Clarification from the agency

Open to current permanent federal employees only.

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The Hospice and Palliative Care Senior Social Worker is an independent professional specialized social worker assigned to Geriatrics and Extended Care Service and aligned with the Palliative Care Consult team at the Sacramento VA Medical Center on inpatient acute care and intensive care units, in the Emergency department (ED), in the outpatient palliative care clinics, and on the Behavioral Health Intensive Care Unit (BHICU). The incumbent serves a Veteran patient population with highly complex health and mental health problems. The incumbent directs/coordinates clinical and psychosocial services and is accountable for the overall effectiveness of the services provided, modifying services to best meet the treatment needs of Veterans to promote efficient practice. The social worker will provide services via telephone or video contact and face-to-face visits.

As a Senior Social Worker, the incumbent has experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, and at least two years of experience in an area of specialized social work practice. The incumbent must be licensed at the advanced practice level.

The incumbent requires specialized knowledge of issues related to end-of-life and palliative care, including various end-of-life diagnoses, impact of diagnoses, and a wide range of treatment interventions. Incumbent is required to have specialized knowledge regarding biopsychosocial issues faced by people at end of life, the death and dying process, community resources and specialized benefits.

The advanced practice social worker demonstrates an ability to expand clinical knowledge in the profession, provide consultation and guidance to colleagues, role-model effective social work practice skills, teach or provide orientation to less experienced social workers, develop innovations in practice interventions, and provide clinical supervision for social work licensure or certification.

Work Schedule: 8:00am - 4:30pm
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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

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 citizens in accordance with VA policy).
• English language proficiency - Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English
• Education - Must 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 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 accreditation standards for a Master of Social Work. (COPIES OF TRANSCRIPTS MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH APPLICATION)
• 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. (COPIES OF LICENSE AND CERTIFICATION MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH APPLICATION) - Must be fully Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

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).

Grade Determinations:

A. Senior Social Worker, GS-12

(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.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G39, Social Worker, available in the local Human Resources Office.

Physical Requirements: Light lifting, under 15 pounds; Light carrying, under 15 pounds; Environmental Factors: Outside and inside; Working closely with others; Working alone.

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.