Clarification from the agency

Open to all U.S. Citizens. Applicants will be referred in the following order: current permanent Orlando VA employees, current permanent employees of the VA, Current permanent federal employees, the public. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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• Works with advanced medical disease process with expertise in chronic pain, substance dependence and integrative wellness or "Whole Health".
• Collaborates with interdisciplinary team on clinical program development for patients receiving services in the Integrative Wellness Center
  (IWC) and is accountable with the team for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns.
• Functions within the "Whole Health" systematic approach to patient-centered care that affirms the importance of the relationship and partnership between a patient and their community of providers, emphasizing self-care in the larger context of well-being, and incorporating a full range of conventional, complementary, and integrative health approaches.
• Utilizes advanced knowledge of and mastery of theories and modalities used in the specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness.
• Performs specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness.
• 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.
• Demonstrates the ability to determine priority for services and provide specialized treatment services.
• Utilizes advanced and expert skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in specialty treatment programs or with special patient populations. This includes providing individual, group, and family psychotherapy and advanced level case management interventions used in the treatment of Veterans with polytrauma injuries, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, visual impairment, posttraumatic stress disorder, addictions, and other serious disorders within the context of
  Whole Health approach.
• Develops and implements methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the medical specialty area of Chronic Pain utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services.
• Demonstrate the ability to design changes based on empirical findings.
• Offers consultation and education to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in the specialty area of Chronic Pain, Complementary & Integrative Health and Whole Health, rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills.
• Demonstrates the ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the special area of practice and to provide supervision for licensure or specialty certifications.
  Responsible for consultative services to Chronic Pain clinic and care coordination for patients in the IWC, meeting criteria set forth for such services.
• Provides crisis intervention services for high-risk patients, utilizing advanced practice skills, in conjunction with Whole Health staff.
• Provides psycho-educational classes, psychotherapeutic support groups, as well as individual psychotherapy opportunities, when determined appropriate in relation to disease adjustment.
• Collaborates with individuals and families to develop a personalized plan of care to promote health and well-being which incorporates integrative approaches including lifestyle counseling and the use of mind-body strategies.
• Provides intensive case management for complex-care patients in the Whole Health Consultative Service, including the Whole Health Chronic Pain Clinic.
• Provides education to medical providers, mental health providers and staff in general regarding the role of the social worker in the Chronic Pain Clinic and IWC.
• Functions as an ambassador to community agencies and other local government bodies to assist in the education of VA resources, and navigating the VA system, focusing on working relationships to meet the specialized needs of the patient population.
• Evaluates his/her practice on an on-going basis through participation in professional peer review, case conferences, research studies, or other organized means.
• Fulfills ethical responsibilities to Veterans, colleagues and VA in accordance with relevant discipline Code of Ethics, VHA Code of Ethics, and local Ethics policies, which includes but is not limited to compliance with all laws and regulations related to confidentiality and release of information, and protecting Veterans' personal identifying information.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday; 8:00am to 4:30pm.
Telework: Not available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 81837F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

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.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must complete a pre-employment physical evaluation.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

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. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• Education-Documentation Submitted. 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 4 accreditation standards for a masters of social work.
• Licensure-Documentation Submitted. 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/.

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).

Grandfathering Provision. The following is the standard grandfathering policy for all title 38 hybrid qualification standards. Please carefully review the qualification standard to determine the specific education and/or licensure/certification/registration requirements that apply to this occupation.

1. All persons employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure or certification that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all of the basic requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:
2. Such employees in an occupation that requires a licensure or certification, may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
3. Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
4. Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all of the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.
5. If an employee who was retained in an occupation listed in 38 U.S.C. § 7401(3) under this provision leaves that occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.

Grade Determinations:

Senior Social Worker; GS-12:

• Experience/Education-Documentation Submitted. . 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-Documentation Submitted. . 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:
  • 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

Preferred Experience:

• Clinical knowledge of complementary and integrative health modalities including, but not limited to: clinical hypnosis, guided imagery, heart rate variability training, biofeedback, meditation, mindfulness, personal health planning. Knowledge and use of personal health inventory and well being signs.
• Certification in clinical hypnosis, guided imagery, HRV, center for mind body medicine or another recognized CIH modality.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.


Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation, see Duties section for essential job duties of the position. May require standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, pulling, and pushing. May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment.

How you will be evaluated

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

Area of Consideration - Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:

1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility.
2. All other VA employees.
3. All other federal agencies
4. All other applicants.

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