Clarification from the agency

This position is ONLY open to VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System Employees, VA Employees Nationwide, and all other Federal Employees. ***If you are NOT A current federal employee, please apply to vacancy CBSU-11936304-23-LF open to the public. ***

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• The incumbent will work within the ICMHR/MHICM program as a social work lead.
• Acts as a consultant for ICMHR/MHICM social workers who serve Veterans with complex mental health, medical, co-morbid disorders or who display increased risk for mild to moderate disruptive behavior.
• Responsible for providing case management for a caseload of veterans in the ICMHR/MHICM program, many of whom may be at elevated risk for suicidal thoughts, behavior or active psychosis.
• Will be expected to remain informed of best practices within the fields of mental health and psychosocial rehabilitation/recovery.
• Provide trainings to staff related to coding, CPRS documentation and best practices within the field.
• Accompanies GS-9 and GS-11 social workers on home or community visits when Veteran has a complex presentation.
• Will model the advanced level of practice and provide consultation to less experienced social workers.
• The senior social worker will be assigned and independently manage more complex Veterans within their program area.
• This will be determined based on the Veteran's acuity, severity of condition, diagnosis or other programmatic guidelines as defined within the section they report to.
• The senior social worker will function as the subject matter expert in addition to functioning as a lead social worker for their assigned team.
• The senior social worker will perform at least one or more of the following: process improvement tasks, supervision of social workers for advanced practice licensure or the graduate trainee program, act as a mentor for less experienced social workers, participate or chair committees or groups that impact social work practice and/or lead roll out of evidence-based practices.
• The Senior Social Worker may be expected to act as surrogate to the ICMHR/MHICM Program Manager, for CPRS purposes, cosigning notes/consults/orders and providing clinical guidance when appropriate or necessary.
• The incumbent is responsible for providing clinical case management for a caseload of veterans enrolled in ICMHR/MHICM which also includes clinical responsibility.
• Provides evidence-based and recovery-oriented practices as part of the ICMHR program. Examples of practice include Social Skills Training (SST), Illness Management and Recovery (IMR), Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CST).
• Responsible for collecting and submitting ICMHR/MHICM participant data as outlined by NEPEC evaluation procedures Responsible for providing ICMHR/MHICM case management. Case management is defined as the provision of services by VA clinical staff to veterans with serious mental illness and includes all activities to provide appropriate treatment and resources to support Veteran's recovery and living in their communities.
• Coordinates care including serving as an advocate on behalf of the veterans to ensure comprehensive service delivery and linking and referring veterans to the VA Medical Center, VA Regional Offices and/or community agencies.
• The incumbent complies with criminal conflict of interest laws and Executive Branch Standards of conduct so as to avoid conflicts of interest while serving as the ICMHR/MHICM Case Manager.
• The incumbent actively participates in the ICMHR/MHICM Program conference calls and attends training offered by the National ICMHR/MHICM Program.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

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:
Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States

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 Master of Social Work.

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.

English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed.

Licensure/Certification. Individuals assigned as Senior Social Workers must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level and must be able to provide supervision for licensure.

Education and Experience.
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.

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.
• The full performance level of this position is a GS-12.
  
  Physical Requirements: Able to meet the physical demands for the position, reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. Must have a good manual dexterity. Must be able to express or exchange ideas by means of spoken or written word. Must be able to view and read information on computer screens. Must be able to operate a government motor vehicle.
  
  References: VA Handbook 5005, Appendix G39. Social Worker Qualification Standard, GS-185.

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.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.