expert for CoE and providing clinical supervision/mentorship of the assigned social work intern.

Incumbent will be responsible for fulfilling the university and Veterans Care and Transitional Service requirements for field instruction for the CoE SW intern and fulfillment of CoE faculty duties. Incumbents CoE faculty duties include but are not limited to providing didactic presentations to CoE trainees including other disciplines, participating as an interdisciplinary team member for the CoE panel of patients. May be responsible for also include CoE team huddles, weekly meetings, monthly planning meetings, faculty & curriculum meetings. Incumbent, along with social work training director, will provide social work feedback and input on CoE proposed curriculum and participate in CoE faculty development. Incumbent is responsible for organizing, setting priorities, meeting deadlines and evaluation of faculty CoE data collection/reporting, quality/performance improvement and special projects.

The Senior Social Worker administers information and analytical systems to evaluate and enhance the quality of service provided to patients. Develops and implements information systems to track service activities including visits, referrals, inpatient days, patient demographics, equipment utilization and patient satisfaction.

The Senior Social Worker is assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns.

The Prime Care Senior Social Worker works collaboratively with the MEDVAMC OEF/OIF Care Management Program Coordinator in providing direct case management services to severely injured (SI) and any identified non-SI veterans assigned to their clinics. Is actively involved in monthly staffing with the OEF/OIF Care Management Team.

Provides individual, group, and family psychotherapy or counseling and advanced level case management interventions used in the treatment of veterans with multiple chronic diseases. The Prime Care Senior Social Worker demonstrates the capacity to expand clinical knowledge in the profession, provide consultation and guidance to colleagues and stakeholders, and role model effective social work practice skills. Apart from providing consultation and case management on difficult and complex clients, the incumbent consults with medical providers and Prime Care team members on achieving positive outcomes for the veteran and the facility.

As a member of the Social Work Service the incumbent is accountable and responsible for:

• Adhering to the Social Work Service Care Line policies and guidelines
• Attending required meetings and training? Providing sufficient clinical care for competency assessment, peer review, and credentialing and privileging processes
• Participation in a peer review process, as assigned
• On-call duties on a rotating basis, as assigned
• Serving as mentors, including new employee orientation, if privileged to perform and as assigned
• Participating in a competency assessment process
• Providing LCSW supervision, if privileged to perform and as assigned
• Willingness to serve on Council and/or committees
• Participating in data collection and practice standardization activities
• Providing information to Social Work Council regarding their needs as an individual Social Worker

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to a background/security investigation
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENTS
a. 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).
b. 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.
c. 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/.

GRADE LEVEL REQUIREMENTS
(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.
(3) 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.

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).

References: VA Handbook 5005/120, PART II, Appendix G39

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.

Physical Requirements: Must be in overall good health, able to sit at a desk working at a computer, engage in light to moderate physical activity including sitting, walking, bending, and carrying supplies. Social Worker must be able to perform primarily moderate physical demands, with occasional light and sedentary duties, exercise patience, and control emotions, with reasonable accommodation if necessary, without endangering the health and safety of the social worker and others.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, résumé, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.